Given the current atmosphere, everyone has been doing their part to mask up and take precautions when going out. However, it’s important to protect yourself from other potential infections to overwork your immune system (especially since your neuroimmune system might not be functioning optimally without coming in for your regular chiropractic adjustments!).
Here are some common personal hygiene mistakes that we can change during this period to protect ourselves and our families.
1. Leaving your used tissues around
Many germs (like the common flu) are transmitted into the air via droplets and can live on for hours, or even days on surfaces like desks and tables. After sneezing or coughing into a tissue, treat it like a biohazard and immediately dispose of it. The longer a piece of used tissue is left of the desk, the more germs get transmitted in the air or on surfaces and potentially infect others.
2. Sharing nail clippers
Hands up if you’re guilty of sharing your nail clippers with everyone else at home! What’s the big issue with this? Accidental cuts when clipping our nails could lead to the spread of fungal nail infections, or Hepatitis B. A best practice is to never share personal items which may result in tears to the skin that could lead to the spread of any blood-borne infection.
If you really need to share, make sure the nail clipper is properly washed and sterilized before each use.
3. Bringing your mobile phone to the toilet
Answering nature’s call? Put that phone away! Several studies have shown that mobile phones carry almost 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats, and it’s something that we touch regularly with our hands AND face. Not washing your hands thoroughly with soap after going to the loo and using your phone while answering nature’s call can lead to your phone being contaminated with faecal matter. This could contain E.coli bacteria, which when ingested can cause vomiting, fever, and diarrhoea.
4. Staying in your activewear for too long
While we know that doing everything in activewear is currently trending (see this hilarious video), it’s best to hit the showers or change your clothes after a workout. Bacteria and fungi love the warm and humid, making your drenched clothes an ideal breeding ground. Incubating bacteria on your tight-fitting clothes makes you more exposed to potential infections. You also smell bad.
5. Resting your face in your hands
Donald Trump recently boasted about not touching his face for weeks (although photos prove otherwise…). But that’s something that’s something he’s actually right about. Too often, we rest our face in our hands thinking about life’s purpose, or being really bored at our 100th Zoom meeting. Every time we do that, we add dirt and germs to our face.
This is a tough habit to break, so just being more aware every time you do it can change your habits.
While we really bummed about not being able to help you boost your neuroimmune system during this extended period, do take steps to protecting yourself till we next meet!
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