Tag Archives: warm salt water gargling

Swine Flu H1N1 Flu Prevention Tips

Now that I’ve survived the swine flu myself, I’ve been getting useful tips in my email about how to prevent it in the first place. Wish I had known! The Swine Flu (or H1N1 Flu) was NO fun!

The email had been forwarded lots of times but the original was from an expert in India (I will have to go back and find the name).

In the meantime, I’ll share the info for everyone’s benefit so you’ll be able to avoid getting that swine flu bug.

You already know about the handwashing and that you’re supposed to avoid touching your face, right?

So I’ll go right to the important and new stuff:

1) Gargling with warm salt water.

I knew that this helps with sore throats. But what I did not kinow is that the reason it works is that it kills bacteria and viruses that are proliferating in the throat — which is the gateway where flu viruses gain entrance to our bodies.

So gargling with warm salt water reduces the number of swine flu and other germs greatly and prevents them from gaining a foothold. It was recommended that you do this twice a day.

Also, if you don’t want to gargle all that much, you have an alternative: Eat/drink warm (supposedly salty?) liquids, i.e., soups etc. They kind of work in reverse.

While the gargling removes the H1N1 flu germs as you spit them out, the soup will flush them into your stomach, where the stomach acid will kill them. Works either way.

2) Use a Net Pot

Sort of gargling for the nose 😉

The nose is the OTHER main gateway for the flu and other viruses to gain entrance to our bodies. So it’s important to flush thit out too and remove excess viruses and bacteria.

So Mr. … reocmmends that we use a neti pot and flush our nostrils once a day (thank God not twice a day!) with warm salty water.

Once again, I’ve had one of these contraptions and have used it occasionally. However, I never fully understood exactly what was to be accomplished. Now I know.

It take a bit of practice and getting used to, but it’s not terribly unpleasant to do once you get the hang of it. Keep plenty of tissues around for blowing your nose though. It does clear the sinuses very nicely.

Actually, I’ve encountered a neti-pot less technique that sort of accomplishes the same thing — to basically inhale warm salt water through the nose. Personally, I think the neti pot is MUCH more comfortable!

So this is it:

I’ll add those two things to my routine. Maybe not EVERY day, but I’ll try to remember to do it as much as possible, and even though I already had the swine flu. You never know just how immune I am from getting it again.

Speaking of which… I’m debating whether I should get that swine flu shot. Would that be a good idea or redundant? What do you think?

Please leave a comment if you have an opinion (especially if it’s an informed opinion) about that.

There are more things you can do to prevent H1N1 flu or swine flu or any other kind of flu or cold, and I’ll write about those in another post…

Meanwhile, get yourself a neti pot and start rinsing out those nostrils 😉

Hmmm. Come to think of it — maybe I should explain the procedure for those who are not familiar with it… I’ll do this in an upcoming post.

Meanwhile:

Happy Halloween, and stay healthy!

Elisabeth

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