You should modify your diet when sick to avoid trigger foods, like spicy or greasy foods, suggests Dr. Awad Alyami, a pediatrician at OSF HealthCare.
Photo: Nhung Tran/Pixabay
by Tim DitmanOSF Healthcare
Myth: There’s a one-size-fits-all pill for common illnesses.
Fact: It depends on whether it’s a viral infection (like influenza, the common cold or coronavirus) or a bacterial infection (like pneumonia, strep throat or food-borne illnesses like salmonella).
“For the most part, with bacterial infections you need to see a health care provider. You’re probably going to need an antibiotic,” Dr. Alyami says. “Most viral infections just run their course, and you focus on the symptoms. If you have a fever, you take fever medication. If you have pain, you take pain medication. If kids are six years or older and have a cough, they can use over-the-counter cough medication.”
Dr. Alyami points out that you can take those medications to help with bacterial infection symptoms, too. But you need an antibiotic, too, to get better.
Myth: Feed a cold and starve a fever.
Myth: I can go back to work or school as soon as I start to feel better.
Fact: Dr. Alyami says you should be fever-free (body temperature less than 100.4 degrees) for 24 hours with improving symptoms.
When you go back out, practice good habits like thorough handwashing and avoiding coughing or sneezing into the open air.
Myth: If I don’t look or feel dirty, I don’t need to shower or bathe.
Fact: Dr. Alyami says there’s no “catch all” advice for how often to wash off. Some people will shower or bathe daily. Others will do so every other day or less frequently. Dr. Alyami advises you to shower or bathe when you feel you need to or after you’ve been in a dirty or sweaty environment, like after playing sports or a hike in the woods. People with skin conditions should also clean themselves with care.
“For people with eczema or atopic dermatitis, I recommend daily showers,” Dr. Alyami says. “But they need to be quick because the more exposure to water we have, the more we dehydrate the skin. So, showers should not exceed 15 minutes, and you should apply moisturizer right away afterward.”
Myth: When I shower, bathe or wash my hands, really hot water is best to kill germs.
Fact: Really hot showers can feel good, but they may burn your skin. Dr. Alyami recommends setting your home’s water heater at 120 degrees or less. Then, when you use the shower or sink, warm, but not hot water is best.
Dr. Alyami adds that a cold shower after a sweaty summer activity is OK because it can reduce the chance of heat rash. But frequent cold showers can irritate your skin.
Myth: Q-tips are meant for cleaning your ear.
Fact: “The ear is a self-cleaning oven. Most everything inside the ear will come out on its own,” Dr. Alyami says. “When we put anything inside the ear, we are pushing everything from the outside to the inside, especially earwax. It makes it harder for the ear to clean itself.”
Using Q-tips and similar devices can lead to injuries to the ear canal or eardrum, Dr. Alyami adds. Instead, during your shower or bath, gently clean and dry the outside of your ears. If your ears look or feel off (pain or itchiness, for example), see a provider.
“We can clean you safely in the office,” Dr. Alyami says.
Myth: For cuts and scrapes, apply antibiotic ointment like Neosporin until it heals.
Fact: You can apply the ointment once after cleaning the wound and then again after the wound is healed. But doing so often can lead to contact dermatitis, a bad skin reaction.
Myth: The “five second rule” is OK for eating food that’s fallen on the floor.
Fact: Dr. Alyami puts this one to rest once and for all: Don’t do it. Always eat off a sanitary surface.
He even says that research has shown that bacteria from the floor can attach to food in as little as less than one second. Eating dirty food can lead to vomiting and stomach illnesses.
