The 30 Days to Pain-Free Challenge:

Day 4 – Take Mindful Steps to Avoid Pathogen Infection

The Fourth Pillar of Health is to be mindful of pathogens and take appropriate steps to prevent them from entering your body.  Sounds easy enough, right?

From what I observe, this is the most forgotten and ignored pillar of health.  With the COVID pandemic entering its third year as of this writing, it has become especially important to be mindful of pathogen transmission, wherever you go.  As we have seen, viruses are capable of causing long-term and in some cases, permanent damage; even death.  They mutate into different strains and become capable of re-infecting.

Although the human body has a formidable immune system, it sometimes comes at a cost, as the immune cells release a variety of harsh substances in response to certain pathogens that can damage tissues.  In fact, this is how the Coronavirus causes illness—it’s not that the virus itself is toxic, it triggers a massive, generalized immune response that damages lung tissue.  And it’s not just the Coronavirus to be wary of.  There’s a myriad of other viruses that can pop up and cause an outbreak at any time—the rotavirus, enterovirus, common cold virus, and more.  The Coronavirus pandemic is an ominous sign of the times, that novel virus strains can develop at any unpredictable moment and cross over from the animal carrier to humans; strains for which we lack antibodies.  Will the next one be worse?  Let’s hope not.

So in this new era of novel (new) viruses, you must be vigilant to minimize your risk of getting infected.  It’s a statistics game– you need to do things that stack the odds in your favor of not getting infected. You don’t have to wear a facemask everywhere you go, but I must say it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wear one if you plan to go where there are large, packed crowds in an enclosed space, such as concerts and sporting events, even if the pandemic is declared over.

Here’s the main thing you constantly need to be aware of: 

When out in public, AVOID DIRECTLY TOUCHING ANY SURFACE THAT IS MEANT TO BE FREQUENTLY TOUCHED BY LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

Examples:

• Door knobs and levers to ANYTHING
• Handles of any sort
• Key pads, keyboards and touch screens
• Shopping cart grips
• Backs of chairs
• Pencils and pens
• Currency
• Gym equipment

These public items have a high concentration of germs, and possibly viruses that will stick to your hands.  All you need to do is touch your eyes or nose, and you can easily be infected.  Viruses and some bacteria can pass through the mucous membrane—the thin layer of skin that lines your respiratory tract, oral cavity and inner eyelids.  You don’t have to breathe them in in order to get infected.  If you touch someone else’s face, you can infect them as well.  This is how viruses rapidly spread, geometrically, throughout a population.

If you need to handle these frequently touched things in public, use a napkin between your hand and the object, then throw the napkin away.   If there is no napkin available, use your shirt tail or jacket to cover the surface before you touch it.  Better yet, carry a box of disposable surgical gloves in your car and use them as needed.

The next best thing is to use a part of your hand or body other than your fingertips.  For example, if I have to open a swinging door in public, I push it open with my forearm, avoiding hand contact with the handle; or reach up high on the door to push it open. No one does this, so the area about 2 feet above the door handle has much fewer germs.  You can also open a swinging door by pushing it with your foot at the bottom.  And of course, use your foot to flush a public toilet.  I’ve been doing these things for most of my adult life and can’t remember the last time I got sick from anything.

For gym equipment, it’s hard to avoid touching.  If you have any available, use disinfectant wipes first, then make sure not to touch any area of your face until you have a chance to disinfect your hands.

Day 4 Action Step:  be more vigilant of all the germs lurking around you and start practicing these preventative measures to minimize your chances of getting infected.

On Day 5, I’ll address the other invisible threat to your health, and how to guard yourself against it.  It is more dangerous than the threat of pathogens.

You Can Do It,