Newbie in the Room

You've finally arrived...your first taste of freedom...your dorm room at college. Along with all those things you have been looking forward to at college can comes a few undesirables you need to be on guard for. Living in the close quarters of dormitory life can be like living in a petri dish...germs can harbor, grow and spread rather easily. One serious and potentially fatal bacterial infection, like the flu, that is spread via salavia is bacterial meningitis. There is a vaccination for meningitis and also you can help protect yourself by frequently washing your hands (being someone who swears by the benefits of essential oils, I use a product called On Guard ), not sharing drinks, beer or sodas and avoid close contact with someone who is know to be not feeling well (especially if they are complaining of a severe headache, stiffness of their neck and/or fever). Good nutrition and rest also helps to keep your immune system strong.
Talking about being knock out for the count, mono (commonly referred to as the “kissing disease” can have you laid up from anywhere between four to six weeks. Unfortunately once you have mono you will need lots of rest which could cause a delay in a whole semester, so it is best to try to avoid this one. Again you can help protect yourself by avoiding sharing beverages and close intimate contact with someone who is not feeling well.
Protect those feet as much as you can, dorm showers and floors are a common place to pick up athletes feet, which is a fungal infection. One way to help prevent this is to wear flip flops in the shower and avoid walking around bear feet. . Be sure to dry your feet well, getting in between your toes. You might want to also powder your feet when you wear closed in shoes to help them remain dry during the day. As a precaution when I was using a communal shower I would always use a little Melaleuca “tea tree” oil in the shower when I washed my feet and put a few drops inside the lotion that I put on my feet at night. You want to try to stay on top of this one because once the infection gets to the nail it can be a lot more difficult to get rid of it.
Check back in a few days for a demo on proper hand washing.