Yes, I know what you’re thinking. “What does physical therapy have to do with the flu?” Honestly, physical therapy doesn’t have anything to do with the flu directly. However we’ve had a lot of people either come down with the flu or come into our clinics with flu-like symptoms. And as a public facility that serves a large number of physical therapy patients in Elizabeth and Jersey City, in order to help everyone, we’re offering our best flu-prevention tips!
Stay Home When You’re Sick
Our physical therapy patients are, honestly, such hardworking ROCKSTARS that they’re always looking to get in to the clinic to get better no matter what! We know that it can be tempting to minimize symptoms, thinking that “it’s just a few sniffles.” But the best thing to do when you feel sickness coming on is to avoid close contact with others and stay home. It’s the simplest tip but also the most practical. You will help prevent others from getting sick too!
Avoid Touching Your Face
Our hands carry lots of germs which can enter our bodies if we touch our eyes, nose, or mouth. So don’t give in to the temptation and keep your hands away from your face and neck area. This leads us to the next point
Wash Your Hands
Self explanatory. When it comes to germs, washing your hands often combined with keeping your hands away from your face can significantly reduce the chance that you catch a sickness, even if you happen to be in the vicinity of someone that is sick. In our clinics, look for the sink after your perform your exercises. Hand sanitizer is also readily available in the clinic. Just ask!
Practice Good Health Habits
In addition to these practical everyday habits, keeping overall good health habits, many of which are preached in physical therapy daily, will help you keep sickness at bay. Getting plenty of sleep at night, managing your stress, drinking plenty of fluids, and keeping a healthy everyday diet are a must. And, especially coming from our physical therapists, STAY PHYSICALLY ACTIVE! Those who maintain a physically active lifestyle are less prone to sickness, overall.
Overall, we make sure to maintain an extremely clean environment in our physical therapy clinics in Elizabeth and Jersey City. Paper covers are used on each of our mat tables and are cleaned after each patient. All surfaces used by patients and staff, including tables, mat tables, and gym equipment, are also sanitized multiple times throughout the day in order to provided the cleanest physical therapy area for our patients.
Stay healthy, everyone!
Dr. James Pumarada is a licensed Physical Therapist with over 18+ years of experience. He is a Sports Therapy Certified therapist, focusing on treating and training runners of all levels, and is a certified Vestibular therapist, specializing in the treatment of all dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance issues.
He is the co-owner of Complete Physical Rehabilitation, a Physical Therapy practice based in Elizabeth and Jersey City, NJ.