Introduction: Survive the Winter - the Ultimate Guide

Hey guys,
As a person who lives in quite warm country (Israel) – when winter does eventually comes to our area, it comes tough. The infrastructures, and most importantly- the population aren't properly adapted to winter conditions, which almost always leads to some sort of winter-illness. In this intractable, which is also my first intractable- I'm going to share the knowledge I collected, researched- and of course tried in winter survival- so you could be just as fresh, and healthy in the winter as the rest of the year !
[  Constructive criticism, is always welcome :) ]

Step 1: Winter Symptoms - Runny Nose

During winter we expected to meet a variety of symptoms that, while might not be lethal, can really ruin your day. That's how we treat them :

Runny nose :
Maybe the most annoying winter symptom of all. Fortunately there's fairly good solutions available. Hereby presented the ultimate way to target the problem :   

A) Clean your Sinuses. If you never tried it, you should. the results are amazing; do this by follow
this inscrutable . I like to use needle-less large lab syringe to actively plush the salt-water in..
but however is more comfortable.. Just make sure afterwards to wipe your nose several of time
until it is perfectly dry..
Tho nevertheless a good practice- it's won't always suffice in our campaign against
the notorious Runny nose. Therefore, further (Simple this time!!) intervention is require ; 

B) Xylometazoline Hcl. The doomsday weapon for runny nose; safe and effective substance, to stop
your nose from dripping for at least 7 hours. you can find this active ingredient in various nasal spray
commercially available (such as: OTRIVIN DROPS) - always prefer the Dosing spray, I like the spray
with additional Menthol in it.. keeps things fresh!
>> Step A has been found to increase the efficiency of the spray, and general feeling afterwards
very dramatically.. Give it a try :]


                                  

Step 2: Winter Symptoms - Dry Lips

Dry lips :

An unfortunate phenomenon appear after radical climate shift. The best way to fight in this devil is by prevention . What that means in Practice ?  that the petroleum jelly (Lobello, Vaseline,  etc)is going to be your best friend.  The come in different shapes, sizes and prices. Totlly un-relevant. The only thing they do is to isolate your lips by isolation agent. Apply thin layers (don't overload your lips until it looks like lady gaga..), and most importantly- Apply often . Ideally every time you feel the balm has been absorbed.

Now, what if your lips are already dry?
Never fear! After years of trying different, sometimes quite bizarre solutions- I've found the ultimate solution!   ;

Propolis paste. Propolis is quite remarkable substance - naturally produced by bees, contain natural wax,
antimicrobial and immunomodulator agents - that can help even severe cases. because of it's texture color,
it's recommended to use the paste during the night, and the regular lip-balm during the day.

Step 3: Winter Symptoms - Prevent Illness , Act Safe!

Human beings have a tendency to gather in packed, closed and unventilated areas during the winter time.Problem is, this kind of environment is the ideal situation to get infected by pretty nasty Illness.

While not try to encourage, by any way, an OCD-like behavior ; Few simple practices can be made in order to minimize the risk, while still maintain the appearance of a sane person :)

* Common sense. when you stand in public transportation, and can tell exactly how the person who is standing next to you smell- You know it's too close.While there is such unfortunate cases in which this kind of proximity would be unavoidable- if you have opportunity to stand by the window, or the door, in such scenario you absolutely must to. needless to say- that if you already by the window, it might be a good idea to open it (as much as possible) - Believe me, the cold breeze is much less likely to cause you illness then collecting pathogens from every person (and possibly other organisms..) in the room .

* Alco-gels. Yeah, who hasn't seen those.. the unfortunate truth, people, is that they do much less then all the things people appear to believe. The use of disinfected agent is ONLY effective for couple of minutes. Therefore, if you draw satisfaction, from rubbing your hands with alco-gel.. go ahead, but make sure you do it exactly before action that evolve contact with one of the body er.. Sensitive parts (such as eyes,mouth, all the rest.. ), and know the limitation of alco-gels.

However, alternative approach can be adopted- that is no-less effective : Act safe..

- Try alternative ways to push handles and button (especially in public rest-rooms, elevators buttons, & entry button)
It doesn't have to look bizarre.. your elbow for example can be use for most of the button-pressing task just as good,
and even quite stylishly... (well, at least in my personal taste .)

- You can also try, an old and traditional practice that our ancestors found pretty useful in disinfect the hands.. Washing them. I assure you it's the same, possibly better then any fancy ch3oh (alcohol) gel!

* Ventilation - I cannot stress just how important that is to ventilate the room, and work areas. In winter homo-sapiences have the perception that because it's cold and windy out side, and we spent so much time to heat the place, we shouldn't Ventilate. It can't get much worst then that if you want to stay in good shape- both physically and mentally (smells and lack of fresh air) .

Indeed, it's cold outside- and we want warm room. a useful strategy that I found, is while I need to leave the room for a short while, and there's no pouring rain outside- open the window, door and let it get vantilated. I found it very useful to accelerate the process by positioning  a big fan in front of the open door.

20-30 min will usually suffice, and provide you with fresh room when you come back.

Step 4: Winter Symptoms - Firewall for the Immune System

Naturally, the Immune system has more to deal with during winter time. While all of us,
I'm sure doesn't like being ill, it's important for us to understand how we can help our
body in an integrative way. By act right and supply the body what it's expected to have deficit
during the winter time, we reduce the chances to get ill and improve our general functionality –
by keeping few simple rules ;

1. sun! - when healthy individual is expose his skin to the sun, even for 15 min a day-
the body naturally produce sufficient amount of D vitamin. Vit D is pretty important and believed to
help a verity of Immune system functions, and general mental health. I know I know, some claim the link
to the Immune system functions in not establish enough.. I'm not a scientist and ain't pretend to be.
However, I found that in all-gray days that I know I didn't see sun for at least couple of min.. it's easy and
cheap to provide your body the vitamin with D3 drops. just 2-3 in cup of water. I found it pretty helpful!

2. Vit C- well everyone on planet earth has heard about it, and it's potential benefits.
If you ask me, much easier and cheaper to just take a tablet of vitamin C,
then start messing around with 2kg of fruits..

3. Honey - if you have a sore throat, put a handful of honey in your tea (about a spoon, don't be shy) .
According to wikipedia : " Historically, honey has been used by humans to treat a variety of ailments
Through topical application, but only recently have the antiseptic and antibacterial properties of
honey been chemically explained.." so our granny had been right after all!
Nevertheless, in needed drink a cup every couple of hours, and your sore throat
Would be history in no-time.

Step 5: Discussion and Conclusions

I hope you enjoy my first ever instructable, and you would find it helpful

Sorry if there's occasional grammar mistakes - As English is not my native language and I personally believes
grammar is perfectly waste of time  :)

Suggestions, comments, recipes for zucchini pie,  invitation for zombie nights.. are always welcome !


Have a safe and productive winter!