Avoiding Infections as a Crohn's Patient

Crohn's patients are often more susceptible to all kinds of infections than the average population. This is due partly to the fact that Crohn's disease is considered an immune-deficiency disease, a disease that arises due to a faulty immune system. One portion of the immune system is defective, which causes the rest of the immune system to go into overdrive.

Many Crohn's patients are also on immunosuppressive drugs such as prednisone and biologics. These drugs cripple the immune system in order to stop the symptoms of Crohn's disease. However, they leave the patient more susceptible to various infections.

Below are some tips for living in a pathogen filled world that can a long way towards protecting your health from infections.

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1. When out in public, try to avoid touching your face at all. Germs can enter the body through the eyes, nose, mouth, open wounds, and possibly the ear canal. Cover open wounds and try to avoid touching these other areas of the body.

Everyone however gets an itchy nose or something in their eye or ears. If you need to relieve this itch, try using the back of the hand, and avoid the actual opening (the mucous membranes) where germs can multiply easily.

2. When you arrive home from a public place, use a hand sanitizer first to kill germs on the hands and to kill germs under fingernails and other crevices that are hard to get with soap and water.

Also helpful is digging your fingernails into a soft soap bar and then brushing them with a nail brush. Hand sanitizers do not kill norovirus and other intestinal viruses, so soap and water is also necessary.

3. Wash your hands and forearms, and your face as well. Your face will have germs on it if you have touched your face while you are out, and could then be transferred to the mucous membranes.

Lotion can be applied to face and hands after washing if necessary to prevent dryness.

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These three simple steps can go a long way toward preventing infectious disease. Other tips about avoiding intestinal pathogens, are to be careful about eating in restaurants. Choosing to eat only hot foods, and not eating with your fingers will eliminate many pathogens.

It is quite possible to enjoy all the world has to offer, without taking in all of the pathogens that make life miserable. Just a bit of self-control and awareness of germs can greatly enhance your life.