Speaker 1: Cold and flu season is here. And if you wanna stay healthy, you have to be vigilant. Dr. Erica Steele from Holistic Family Practice in Virginia Beach is here to tell us what we can do to avoid those sniffly and sneezy noses. Hi, how are you doing?
Speaker 2: Hi. I’m a little under the weather today. I know. Just fitting, that’s a blush, but still .
Speaker 1: So what could you have done to avoid getting sick?
Speaker 2: Okay, so for me, like high stress, I own a medical practice, right? So high stress training new staff, right? I just came back from a conference in LA and I’m not a germaphobe, like I’m not one of those people who’s like spraying everything down and right.
Like I, I’m free in the sense where I’ll just, I’ll touch anything and so it just hit me jet lag coming back on Monday, jet lag. Monday night, I was like, oh, you know what? I think I’m coming down with something. Oh my God. But it’s good once the season, it’s good. My immune system gets a little bit of workout and then I go about, move about the cabins. So that’s good.
Speaker 1: Now you were saying off camera that people who never get sick, that’s not a good thing. Why? Why?
Speaker 2: It’s because their immune systems aren’t working. That’s the thing. Oh. I And I, that’s simplistic, right? Their immune systems do obviously work. It’s important for us. Symptoms to produce antibodies. So it’s important for us to get a little sick at times. And so we’re definitely a culture that suppresses symptoms quite a bit. Okay. And so we do wanna allow our bodies to just do what it needs to do best instead of just keeping popping stuff in order to suppress it down. Got it. Got it. Okay.
Speaker 1: So one thing I have to ask you is about flu mania. Even in the branding of the medicine on the countertop, you know that, you go up and buy at the pharmacy. It says cold and flu. Is it sy? No.
Speaker 2: So everything is not the flu. Okay. I hear that everything is not the flu, people . Oh my goodness. It, yeah. And so a lot of influenza A is actually a particular virus. Okay. So you can get bacteria, you can get different viruses. There’s like thousands of organisms out there, and some that haven’t even been cataloged yet. There’s also mold. And there’s parasites too that can create symptoms.
One time I actually had a case that came in and he was coughing, and of course you’re thinking, oh, it’s immunological. So I did a muscle test with him, tested 3, 4, 4 times, and there were no immunological stressors. Finally, I tested more chemical, heavy metal, and it was actually coming from the exhaust.
He just bought a new car. Oh, and the exhaust. Was leaking into his car and so he just got it fixed. But that was creating more of those upper respiratory sys symptoms, so
Speaker 1: Oh, that’s so interesting. Yeah. Okay, so I have to ask you, you said something about how we go around trying to avoid germs. Yes. But it’s something inside. Explain that to me. Yes.
Speaker 2: So our, so a lot of times people think, oh, there’s like evil bacteria outside of ourselves or evil viruses and, our bodies are just defenseless and they’re healthy and. The reality is, that it’s the health of your body. So if you keep your body healthy and well, your immune system maintains itself.
Oh, you also don’t want an overactive immune system. A lot of times people are like, I gotta boost my immune system. No, that’s an autoimmune condition. You don’t want an immune system that’s overly active. Okay. But you don’t want an immune system that’s underactive either. You want balance. It’s all about homeostasis.
Speaker 1: So that goes with taking akinesia every time. The onset of a cold, right? Yeah,
Speaker 2: because it, every time you take it, it’s gonna be less and less effective. So Antibiotics. Exactly. That’s why we have so much antibiotic resistance now, and that’s why sometimes they’re not working. So it’s important to have a balance with all things. Naturally, a standard cold is gonna last about three days. If you’re healthy, naturally your immune system is compromised. It could last a little bit longer, so you’re gonna need a little bit more of an immunological support, whether it’s natural or unnatural.
Speaker 1: So when should you resort to something like antibiotics?
Speaker 2: I would say if it’s maintained itself past a week. Okay. For sure. That’s definitely three, four days. If it lingers on, I would schedule that appointment. Definitely start within a seven day period.
Speaker 1: Okay. I’ve been talking to friends who are dealing with allergies.
Is this a particular thing? Allergy season. I know like my sinuses compacted or whatever it is.
Speaker 2: What season changes. The leaves are rustling around. There’s a lot more movement of all of them in this area of Virginia . We have a very wet climate.
Very moist. And then with the horticulture moving around a little bit that’s gonna kick, everybody’s immune system must improve a little bit more. I see. Yeah. So Neti pot, or you can if you want. Okay. But again don’t go extreme. Don’t. Jam jamming water up there every day.
Speaker 1: Okay. So I’m asking you all my questions, but you have upcoming classes. Yes, we do. And care appointments and stuff. So tell me about
Speaker 2: that. Exactly. So we have three upcoming classes that are coming up. They’re I believe a Saturday at two o’clock appointment. They’ll come up on this screen here shortly, I think a Friday as well.
And it’s Monday. Perfect. Yeah. So Saturday, November 17th at two. Monday, November 19th at five 30. And then Friday, November 30th at five 30. And then we also have an, Free clinic obviously cuz we’re a holistic practice so we do $50 walk-in same day sick care. Okay. Hey, I like, like
Speaker 1: that. Okay. Thank you so much. Feel better. Yes, I will go home and Good all thank you.
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