Simpedia

Katie S., California

I personally would not. Encouraging hand sanitizer and getting a flu shot yourself is my advice. I got my flu shot today 🙂

Mark S., Tennessee

Interesting! I use essential oils by doTerra to help keep myself healthy.

I diffuse a drop of “On Guard” in my diffuser in my home, which improves my resistance to catching stuff.
I use 8 drops Oregano essential oil if I feel a weakness coming on (gotta use latex gloves when placing the drops in the gel swallowing capsules; the oil itself will burn your skin.)
More where that came from, but essential oils are humanity’s healing substances for the past 3-5000 years, and few if any side effects. (Think Frankincense, the all-around cure-all.)
Do your own research; got to find the purest sources. doTerra is my favorite. Young Living makes good products too.

Jo D., Australia

I don’t think you should wear a mask Sue. I would be focusing on building your own immune system with vitamins and herbs so you can come into contact with virus without catching it. Echinacea is fabulous. I take one every day and didn’t catch even my husband’s terrible head cold he had a week ago. I would also remind your parents not to bring their children if they’re sick. If too sick for school then too sick for piano. It amazes me how many still come to piano when they’ve stayed home from school sick!

Unmani, Australia

I’m chiming in here on the immune building side.

I’ve had the best winter in decades with the usual bugs all around no colds at all– am doing a ‘deal’ with a couple for students bringing in soups done just how my body needs them while I’m working intensely–protein and lots of veggies .

– there’s something about winter and soups!

And something about the deep mutual satisfaction on both sides – food that means so much to me and students comfortably paying for lessons. They drop them discreetly in the fridge in containers and we have a discrete pick up of clean containers organized next week.

David B., Australia

You are right. Winter WILL pass. Eventually ……….

I have an air purifier in my studio and haven’t had a cold for years. It cost $400.00 about 7 years ago, but it has been worth that many times over, because I haven’t had time off sick.
It is quite small – 48cm wide, 15cm deep and 36.5cm high, is practically silent, but very effective. It’s worth having a look at the website.

aircleanersaus.com.au/main/page_ionace_ionace.html

Joanne J., Australia

I am not convinced that masks are all that effective at such close quarters!

There is a Greenridge product called Triplex available in Australia (an Echinacea blend) that I take religiously through the winter months. I also disinfect their hands, my hands and the keyboard between students and teach them to cough into their elbow – I have only caught 1 cold from students since I began this regime about 4 years ago. I also always offer a make-up lesson to replace a lesson missed for illness so they know I am serious about not attending if they are unwell and likely to pass it on. A point on the disinfecting of hands – they have to do that every time they put their hand(s) to their nose or mouths during the lesson. I do it kindly but firmly and also make sure I do include this information during an introductory session so they are forewarned and also know that it is a rule for everyone and not just for them to avoid any offence.

Bernie A., California

I think that wearing a mask may be a put off but it definitely conveys a message to your parents about bringing sick kids to class. This has been a concern of mine as well, as I cannot really afford to be sick. My family relies on my income for our daily needs. I think that all the suggestions that have been made are things that I have tried to implement myself: washing of hands, echinacea, chicken soup, hand sanitizer, beefing up the immune system, sneezing away into our shoulder, but I feel the most important thing to do is to communicate with your parents the need to keep kids home when they are sick and particularly when they have a fever or are coughing. If they forget, a gentle reminder will do. “Sarah, I don’t think Johnny is feeling well and it might be best if he’s not a part of class today. I don’t want the other kids to be catching whatever he has.” Honesty is the best policy.

I also try to be as holistic and organic as I can. I agree with Mark that essential oils, in particular the ones that Mark mentioned, can help with fighting off germs and bacteria during the cold season. I heard a study with a teacher who was sick of getting sick so she decided to use the OnGuard and the diffuser in the classroom. She and her class were healthy but the science teacher down the hall couldn’t figure out why the bacteria in her student’s petri dishes weren’t growing. I not only went out and bought the diffuser and the oils for my studio but I believe in it so much that I now sell it and tell others about it, especially teachers and anyone who works with many students/children.

Marg G., Australia

This is a very interesting and important topic. I think it is one we should all address and have clear to all those in our studio. Students and parents alike.

Things to consider:-

~ Is it possible to improve your own immune system sufficiently to ward off colds, much less flu’s and other respiratory illnesses? For some this is a possibility while for others it is not.

~ Will what works for one person work for another? Sadly the answer is NO. We each have to find our own solution.

~ How much will a cold affect me and my teaching? Some folk can be over a cold in a couple of days, so it may not be a big issue, while others take weeks to recover, even from a simple cold.

~ Masks can be quite claustrophobic for some while for others they are fine…

This has been an issue I have had to face and create a solution for. I will ABSOLUTELY NOT TEACH ANYONE WITH EVEN A HINT OF COLD OR RESPIRATORY ILLNESS. Likewise I will not teach if I have anything catching. My reasons for this are that I have severe adult onset asthma and if I catch anything, even a very simple cold, it causes my asthma to go out of control which prevents me from teaching for a minimum of 2 weeks and usually at least 3 weeks. Some of you may be thinking that there should be things I can do but I am on every medication available for asthma, and they can do no more, plus I’ve been to acupuncture and a naturopath. None of these things have built me up sufficiently to prevent catching these bugs.

Annoyingly:-
~ I HATE masks and am more than a little claustrophobic
~ Echinacea sends my asthma crazy and is definitely NOT recommended for any asthmatics (I used to take this prior to the onset of my asthma and it is fabulous – just not for me)
~ My solution is somewhat expensive for me BUT it is much more expensive for me not to do this both in health and finance.
~ I have my flu shot every year right at the beginning of the season.
~ I’d be much happier if any of the health professionals that I consult had a SOLUTION.

I have, in my student agreement, that I will not teach anyone who is unwell and will credit all lessons missed by either me or my students due to this. My student body have been overwhelmingly, co-operative and understanding about my situation.

Perhaps a short answer would be to survey your student body for their preference, if you are really unsure. However, after answering the points to consider at the top of this email you may well come up with the answer that will REALLY work best for you.

Hopefully, here in Aus, we are getting closer to the end of the flu/cold season while our Northern Hemisphere friends are just preparing for it.

Missy M., Nebraska

Great conversation! Wow – what helpful responses.

I will add just one more thing –

Last year, for other reasons, I started taking higher doses of Vit D. For most years, I had not missed any days for being sick and don’t really mind people coming in with runny noses or colds. After introducing the Vit D – I noticed it was just that much easier of a year.

I take higher amounts of Vit D 5-10,000 IU’s daily and more when feeling an onset of something. (This was at the advice of my physician and of course everyone is different and should check with health-care professional). What I like about Vit D is it doesn’t upset your stomach or enhance allergies etc. like Vit C and some herbs. I also do oregano internally like some suggested.

I personally am not put-out by colds. I hate to see people struggle, but I just disinfect surfaces and take my supplements. I know kids will catch things from other kids at school if not at piano. Our school systems have strict attendance rules and so everyone goes when sick.

I will have to get that diffuser – sounds great!

Shanta H., Minnesota

Last winter I caught EVERYTHING that came along, and since I only cancel lessons if I have a fever or digestive trouble, I was teaching sick a LOT. I finally went to a Doc with a holistic focus. She put me on megadoses of probiotic for a few months because she thought my gut flora (which is where 80% of your immune system is) had gotten trashed by an antibiotic. I also had some stresses and emotional upsets in my life that I wasn’t dealing with and this was also weakening my immune system – Once I dealt with them, I got well!

I also use a neti pot, essential oils (“thieves” for warding off infections), Vitamins – especially B and C. I have a young child, so staying well is near-impossible, but I am hoping this winter is better than last winter!

I keep hand sanitizer handy too. If I see a finger go into a mouth or nose, I give the kid hand sanitizer right away. If I or anyone in class is sick, we hand sanitize before and after class. I have also been known to sanitize my piano keyboard.

Debi D., Missouri

It has never crossed my mind to use a mask while teaching music. It is good that you opened up this dialog.

My concern is the message it might send to our students. So I questioned my grand-children about how they would feel if their teachers at school wore masks. Their response was, “I’d want to stay away from her because she’s ‘afraid’ of me.” Another said, “Do we get masks too? Cool” Yet, offering mask to students and patents, only seems fair.
My question would be, do we really know if we caught the cold from our students? Possibly we touched something before class, at a grocery store, on a stair-rail or a door knob. I suggest, as others have to use lots of hand sanitizer, Lysol and the flu shot for sure. Interesting idea.

Marsha S., Washington

Thank you for the reminder to be pro-active in preparing a defense against cold and flu season. It amazes me that parents will send their coughing, feverish, green-nosed children to lessons where they know they will be in close contact with me, my instruments, and each other! Sometimes the student will tell me they didn’t attend school that day because they were sick! DUH!!!!

I just ordered this unit from Amazon.com today. It is similar to the one David recommends for Australian teachers. It has the top six technologies packed into one little unit including Germicidal UV Lamp to destroy micro-organisms such as germs, viruses, bacteria and fungi (such as mold toxins).

Here’s to a season of “wellness”. I hope this helps.