Health Update: Wellness Wednesday: Keeping Healthy During the Winter – Rapid City, South Dakota | News, Weather and Sports – What Experts Say

RAPID CITY, S.D.— It’s Wellness Wednesday—the time each week when health professionals help break down what you need to know to take charge of your wellbeing. This week we talk to the doctors at Monument Health about ways to keep healthy during the cold winter months.

When we think of a time of year most people get sick winter is what comes to most of our minds. Doctor Robbins with Monument Health says that’s because this time of year makes the body very vulnerable. Monument Health Physician Dr. Christopher James Robbins says, “It can be a lot of things, from cold air, dry sinuses, the humidity drops down, especially when heaters kick on. So we’re not really humid inside many of our houses. So our nose runs, and then it cracks, and then all of a sudden, all these viruses, allergies get to be more so.”

Knowing that the elements are going to add stress to our immune system Doctor Robbins recommends taking steps to strengthen it. According to Dr. Robbins, “Some of the biggest is getting out, getting sunlight, getting vegetables, fruit. A lot of the great vitamins that we can get in those are there and should be part of our regular diet.”

But all this can go to waste if you’re not getting a good night’s sleep. Dr. Robbins says, “Waking up on the wrong side of the bed one day, you notice, so if you can sleep good, get good number of hours of sleep, and part of that is winding down and not doing as much screen time the last hours of the day, keeping that at a minimum, especially at the end of the day.”

Doctor Robbins also says it’s important to stay social to keep the winter blues at bay as mental health can affect how you feel physically.