Medical Professionals Are Sharing "Mundane" Things That Can Actually Make You Really Sick

We all want to be the healthiest versions of ourselves. Still, it’s easy to forget all of the everyday habits, behaviors, and tendencies that can have major impacts on our wellbeing. So Redditor chickencaesar8 asked, “Medical professionals, what are some of the most mundane reasons most people are unaware of that make them sick?” Here’s what people said.

(However, please note that this post is not meant to take the place of medical advice.)

1.“Not finishing antibiotics. Always finish the full course you are prescribed. You might think you’re better. But the bacteria may not be dead and it’s going to come back stronger.”

—Fianna9

2.“Wash. Your. Hands. I don’t mean a little squirt of soap and then immediately rinse it off, I mean wash your hands for the whole 20 seconds. If you don’t, you could get Norovirus/Sapovirus, C. Diff, and more. Trust me, you don’t want these things.”

—Chilly-Dawgs

3.“More related to injury than sickness, but after a certain age (different for everyone), you should eliminate every slippery pair of socks, uneven area rugs, or other tripping hazards in your home. It’s very easy to trip and fall in the dark, trying to get to the bathroom, and a lot of people have major complications trying to recover from a broken hip or other leg injury. Small trip hazards in your house may not seem like a big deal, but they could lead to an injury that you never recover from, and it’s a very common problem.”

—Reprobate726

4.“Swimming with contact lenses in. Every time I dispense fortified vancomycin and gentamicin eyedrops, the chart shows that the patient was swimming with contacts in. They get super nasty infections.”

—Caibee612

5.“Do not let your dog lick an open wound! A dog’s mouth is full of bacteria. No, they don’t have ‘clean mouths’ like we were told when we were kids.”

—Steambunny

6.“An untreated sleep apnea is terrible for you. Over time, it can lead to heart problems, diabetes, stroke, and even shorten your lifespan. A chronic lack of quality sleep can also have immediate effects on mental and psychological health. Snoring all night, every night is not normal. Just use the CPAP.”

—stephanonymous

7.“Not following a doctor’s advice to cut something from your diet. For example, people who say, ‘Doc told me to stop eating gluten and dairy. So I had pizza for dinner, but it’s ok because i took a lactaid.’ Just..no. That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of that works.”

—fumblingvista

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8.“Not brushing your teeth. Mouth bacteria can lead to a hundred different head-to-toe issues, and it can even kill you.”

—athrowawayhandle

9.“Dermatologist PA here: Please moisturize your skin. Wearing lotion is not only a ‘girly’ thing to do. Dry skin can lead to itchy skin, which can lead to chronically itchy skin, which can lead to intense scratching and can leave open wounds and sores. Itchy skin can drive a person bonkers. I see it every day. The easiest way to prevent this is to just wear lotion.”

—atelectasisdude

10.“Putting off season the doctor for fear of a new concern. I had a patient utilize their health insurance really well. He managed to dodge several cancers and came out with just a few scars on his skin. It’s pretty amazing when you can catch things early and only need a surgery with no chemo. But unfortunately for many people, anxiety and fear over going to the doctor can get the better of us.”

—lazylilack

11.“Riding a motorcycle. After multiple months performing X-rays at an inner city level 1 trauma hospital, I will never ever get on a motorcycle, four wheeler, ATV, dirtbike, none of that. Nope, no thanks, I’m good.”

—ghoulxgrl22

12.“Consistently getting less than seven hours of sleep. Even if it’s six and a half hours, it’s enough to suppress your immune system. This is because deep sleep is essential for T-cell function, the cells that seek out and destroy infected cells and cancer. Chronic short sleep leads to more frequent infections and takes longer to recover.”

3Magic_Beans

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13.“Pharmacy technician here. Don’t stop taking your blood pressure meds. If your blood pressure is good, now is not the time to stop your meds. They are working.”

—ContextSensitiveGeek

14.“Not keeping a watchful eye on symptoms from diabetes. If your toes start turning black from untreated diabetes, it’s not going to get better on its own. It will only continue to get worse and can lead to irreparable damage, including the loss of the foot entirely.”

—ghoulxgrl22

15.“Not paying attention when you experience a physical/mental change. Even minor issues that don’t go away or continue to get worse should always warrant a trip to the doctor. I’m a medical student, and I put off going to the doctor for embarrassing urinary symptoms for six months. I finally saw someone a couple of weeks ago, and they think I may have MS. I’m so mad at myself that, if I do have MS, I could’ve started treatment months ago and prevented ongoing nervous system damage.”

—BumblebeeOfCarnage

16.“Not drinking enough water. So many people feel like shit but only drink coffee, soda, and beer. People like this are on the edge of minor dehydration, making the tiniest bit of exertion feel impossible. If you just drink the amount of water your body needs, it fixes all sorts of issues.”

—Crayshack

17.“Unexplained weight loss. If you experience sudden, unexplained weight loss, please go get checked out. I can not begin to count how many people (especially middle-aged and older) I’ve triaged for some other symptoms when they finally tell me, ‘oh yeah, and I’ve lost xx amount of lbs in a month.’ More often than not, the culprit turns out to be cancer.”

—Elphababa

18.“Toxic relationships. People often don’t realize how their partners make them mentally sick.”

—No_Lion_8923

19.“Vaping. I have patients who repeatedly see allergists because they don’t know why they’re wheezy all the time and it feels like they can’t breathe. They try nasal sprays, antihistamines, allergy pills, and nebulizers…all while denying that they vape.”

—nosyNurse

20.“Psych nurse here. Don’t stop your meds because you’re ‘feeling better.’ Why do you think you feel better?”

—mewmewnmomo

21.“Not being especially cautious as you get older. About 15 years ago, when I became a nurse’s assistant, the nurse teaching the course told us that for many elderly people, a fall was the beginning of the end. Small falls that younger people deal with constantly can break a bone in an older person, and their body has to fight harder to heal when they’re older, which overdrives the immune system and makes it easier to get sick in other ways.”

—Cautious_Parsley_898

22.“Not paying attention to your salt intake, in particular, people with congestive heart failure who don’t check labels for sodium content. Here in Louisiana, I see people with CHF going to multiple crawfish boils.”

—lonesomejohnnie

23.“Leaving a tooth infection without treatment. An infected tooth can cause so many bad things.”

—lhollmann

24.“Long car rides without breaks can absolutely cause blood clots, which can lead to a pulmonary embolism if left untreated.”

—SoleIbis

25.And finally… “Listening to influencers who are not medically trained. I’ve watched ads on TikTok where an influencer will pour two packs of liquid IV into a cup to make a new flavor. Or whatever the hell the raw milk and unpasteurized nonsense is. You can’t lemon and cayenne water your way out of hyperlipidemia, but you can erode your gastric lining.”

—thesevenleafclover

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