Until the science settles

You still have to get through Thursday.

These notes are practical, not a protocol. They do not take a side in the infection-versus-signaling fight. They take a side against isolation and against picking until morning.

  1. 01

    Skin, without a manifesto

    Keep wounds clean and covered. Short nails. A cool compress beats a deep excavation. Ordinary bacterial infection on top of open sores is common and treatable — fever, spreading redness, pus are reasons to seek care today, not reasons to win an internet argument.

  2. 02

    The hour you want to pick

    Have a boring alternative ready before the hour arrives: ice pack, walking the hallway, calling one person who will not debate etiology. Covering a site can be a kindness to future-you. Shame is a poor bandage.

  3. 03

    Sleep

    Crawling is worse at night for a lot of people. Light, temperature, and a rule against inspecting the skin after a certain hour will not cure anything. They sometimes make the next clinic visit possible.

  4. 04

    People in the house

    Family does not have to join a theory to help. They can look at a wound, drive, sit, and refuse to call you a liar. They can also refuse bleach-the-whole-house spirals. Both can be love.

  5. 05

    Work and money

    This illness wrecks jobs. Document dates, photos, missed days. That file is for disability paperwork and for your own memory when fog takes the week.

  6. 06

    What not to buy

    No machine, parasite cleanse, or “nano” protocol is a substitute for a clinician who will look. The original FAQ flirted with bioterror. We are not selling that story, or a supplement stack to match it.

A pocket log

Date. Place on the body. What you felt. What you saw, in plain words. Sleep hours. What you put on the skin. No need to store this on a server — a notebook is harder to subpoena and easier to bring.