Secrets of Women Who Never Get Sick

They survive cold season without a sniffle. They fly in germ-packed airplanes unscathed. And they somehow avoid stomach bugs that decimate the office.

Wish you could be one of these women who never get sick? Try one or—even better—all of these secrets, and you may join this club come flu season.

Get a massage

For the past three years, Mindy Hardwick, 38, of Lake Stevens, Wash., has dodged all the major bugs while volunteering at schools and a juvenile-detention center. Her secret weapon: a monthly massage. Hardwick even sailed through a move (selling her first house) without the poststress blahs. "It's got to be the massage," she says. "I'm convinced it's like taking medicine."

Most studies show that massage can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate—and lowering these is likely to cause your stress level to drop, one key to building immunity. "Decreasing stress increases your immune cells," says Tiffany Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute of the Univer­sity of Miami School of Medicine.

Make massage work for you: Any type of rubdown is fine, as long as you ask for moderate pressure, Field says. The therapist's touch should be vigorous enough to move or indent skin but not so hard that it causes pain. How often do you need one? There's no science on that, but experts say once a month (or more) is worthwhile. Check with your insurance provider to see if massage therapy is covered. If cost is an issue, check out massage schools, which sometimes offer discounted services.

You can take matters into your own hands, too, by showering with a stiff, natural-bristle brush; like moderate-pressure massage, this stimulates pressure receptors under the skin, Field says. A brush we like: Earth Therapeutics Far Reaching Back Brush ($7). And couples who massage each other for 10 minutes a few times a week can reap significant benefits, Field adds. Tune up your technique with Gaiam's Massage Practice: Acupressure DVD ($10).

Take a cold shower

Gwendolyn Witherspoon, 54, of Baltimore, came across her stay-healthy secret—an icy shower—during a power outage. "I felt great afterward," she says. A year later, she says her chilly regimen keeps her cold-free, her skin glowing, and her energy level higher than ever.

The scientific jury's still out on cold showers, but Mary Ann Bauman, M.D., author of Fight Fatigue: Six Simple Steps to Maximize Your Energy, says there's no harm in trying. Devotees claim cold showers help with low energy, migraines, circulation, and pain reduction, in addition to enabling women to age gracefully. (Some even argue that they're the French woman's secret to firm breasts.)

Make cold showers work for you: Try small doses. Witherspoon limits her 10-minute cold showers to summertime; in the winter, she opts for a 1-minute blast at the end of a warm shower. Consult your doctor if you have cardiovascular problems, because the sudden chill can cause a spike in blood pressure.