How to Identify and Relieve Spring Seasonal Allergies
The colors of spring are upon us. After a harsh winter, spring brings a beautiful scene with its warm and colorful sensations. However, with spring come allergies. People face seasonal discomfort all around the world when their local plants begin pollinating. Almost 60 million Americans get sick from seasonal allergies every year, with over 6 million children suffering from asthma attacks.
To avoid these seasonal allergies, we need to take a look at what they are and how they can be dealt with. Most of the spring allergies are caused by pollen that is dispersed in the air due to pollination. Apart from that, mold and fungus spores similarly play a part. In this article, you can learn how to identify and treat spring allergies.
Keep reading to learn all about spring allergies.
Symptoms To Be Aware Of
The most common symptoms of allergies include:
- Itchy, watery eyes and dark circles
- Runny or stuffy nose due to swollen sinuses and sneezing
- Sore or itchy throat and cough
- Post-nasal drip
Did you know that the term “hay fever” was first used over 200 years ago to describe the allergic reactions people experienced when they smelled hay during the summer? Perhaps we suburbanites don’t cut hay in our back yards, but we do mow our lawns beginning in the spring. And hay fever symptoms haven’t changed in the last two centuries. In addition to the above symptoms are:
- Sinus headache
- Facial pain
- Earache
- Anosmia, which is losing the sense of smell
What Causes These Symptoms?
As highlighted earlier, the spring season is rife with pollination from spores released by plants and certain mold and fungi. When you breathe, these pollen and fungus spores enter your body through your nose and trigger the release of histamine in the blood and mucus membranes.
With histamine’s release, the linings of the nose and eyes become swollen and red. This is to minimize the entrance of additional allergens into the body. Sneezing occurs when histamine attempts to get rid of irritating allergens through the nasal passages. Unfortunately, histamine also causes watery eyes, itching, and sometimes rashes and hives. In other words, our symptoms are the result of our body trying to protect us and deal with invading allergens.
If you’ve ever bought or sold a house, your realtor probably told you that a home value is determined by three things, Location, Location, and Location. The same is true about seasonal allergies. Since pollination is based on the reproductive cycle of trees, plants, grasses and flowers, if you’re surrounded by them you are most likely to face spring allergies. Furthermore, changes in the weather, including barometric pressure, is also considered a seasonal allergy trigger.
Pollens are the most airborne when it’s warm and dry. That’s why a warm windy day can instantly make your allergies worse. On the other hand, rainy and damp days will have a lower pollen count than dry weather. If you’re unsure about the pollen count in your area, you can take a look at various maps, such as the one on pollen.com. One note of caution, on rainy days when the pollen count is low, both the mold/fungus count may be high and the changes in barometric pressure can trigger headaches and sinus problems for many people.
After identifying your allergies, it’s time to prevent them. Keep reading to learn how to do that.
Prevention Measures to Write Down
There are several methods through which you can fight against seasonal allergies, including:
- Use HEPA or high-efficiency air purifiers in your home. This will allow you to detect and trap pollens and allergens that have entered your home. You can also use HEPA vacuum cleaners to clean your carpets.
- Remove your outside worn clothes the moment you enter your home. It will minimize the risk of pollen entering the home that have latched on to your clothes. Avoid bringing in shoes too.
- If you’ve got pets, make sure that they are cleaned as soon as you get them back home. Use a damp towel to wipe them down before they come into your home to make sure no pollen is attached.
- Change your bedding and invest time in cleaning every day. This will help remove pollens that have managed to latch themselves on your curtains, carpets, upholstery, etc.
- Make sure your windows are closed in the morning, and especially when the wind is blowing outside.
Manage Your Symptoms
- Over-the-Counter Medications: While there are dozens of different pills and sprays readily available, they only provide a very temporary relief, do not work for everyone, and like all medications have side effects.
- OTC Eye Drops: It’s not only your nose or throat that are affected with allergies, but your eyes get red and itchy too. Saline solution eye drops work well to wash out the pollen and other irritants that have blown onto your eyes.
- Home Remedies: You can use a nasal saline rinse, such as a neti pot, to clear your blocked nasal pathway. Steam inhalation is another remedy that has a similar effect. Plants and herbs such as butterbur, spirulina, etc. can be taken orally or mixed with food to help relieve some symptoms. Nettle leaf and vitamin C intake have also been shown useful in reducing histamine production.
- Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT): This technique offers a non-invasive, unique and highly effective approach in treating the many causes of symptoms and health conditions associated with allergies and sensitivities. AAT is a precision-based therapy that treats the organ systems involved in reactive behavior. AAT does not treat the immune system directly. The therapy instead focuses on the relationship between symptoms and organ systems to produce rapid, long-term results. The therapy is painless and there are no shots, no pills, and no avoidance. It is safe, effective, and gentle enough for infants and seniors.
Overall, seasonal allergies make you miserable but are not usually harmful unless precautionary measures are not taken in time. If your situation worsens, resulting in asthma attacks, constant headaches, or chronic coughing, you should immediately seek help from your doctor or an allergist.
If you suffer from allergies, and you have been unsuccessful with allergy treatments or are looking for something different, St. Louis Allergy Relief Center treats allergies holistically without the use of pain or pills. We are an allergy wellness center specializing in natural treatments. We specialize in holistic, natural allergy treatments using Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT). We provide you with a detailed treatment plan after completing a comprehensive assessment to determine environmental stressors that may be triggering allergies or allergy-like symptoms. Visit our website https://stlouisallergyrelief.com/ to learn more or call us at 314-384-9304.
We also deliver community workshops as well as a free monthly informational workshop on the first Thursday of every month at 5:45 pm in our Chesterfield office. Our free monthly workshop provides the public with information on our unique approach to allergy treatments and includes an opportunity to meet with our patients for a question and answer session. If you are interested in attending one of our free monthly workshops, please call our office at 314-384-9304 to reserve your space.
Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/spring-allergies#home-remedies
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4829390/
https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/seasonal-allergies#treatment
https://acaai.org/allergies/seasonal-allergies
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/spring-allergies
https://acaai.org/news/facts-statistics/allergies