Dealing With Spring Allergies

Treating Spring Allergies

*Sniff, Sniff*
“Are you crying?”
“No”
“You Sure?”
“Pretty sure”
“It’s OK, let it out”

The flowers are blooming, the grass is greener and the sun is shining. Spring is here, breathe it in. Wait, what’s that? You have a stuffy nose, watery eyes, and you’re breaking out in hives?! Alas, with better outdoor weather you have to face those dreaded seasonal allergies. In addition to using allergy medications, follow these simple tips to help counteract the effects of allergies this season.

During the spring, plants, flowers, and trees begin their pollination cycle and they do so through air travel. What you may not realize is that when you are out enjoying the day, you walk right through these large amounts of pollen that tend to float about in the air. And unlike getting a cold during the winter, allergies won’t go away with a few days rest. Depending where you live, it can be a cycle that goes on for upwards of half a year.

Before you declare your struggle with allergies to be a futile effort, I can shed some advice that may help you with your fight and will help make sure you have a healthy spring.

First and foremost, the earlier you treat allergies, the better. Reason being, allergy season starts earlier than when most people believe, sometimes arriving as early as mid-February, do to early pollination cycles. When an individual experiences allergies they may feel an inflammatory sensation. The earlier you try to prevent it, the better it’d feel in the long run. Let’s use this analogy, would you rather put out the match, when it’s still a match, or would you wait until it’s a bonfire?

Control your environment accordingly. If you feel the need to go outside for work and/or play, make sure that you take your allergy medicine before doing so. Or if you want to get straight to business and work on the garden, mow the lawn, or rake leaves, you may want to consider wearing a protective face mask in order to prevent or reduce your allergies.

Be well acquainted with you’re over the counter allergy medication, multiple ones, even. This is important because a single medication may not do the job. For example if you are using one type of medication, the effect of said agent may wear off. Or depending on the effectiveness of certain medications, you may want to adjust in order to find the most comfortable outcome.

Ultimately, if it appears as if your allergy symptoms are not getting any better, you may want to consider receiving allergy shots. These shots introduce small amounts of an allergen into you immune system, as to create and strengthen your level of tolerance. Overtime, you may find that your vulnerability towards such allergens have either diminished or have disappeared.

Now that the weather outside is warmer, I really hope that everyone enjoys themselves and treats their allergies to the best of their abilities. Now go out and have fun!