While you may be all excited, butterflies in your stomach, for the coming of Spring and Summer, you might want to stop and pause for a while and think about your health too. One specific condition that has affected 20 million people in the US alone in the past 12 months, according to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, is hay fever. So, if you are a seasonal allergy sufferer yourself, you’re not the only one.
Hay: Nay or Ye?
Even US President Donald Trump isn’t exempted from hay fever. He shares, “People are amazed because I don’t get much with the colds. Sometimes in the spring or in the fall, I’ll get a little hay fever. And that comes and goes.”
Hay fever, allergic rhinitis to your doctor, causes problematic allergic reactions to allergens like pollens or dust because your immune system is treating these as body invaders, that’s what makes you manifest any one or more of the following more common allergic reactions:
- sequential sneezing
- runny and stuffy nose
- itchy and swollen throat
- ear pressure
- watery and swollen eyes
When fever symptoms accompany your allergic reactions, it will be best to make an appointment with your physician. Fever is a sign of infection and you want to get to the root of it before it gets worse.
When Hay Fever Strikes.
When the weather clears and starts to brighten up, and just when the warmer breeze begins to blow, that’s when hay fever strikes. The primary reason is the growing density of pollens that come with flowers in bloom in Spring and Summer that are being blown around by strong winds. That’s why when you know you are a seasonal allergy sufferer, there are several ways by which you can try prevent it to save yourself from the agony and discomfort of its symptoms. Listed below are the top prevention tips:
Change your clothes often.
At least get changed before leaving your house, when you get back from outdoors, and once again before hitting the sheets. You don’t want to be spreading pollen that may have attached to your shirt around your home.
Shower before retiring at night.
Get the dirt, dust and pollen off of your own hair and body by showering before bedtime.
Change your bedding’s and pillow cases regularly.
At least once every week, you should change your bedding’s to get all the accumulated pollens, dust and dirt out.
Spring clean your home.
Avoid hay fever symptoms by keeping your indoor environments clean.
Settle for hard floors.
Carpets, rugs and even sofa covers must be washed every week. One way of relieving yourself from the weekly maintenance is getting the carpeted floors changed with wooden floors.
Once you have contracted hay fever, here are just some of the ways by which you can better manage its symptoms:
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day.Water helps loosen up mucus and phlegm so that you can expel these from your system at the soonest possible time. When you have your fruits, try to avoid the more fibrous ones like mangoes and avocados. When you have your orange, peel off the skin that holds the pulp. Fibrous fruits thicken your saliva and can irritate your throat and nasal passages more.
- Have a green tea or ginger tea. You can opt to take both together. Green tea helps your body regulate the release and production of histamine, the antibody that makes you sneeze and your nose stuffy. Ginger, on the other hand, helps soothe and open up your nasal passages, and loosen up the phlegm.
- Spice up your meals. If you can stand chili in your food, it’s another way to break up the phlegm and relieve your sinus.
- Steaming.Add a minty oil or ointment into a basin of hot, steaming water. Use a towel to trap the steam as you inhale the cool, hot dew. This opens up blocked airways and helps loosen up mucus.
- Supplement with Spirulina. Studies have shown that this supplement blocks the production and expression of histamine. When histamine is under control, your symptoms ease out as well. Spirulina has also been demonstrated to help in flushing out the mucus and phlegm that is causing you so much suffering from your system.
Conclusion.
Manage hay fever better this season with these simple and straightforward prevention tips and remedies, before the seasonal allergies catch up with you.