7 Tips to Manage Your Seasonal Allergies

May 12, 2022

It’s spring and your eyes are watering, and your nose is runny. You’re sneezing, too. You might not be able to nip all your symptoms in the bud, but you can manage your seasonal allergies.

Pollen is one of the most common triggers of seasonal allergies. Known as hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, it usually begins in the spring when trees, grasses and plants start to release pollen, and it can last right into fall with cold-like symptoms.

Here are 7 tips to help you manage your seasonal allergies:

1. Know the pollen forecast in your area

Staying informed about your local pollen forecast and pollen count can help you prepare for seasonal allergies. You can check this information online or through your local TV, radio station or newspaper.

2. Limit your exposure

Prevention can be the best medicine, such as keeping doors and windows shut when pollen counts are high and avoiding exercise in the morning when pollen counts tend to be higher, recommends the mayoclinic.org.

Other steps to you can take to reduce your seasonal allergies:

• Limit going outdoors on dry, windy days when there is usually lots of pollen in the air.
• Delegate lawn mowing or gardening when pollen counts are high.
• Wear a mask outside to help limit exposure.

3. Medication or natural treatments

You can use over-the-counter allergy medicines, such as sprays and drops, to help your symptoms but be sure to follow the directions. If you can’t get relief, you can see your doctor and consider allergy shots or prescription medications.

Rinse your eyes with cool water or saline eyedrops to remove clinging pollen after you come indoors.

You can clean the inside of your nose with salt water to clear a stuffy nose. A vaporizer or humidifier in your bedroom can also help clear a stuffy nose. You can also try using an air purifier.

4. Foods that can help

Citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits, and their juices, can cut down on histamines, the chemicals in the body that cause allergy symptoms such as sneezing and runny nose.

Foods with lots of vitamin C have been shown to decrease allergic rhinitis, the irritation of the upper respiratory tract caused by pollen from blooming plants, says healthline.com.

However, if you are taking other medicines check with your doctor because grapefruit can interact with some of them.

Nuts such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, and pecans have magnesium, could also help because they have magnesium, which may help you breathe easier. Magnesium also helps protect against the wheezing that comes asthma.

Onions, red and yellow, are a good source of quercetin, a natural plant chemical that blocks histamines, which cause allergy symptoms like a runny nose or sneezing.

Apples, all kinds of berries, and peppers are also high in quercetin.

Fresh ginger has gingerol, which may help dry up mucus to make you feel less stuffy.

Salmon and mackerel, which have omega 3 fatty acids, can help lessen allergy symptoms.

At the very least, you will be eating healthier.

5. Keep indoor air and surfaces clean

Wear a mask when you clean. When you are finished cleaning, leave the house for a few hours to limit your exposure to allergens stirred up into the air from cleaning.

You can use a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your bedroom and clean your floors once or twice a week with a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter, the mayoclinic.com also recommends.

Avoid scented cleaners or detergents and use fragrance-free products instead. The fragrances in cleaners can trigger allergy symptoms.

Reduce any clutter. Piles of clothes, paper or boxes can trap dust and hide allergens like dust mites.

Keep the bathroom free of mold. Scrub the tile regularly and clean your shower curtain.

Get sudsy and your dry clothes inside

Take a shower and change your clothes after you work or play outside.

Limit hanging your washing outdoors when there’s a high pollen count because it can stick to drying clothes.

7. Avoid cigarette smoke

Cigarette smoke can irritate your runny nose and watery eyes. Avoid other types of fumes that can make your symptoms worse, such as aerosol sprays, cleaning products and smoke from wood-burning fireplaces.