According to the CDC seasonal increases in pollen affect nearly 60 million people by causing them to have a runny itchy nose and sneezing, while almost 30% of Americans experience itchy eyes. Eczema and asthma are common symptoms as well.
Experts are concerned that climate change will lead to more pollen in the air for more days, resulting in an extended allergy season, an increase in the number of people with symptoms and intensifying reactions in those regular allergy sufferers.
Here are some tips to help manage symptoms and get some relief:
1. Invest in a good home filtration system. www.iqair.com is expensive but very good. It may even help if you are being exposed to mold. Make sure your living space is as dust free as possible.
2. Take your shoes off at the front door and leave them outside.
3. Use a dehumidifier. Frigidaire makes a good one.
4. Make sure your air conditioner has a good filter on it.
5. Keep windows and doors closed when it is windy out.
6 Keep car windows up.
7. Avoid gardening, lawn mowing, and weed pulling.
8. Do not hang your clothes outside to dry.
9. When it's windy try to avoid going outside.
10. Change clothes and shower before bed. Make sure to wash your hair.
11. Monitor Cross reactive foods. Oak, willow, hickory, walnut, juniper, and mulberry trees are common in the northeast (New York) and have some cross reactions with foods. This occurs because some pollens have similar structures to proteins in food. So your immune system begins to react to the foods similarly. Also, consuming these foods may increase your allergic burden so that when you encounter the cross reacted pollen you are more sensitive to it. Please make a mental note of any food you consume that causes irritation to your throat or tongue. Eliminate it if you experience this. An example of this occurs when you are having a picnic under an oak tree and and you are eating a fruit salad consisting of apples, peaches, cherries, and strawberries and you start to sneeze, itch, have a sore throat, and watery eyes. If you eat any of these in large amounts and know you are allergic to oak pollen you may want to reduce your consumption of these foods prior to and during allergy season. You may also consider reducing the consumption of sugar, wheat, gluten, and dairy to start.
Here Is a list of some common cross reactions.
Birch pollen: apple, carrot, soy, celery, pear, tomato, cherry, tree nuts.
Goosefoot pollen: banana, melon, peach (infrequently: nectarine, asparagus, kiwi, potato, olive, onion).
Mugwort pollen (weed): carrot, celery, aniseed, peach.
Ragweed pollen: melon, cucumber, banana, sunflower, echinacea.
Timothy grass: apple, litchi, tomato, celery, corn, bell pepper, paprika.
Oak: apple, cherry, peach, hazelnut, peanut, carrot, celery, soy, strawberry, and more.
12. Avoid foods that cause you gastric distress or stomach discomfort.
13. There may be other reasons why your immune system is irritated. Talk to your naturopath more about this.
14. Get acupuncture, it can help.
15. Specific herbs, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals can help. Herbs are plants, so they can potentially cross react to tree pollens and foods so please see a naturopath if you want to explore this.
16. There are many over the counter medications that can help with the symptoms. Talk to your medical doctor or pharmacist for help with this.
17. Allergy desensitization shots are often beneficial the allergy season after you start the shots. Discuss this more with your medical doctor.