After months of that cold and harsh winter, spring is the welcomed by one and all and can be called as the season of joy, happiness and sneezes! The third characteristic might seem to be an odd one out but the famous pollens of the spring season, or fall or in late summer season is likely to make you sneeze all the day if your nasal cavity if allergic to it. What makes the matters worse is that you can’t possibly escape this phenomenon and you often find yourself awake in the middle of the night noticing that you’re the defense cells of your body have surrendered in the wake of hay fever or pollen asthma attack. What basically happens is that the warm air rises from the ground and takes the pollens along with it up into the air and by the time night falls, these pollens descend as showers making nights more sneeze-friendly.
Know the Pollen Season
Handling Pollen Allergies
At about the similar time every year plants make pollen. Depending upon where you live and when pollination begins, the alarm bells start ringing for you. You have to remain aware of the pollens that you are allergic to and when the season starts you can take appropriate steps to limit your exposure to them. You can find the duration of this season from January to September. In general, the further north you go it starts in the later spring whereas in southern states, pollination begins as early as January.
In the line of succession, you wound find trees pollinating first, followed by grasses and ending with weeds that pollinate in the late summer continuing in the course of fall.
What You Can Do?
It has been judged as one of the most difficult allergens that one can avoid, but there is no need to fear the pollen season, think like a defeatist and sit idle doing simply nothing about this problem and surrendering yourself to the havoc it plays with your lives. All you have to do is to make simple changes in your life style and read the ways through which you can handle pollen allergies effectively and without spending heavy bucks on medicines:
1. Try to Stay Indoors
On temperate, breezy and dry you can find the pollen count to be at its peak. But it isn’t advised that you don’t venture out at all rather you can choose which time of the day you move out, as the best outdoor time would be a couple of hours after dawn (to be precise when you notice dew), when it rains or afterwards, in the evening or on an overcast, muggy, or windless day. You can even schedule your exercise during the pollen season during these times.
2. Clean Indoors
Pollens find a good friend and companion in dust, hence to minimize the presence of these pollens inside your homes minimize the latter in your indoors. Pollution, chemical irritants present in stove fumes, cigarette and cigar smoke, can also deteriorate the symptoms of allergy.
3. Air Conditioning
Make sure that you control the urge to air out the house by opening doors and windows as it invites more pollens during this season. As a substitute make use of an air conditioner which moderates the temperature and filters the pollens. If your purse allows then you can even acquire HEPA (high-efficiency particulate accumulator) filter that has the capacity to eradicate most of the pollen from the surroundings. In case you are driving, try to avoid opening the windows of your car, use the AC on re-circulate mode and regularly remove dust and mold from your car’s AC.
4. Douse your nose
Use a nasal spray (these are easily available) or a solution of salt-water to clean your nose as this can soothe your irritated nose to a large extent and save you from the trouble of those unending sneezes.
5. Eye Protection
It isn’t only your nose that needs to be protects from those pollens out there your eyes need protection too. Protect you eyes with wraparound glasses or goggles. For those of you who wear contacts, try avoid wearing them when the pollen quantity is high as they can get stuck to your lenses and bother your eyes.
6. Take a Wash
You have come home after a hectic day out there, but before you sit and relax go straight to the washroom, throw the clothes in your washing machine and take a shower. It is highly recommended that you wash your hair at least before you sleep so that you don’t glue those pollens onto your bedding and make it a habit to rinse your hands often. Thereafter make sure that you properly dry your clothes.
7. Avoid Pollen Stirring Activities
Different types of yard work like raking, moving the garden can swirl up large quantity of pollens. If you are quite allergic to pollens then wear a mask that filters pollen or if you can afford hire someone so that he can take care of the garden chores. Make sure that you cut the grass to a height of less than two inches so that it doesn’t pollinate.
8. Choose Landscaping Carefully
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that whatever you plant in your garden is directly proportional to your allergy warning signs. You might get praises for your large, lush green lawns but you also invite trouble for yourself at the same time. Instead you can go for larger flower beds by growing plants that are allergen free. Here is a list of the plants that have bulky and large pollen so that you can plant them easily: boxwood, fir, azaleas, dogwood, hibiscus, cherry, magnolia, fruited mulberry, yucca and yew.
9. Vacations
What could be better than planning a vacation with your family during the pollen season- you can both spend quality time together and at the same time remain safe from diseases. For a holiday destination you can go to a beach or to an area that is more than 5,000 feet from the sea level as the latter has less pollen carried by the winds than other places.
10. Eat food rich in Vitamin C
Vitamin C has the potential to boost our immunity against common infections. So it is advised that you intake a good amount of citrus fruits during the pollen period to stay away from common cold, cough and the like. Continue this habit even after the season is over.
11. Handle your Pets
Your pets might be the carriers of pollen grain as they can carry them on their fur. If possible keep them confined to outdoors during this pollen season and avoid stroking them if you notice any pollen stuck up in their fur. Another option is that to brush them often especially before they enter the home but make sure that a person sensitive enough to pollen allergens doesn’t do this.
This spring and summer season you have every reason to rejoice and enjoy the picturesque flowering of plants, the sprouting of leaves and the greenery of grasses. From simple steps to going on a vacation, you will find all these steps quite easy to adapt to and quite exciting too. But make sure that you make a list of the allergens that you are most sensitive to this year so that the next year you can be more specific in your preventive measures. Enjoy the beauty of nature and stay sneeze-free this spring and summer!
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