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4 Ways to Manage Hay Fever

A hay fever is an allergic reaction when grass or tree pollen enters your mouth, nose, eyes, or throat. As it would against a virus, your immune system tries to combat the pollen, which results in an allergic reaction and the accompanying symptoms.

Depending on the amounts of grass, weed, and tree pollen and the materials you are allergic to, hay fever can linger for weeks or months, in contrast to the typical cold, which often only lasts a week or two.

Nearly 19 million people in America suffer from hay fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source.

The typical symptoms of the condition include:

Runny nose, congestion, watery, red, or irritated eyes, sneezing, coughing

While hay fever can have symptoms lasting for extended periods of time, it’s not hard to manage. You can do it even without having to see an allergist. Some of the things you need to do to manage the condition include:

Track the pollen count

Knowing the pollen count, you can better anticipate and prepare for peak pollen days. This means you can take the necessary precautions to reduce exposure and better manage the symptoms.

Through proper tracking, you know when to take the medications. Antihistamines and nasal corticosteroids are the most common medications for hay fever that function best when taken before allergen exposure.

By monitoring pollen levels, you can easily schedule when to take the medications; consequently, you can easily manage the condition.

When you know the high pollen counts, you can easily take precautions to limit your exposure to pollen. When you know you will have a high pollen count, you get to close windows, use air purifiers, and stay inside when pollen counts are at their highest.

To certain people, hay fever can worsen pre-existing respiratory diseases like asthma or cause severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis). By monitoring pollen counts, you can be proactive and avert emergencies.

Observing the pollen count over time can help you recognize trends and patterns. Regular planning lets you tell the times of year when symptoms are at their worst and modify your lifestyle choices accordingly.

Finally, knowing your daily pollen count gives you peace. This is because you have control over exposing yourself. With this knowledge, you can manage the allergies and lessen the unpredictable nature of symptom flare-ups.

Installing a pollen count app on your phone is one of the best ways to track the pollen count. There are free and paid apps you can go for. Of course, the paid versions will often have better features, so if you can afford them, these are the best.

Stop smoking

Smoking can worsen hay fever symptoms by irritating the lining of your airways, resulting in a dry, uncomfortable cough.

As much as it’s easy to say that you should stop smoking, it’s pretty hard. Thankfully, you have a few options to support you if you’re trying to give up or reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke.

One option is to consider nicotine replacement therapies. These include gums, patches, lozenges, inhalators, and sprays that supply the body with little nicotine while eliminating tar, carbon monoxide, and other toxins in cigarettes.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist for advice on which type of NRT would be best for you if you’re unsure.

Manage the pets

Your favorite fluffy animals tend to bring pollen and other allergens, which can worsen the symptoms. To ensure this doesn’t happen, you need to control the pets.

One way to control the pets is by having pet-free zones in your house. Ideally, the bedroom and any other spaces where you spend a lot of time should fall under this category. By keeping these spaces free of dander, you’ll have a place to go when your allergies flare up.

Regular pet grooming can help lower the quantity of dander and loose fur. To stop pet dander from getting inside, brush your pet outside. Consider getting your pet professionally groomed if it has thick or lengthy fur.

Use medication

There are plenty of medication options in the market that you can use to manage your condition. Some of the options that you can go with include:

Antihistamines: Antihistamines prevent the body’s allergic reaction to pollen, which helps control minor hay fever symptoms. They are most frequently found as tablets and liquids, which you can take as needed to assist you in managing your symptoms or as often as necessary during the season.

To determine which antihistamine is best for you, consult your allergy doctor.

Nasal sprays: Pollen tends to induce inflammation of the nasal lining. If you have trouble with a runny or clogged nose, sneezing, or both, you can use nasal spray in addition to antihistamines.

Many over-the-counter nasal sprays are available to assist in reducing the symptoms of hay fever. For instructions on how to use these products, always read the instructions that come with them. If they prove to be ineffective, discuss prescription-only treatment with your doctor.

Eye drops: There are plenty of allergy relief eye drops that you can use to alleviate dryness, discomfort, and watering of the eyes.

Ask your allergy specialist Manassas VA if you’re unsure which eye drops are right for you.

Barrier balm: Stop pollen from entering your nasal passage to protect the body’s major entry point. To help your nostrils capture pollen and prevent it from spreading, dab a small amount of petroleum jelly around the opening of your nose.

Sunglasses: Although not a type of medication, they are vital in protecting and helping you manage the symptoms.

Wearing the appropriate shades can help protect your eyes from the sun and be a useful addition to your regular hayfever regimen. Wear wraparound styles if you have hay fever since they help keep pollen out of your eyes.

Ways to Treat Your Kid’s Seasonal Allergies

asthma information

If your child experiences itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, or throat clearing as the seasons change, there’s a strong possibility they’re reacting to pollen, a typical cause of seasonal allergies.

Thankfully, you can treat seasonal allergies in several ways in your child. Some of the ways to do it include:

Use over-the-counter medications

The nearby drugstore aisle has first-line remedies for seasonal allergies. You can buy all of them over the counter.

Some medications you can go for include Antihistamines, steroid nasal sprays, and eye drops. For children with severe symptoms, you can combine antihistamines and intranasal steroids.

If your child needs daily treatment for chronic problems, try intranasal steroids.

Oral antihistamines

Antihistamines, whether liquid or tablet, can immediately relieve seasonal allergy symptoms. When in the market, look for cetirizine, levocetirizine, loratadine, and fexofenadine in brand-name and generic forms. They typically work in 30 minutes and do not cause drowsiness in children.

In terms of drowsiness, allergists do not recommend diphenhydramine (brand name Benadryl) for youngsters due to sedation and other safety issues.

To stay safe, use one of the newer oral antihistamines with a lengthy track record of safety and effectiveness.

Nasal sprays

Steroid nasal sprays are highly effective at reducing nasal channel edema and irritation, which causes congestion. Fluticasone propionate, fluticasone furoate, and triamcinolone are among the pediatric versions you can go for.

The good side is that, unlike antihistamines, the effect does not occur immediately. You must give it to your child constantly for several days, sometimes up to two weeks before symptom alleviation occurs.

Azelastine, a nasal antihistamine available without a prescription, is another possibility. While it’s highly effective, you should note that the spray may induce drowsiness if you have a stuffy, runny, or itchy nose or sneezing, so use it in moderation.

Allergy shots

If over-the-counter medications aren’t alleviating a child’s problems, allergy shots may be the solution. While they are great, you should avoid giving them to children under five.

However, they can be an excellent solution for some school-aged children and teenagers. You should consider allergy shots if they’re on an antihistamine and a nasal steroid and still have a running nose and congestion.

Allergy shots are often administered in the doctor’s office every two to four weeks and operate by desensitizing how the immune system responds to an allergen.

So, you’re treating a child’s symptoms and modifying their allergy. A trace amount of the allergen is injected beneath the skin. The relief, however, is not immediate. In most cases, you may see symptom improvement after a year, so you should be patient.

Making lifestyle changes

Because pollen is airborne and can travel large distances, it is impossible to avoid it completely. Monitor pollen counts in your neighborhood to reduce your child’s exposure during peak times.

Consider varying your activities when the pollen counts are high. For example, instead of going to the park, you can go to the movies or stay indoors.

Keeping your windows closed can limit the amount of pollen in your home or car. Bathing or showering your child and changing into clean clothes after being outside will help to limit the spread of these allergens indoors.

Don’t forget about your pets. Your dog or cat’s fur may transport pollen into your home. Consider wiping their fur after going outside. You also should bathe the kids more frequently and keep the pollen out of your child’s room.

Under the tongue tablets

Sublingual immunotherapy, often known as under-the-tongue tablets, works in the same manner that allergy injections do.

The good side is that there will be no needles.

Each dose is administered by placing a dissolvable tablet under the child’s tongue. In the office, a doctor administers the initial dose and monitors for side effects. Following that, the child takes one tablet daily at home during allergy season.

Sublingual immunotherapy is currently approved for grass and ragweed allergies in the United States. It is unsuitable for youngsters allergic to tree pollen, one of the most prevalent spring allergens.

Seeing an allergist

Children with well-controlled symptoms may not require allergy testing. However, if over-the-counter drugs aren’t working and your child is unhappy, an allergist can help.

When you visit a pediatric allergist, they will guide your family through the treatment options and allergy testing procedure.

When a child’s allergic condition becomes difficult to treat or causes consequences, such as chronic ear or sinus infections, asthma episodes, or eczema flares, the allergist will help you control symptoms and offer additional prescription drugs.

Allergy testing gives you peace of mind and valuable information about the cause of your child’s sniffling and sneezing.

People sometimes attribute symptoms to pollen when caused by a dust mite or pet allergy, which may necessitate year-round medication and different management strategies.

Through testing, your doctor will tell you the best way to control the condition and the best medications to try.

Parting shot

Seasonal allergies affect about one in every five children, which is expected to rise as climate change causes longer pollen seasons and increased pollen production.

Pollen from oak, birch trees, and other plants are infamous for causing springtime allergy problems in different areas.

A child experiencing allergy symptoms throughout the summer may be allergic to grass pollen. Weed allergies become more prevalent in the fall.

Waiting until your child is unhappy from sneezing and sniffling may require considerably more medication to control symptoms, so it’s good to catch the problem before it develops.

One of the ways to do it is to change their lifestyle, where they spend most of their time indoors. If you do this and the kid still gets sick, don’t worry, as you can use plenty of medications to your advantage.

Besides the medications, also think about taking your child to an allergy specialist Manassas VA. The specialist will undertake a battery of tests to help you understand the nature of the allergy better and how to get over it.

Tips to Handle a Harsh Allergy Season

If you suffer from allergies and the allergy season is coming, you can do several things to make the season more forgiving.

Buy medication

If you suspect that your symptoms may worsen, your usual medications may not work either, so you may need to try new ones or combine them to find relief.

Several over-the-counter and prescription treatments are available to alleviate allergy symptoms. Many doctors recommend nasal steroid sprays like Nasonex (with a prescription) or Flonase as the first line of treatment.

While they are good, they may take several days or weeks to relieve stuffiness and sneezing, so it is best to use them early in the season before your symptoms worsen.

Antihistamines, whether sprays like Astelin, tablets like Allegra, Claritin, or Zyrtec, or eye drops like Optivar, are other options as they have a more rapid effect.

Decongestants such as Afrin or Sinex come in handy. Don’t rush to use them, even if you can access them, as they can have a rebound effect.

After a few days, the blood vessels in your nose become less receptive to the drug, and you may experience severe congestion again. Limit these medications to no more than three days in a row.

If you have already tried numerous over-the-counter allergy medications, and none gives you your desired results, consult your allergy doctor about prescription choices. The allergy specialist will help you plan ahead of time for your unique allergies so you are safe when the allergy season kicks in.

Wash your sinuses

If you don’t want to take medications, consider nasal irrigation. The technique dates back thousands of years, and its efficacy is supported by plenty of studies.

You need to pour a saline solution into one nostril using a neti pot, bulb syringe, or squeeze bottle and let it drain out the other.

The procedure is simple but helps flush out pollen, mucus, and other allergens in your nasal cavity. As a result, you may feel less congested and use less allergy medicine if you have to.

Plan your outdoor time accordingly.

Many well-known weather apps and websites offer “allergy forecasts” or pollen counts. The National Allergy Bureau website lists more than 80 stations around the United States that provide more specific daily pollen reports depending on different plant types.

You can choose the station closest to you and receive notifications for your pollen allergy.

Pollen counts are often highest between early morning and midmorning and on hot, dry, windy days. You can limit the quantity of pollen you come into contact with if you exercise indoors during certain times or run errands later in the evening.

If you are prone to allergy symptoms and need to go out in the morning or do yardwork, don a high-quality N95 mask, which you may already have for coronavirus protection. This will aid in pollen removal.

Reduce the pollen in your home.

Avoid bringing pollen back inside after being outside. When you arrive home, take your shoes off and change your clothes. Shower before bed to eliminate pollen from your skin.

As much as you love them, avoid sleeping with your dogs. Even if you aren’t allergic to your pets, pollen is on their coats, which might cause you to react.

To improve your sleep, try zipping up your mattress and pillows in hypoallergenic encasements, washing bedding once a week in hot soapy water, and using a dryer instead of a clothesline.

You also should make it a habit of cleaning and replacing your air conditioner filter with one with a MERV of 11 or higher.

These filters can capture small pollen particles. If you suffer from severe allergies, consider investing in a professional-style HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter for your bedroom.

HEPA filters with a MERV value of 17 or higher often remove 99 percent of pollen, animal dander, dust, and other particles, leaving your house’s insides safe and allergen-free.

You also should try to close your windows and use an air conditioner. If, on the other hand, you are allergic to indoor allergens such as mold and dust, open the windows and allow in fresh air to help eliminate allergens from your home.

Try immunotherapy

If allergies interfere with your daily life, you should speak with your doctor about immunotherapy for long-term relief.

After a skin prick test or blood test confirms which pollen you are allergic to, your doctor may offer subcutaneous allergy immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots.

This entails a series of injections every week or month, including trace amounts of the pollen to which you are allergic. The dose progressively increases, making your immune system less sensitive to the allergen.

The Food and Drug Administration has begun to approve another type of immunotherapy known as sublingual immunotherapy.

Here tiny amounts of pollen are delivered in tablet form, and you place them under the tongue for one to two minutes before ingesting them. While studies are still ongoing, the only medications that are now approved are for allergies to dust mites, ragweed, and northern pasture grasses. At the same time, other tablets are being examined in clinical trials.

Patience is required for both types of immunotherapy. In most cases, symptom relief could take six months to a year. However, you may need to continue the medication for up to five years before your body can reliably ignore your triggers.

Immunotherapy may be great when it works. If you have been suffering from yearly stuffy noses and itchy eyes and are after successful treatment, you should find an experienced allergy specialist to guide you.

Parting shot

These are some of the ways you can deal with seasonal allergies. To have an easy time treating the condition, don’t ignore the condition regardless of how minor the symptoms appear.

You should listen to your body and rest, go to bed early, or take a sick day. Excessive activity and running around when sick can only make you feel worse.

You also should consider visiting an allergy specialist Manassas for treatment.

Who Should See An Allergist?

If you are wondering who should see an allergist, anyone suffering from allergies should see one. An allergist is a professional that specializes in treating allergic conditions, and when you visit him, they will tell you what you are allergic to and how to avoid the triggers.

Some of the telltale signs that it’s time to see an allergist include:

You have obvious allergy symptoms such as a stuffy nose, watery eyes, and cough that have been around for more than 3 months and are making it hard for you to work or sleep.
You have tried a couple of over-the-counter medications, and none seems to work.
You frequently get plenty of headaches, sinus infections, ear infections, and a stuffy nose.
You snore or have trouble staying asleep.
You have other underlying health problems such as thyroid disease, heart disease, glaucoma, diabetes, enlarged prostate, kidney disease, liver disease, high blood pressure, etc.

What will the allergist do when you see them?

There are plenty of things the allergist will do. The common ones being:

Confirm that you are suffering from allergies

Even if you show all the allergy symptoms, only a doctor will confirm that you are truly suffering from allergies. The doctor will undertake a battery of tests and zero in on the actual allergy that you have.

You should note that sometimes you show allergy signs, yet you are having an infection. The allergy doctor will help clarify this after doing the tests.

Identify the triggers and advice you on what to do

After doing the allergy tests, the doctor will know the exact allergy you are suffering from and the things triggering the reaction. For example, if you are suffering from food allergies, the allergies might be triggered by nuts, milk, and other products. The doctor will help you determine the triggers.

Help come up with a treatment plan.

Knowing the allergy and triggers isn’t enough if you can’t treat it. The allergy doctor will help come up with a treatment plan to help you know what you need to do. The plan includes the kind of medicine to take and when to take it, ways to avoid the allergy triggers, and how to prepare for any serious reaction that might come about.

Different areas have different medications. The doctor will find out the available medications and advise you on the right ones to take.

What should you look for in an allergist?

While there are many allergists you can go to, not all are qualified to test and help you come with a treatment plan—you need to be cautious and ensure that you hire the right one.

One of the things to consider is the qualifications of the doctor. Has the doctor gone to school and got the relevant qualifications? You need to know about this.

You also need to consider whether the doctor is authorized by the relevant regulatory bodies to practice medicine in your local area. Finally, confirm the doctor’s experience. How long has the doctor been practicing? You need a professional that has been around for a long time.

When you find an ideal allergy specialist Manassas VA, ask as many questions as possible while in their office. The purpose of doing this is to gauge the doctor’s knowledge and understand your condition better. Some of the questions to ask include:

What are the reasons for my allergies?
Should I stop being outdoors?
Do I need to change my diet plan?
Will I need allergy shots?
How often should I take the medications?
How often should I come to the clinic for follow-up appointments?

Can Allergies Cause Headaches?

If you are wondering, can allergies cause headaches? Yes, they can. The headache symptoms include throbbing pain, nausea, and localized pain in areas such as the sinus and the face. In some cases, you have a throbbing or stabbing on one side of the head. In rare cases, you will have nausea.

The symptoms are usually worse when exposed to bright light.

Which allergies cause headaches?

According to an allergy specialist doctor, the headaches can be brought about by plenty of allergies, with the common ones being:

Allergic rhinitis: Also known as hay fever, allergic rhinitis is one of the leading causes of seasonal and indoor nasal allergies. The headache often comes about as a result of a blockage in the sinuses.

Food allergies: There is a direct relationship between food and headaches. When you take certain foods such as chocolate, artificial sweeteners, and aged cheese, they will mess with your stomach, which will, in turn, trigger a migraine in some people.

Experts believe that the headache is often due to the chemical in the food that triggers the pain and messes up the stomach.

Histamine: The body produces histamines in response to an allergic reaction. As they are fighting the allergens, the histamines decrease the blood pressure, which has been shown to lead to headaches.

What is the treatment for the headache?

Prevention is always better than cure, so before we even get to know the treatment of the condition, you must prevent it from coming about in the first place. If you know your allergy triggers, you should stay away from them. For example, if you are allergic to a certain food, stay away from it.

The same thing applies if you are allergic to pollen or any other material. Besides staying indoors when the pollen count is high, other things you can do to avoid headaches due to seasonal allergies include:

Install a dehumidifier
Keep the furnace filter clean
Vacuum and dust the house regularly
Remove the carpet from the living space
Wash as soon as you are back from the outside

Take allergy medications

If it’s too late to prevent coming into contact with the allergen, you should try controlling the condition. How do you do it?

Use antihistamines: From their name, antihistamines stop histamine production, a chemical produced by the body upon contact with an allergen. The antihistamines lessen the allergy symptoms.

Use decongestants: There are plenty of decongestants you can use to open up your stuffy nasal passages and ease the sinus pressure. When taking the decongestants, avoid steroid nasal sprays as they have been shown to worsen headaches.

Try allergy shots: Here, you will need to visit an allergy clinic and have allergy shots administered to you. The shots have been shown to cut back the headaches, and they become less severe.

What else should you do?

Besides the above, drink plenty of fluids that will keep the mucus thin. Water is the best fruit to take, but you can also take green tea that not only thins out the mucus but also contains natural antihistamines, which comes in handy at fighting allergy symptoms.

You also should rinse out the nasal passages to remove the allergens from the nose while cleaning the nasal lining.

When should you see a doctor?

Although most allergy headaches go away, sometimes they are too severe, and you have to see an allergy doctor Manassas VA. You should see a doctor if the headache is preventing you from going on with your regular life. Is the headache so severe that you can’t go to work or do any other thing? It’s time to see a specialist.

What Helps Allergies At Home?

When you are suffering from seasonal allergies, the best solution is to see an allergy specialist who will undertake a battery of tests and recommend the best medication for the condition. Unfortunately, not all of us love hospitals or have the resources to visit one.

What should you do if you fall into one of these categories? The best way out is to control the condition at home. Are you wondering what helps with allergies at home? There are plenty of things you can do. Some of them include:

Keep the filters in top condition.

Dirty air conditioners and furnace filters will worsen your condition, so ensure they are clean and in pristine condition. This means they should not have holes in them. Thankfully, you don’t need to hire a professional to help with the filters—you only need to access their panel and remove them. You can clean or replace them depending on their current condition.

If you don’t currently have the filters in your home, you can add them, either as standalone room units or central heating and air system. According to the American college of allergy, asthma, and immunology, if you have a single room, install a unit with a HEPA filter. To get the most from the filter, ensure that the CADR (clean air delivery rate) is right for the size of the room you are using.

If you have a central and air conditioning system already installed in the house, you can turn it into a filtration system for the entire house by installing a better air filter. Thankfully, there are plenty of permanent and disposable options you can go with.

Herbal teas

When taken properly, herbal teas can work magic. These teas usually have anti-inflammatory effects, which significantly reduce allergy symptoms. Some of the teas you should try out include: stinging nettle, milk thistle, ginkgo, and red clover.

Nose cleansing

It’s common for pollen to adhere to the mucus membranes hence the constant irritation. To alleviate the symptoms, cleanse the nasal passages using Neti pot or nasal spray and flush out the nasal passages.

Do acupuncture

Acupuncture has been shown to relieve the acute symptoms of allergy and at the same time treat the root problems of the condition. While you can do the acupuncture by yourself by following online videos, it’s wise that you have a professional do it for you to reduce the risks of accidents occurring.

Keep as much pollen out of the house as possible.

Besides installing a highly efficient filtration system, keep the windows closed during peak pollen hours. When you get in the house, remove your shoes, so you don’t bring any pollen inside.

If possible, change your clothes before you step into the house so you don’t bring in the pollen that might have clung to your fabric.

Detoxify your body

Studies show that toxins worsen the allergies in the body. The liver is a great mediator of inflammation, and when you have a lot of toxins in the liver, you have a lot of inflammation, and the allergies flare-up.

When you detox your body, you get rid of sugar, fried foods, and other toxins, reducing inflammation. The best way to detoxify the body is to use liver-supportive foods and herbs such as turmeric, milk thistle, citrus fruits, nuts, and artichoke.

See a doctor

You can indeed control allergies at home but if you have tried everything without success, find allergy doctor Manassas VA to recommend the best course of action. When getting an allergist, ensure that are experienced and know what they are doing.