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How to Avoid and Prevent Seasonal Allergies

As anxious as you may be to open all the windows of your house and get outside to enjoy the warmer weather, you might want to follow the advice of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in their comprehensive book Ask a Nurse: From Home Care to Hospitals if you suffer from allergic reactions.

The following list offers tips for the prevention and management of seasonal allergies.

Preventive Measures

• Increase your dietary intake of essential fatty acids. Good sources of these are fish oils and flaxseed oil.
• Increase your intake of vitamin C to at least 1 gram (1,000 milligrams) a day. There is evidence that vitamin C lowers blood levels of histamine.
• Monitor pollen and mold counts. Keep windows and doors closed and avoid outdoor activity when they are high.
• Use an air conditioner or air purifier.
• Get rid of dust collectors such as carpeting, throw pillows and heavy drapes.
• Use a dehumidifier to help reduce the growth of dust mites, molds and fungi during summer humidity.
• Avoid doing yard work, mowing the lawn or raking leaves.
• Wear a filter or mask to prevent inhalation of allergens. Clean your home as often as possible to remove pollen, dust, mold and animal dander.
• Wash your bedding, synthetic pillows and mattress pads often in hot water.
• Encase your mattress and pillows in plastic to reduce the amount of dust mite particles in the air.
• Avoid hanging clothes, sheets and blankets outside to dry.
• Read product labels carefully so you can avoid substances you react to.

Self-Care Remedies

• Use a cool compress to soothe itchy, red, swollen eyes.
• Flush your nose with saline nasal spray or a homemade saline solution (1 teaspoon of salt in 1 quart of lukewarm water) using an enema bucket with a soft tube to spray the solution into your nose while you bend over a sink.
• Apply calamine lotion or add 1/2 to 1 cup of oatmeal to a tub of warm water when you bathe to soothe the itch of skin allergies.
• Try herbal therapy. Herbs that may be helpful in treating allergies include stinging nettle (in tea form) and feverfew, ginger and gingko balboa (in pill form).

Not only does Ask a Nurse contain preventive and self-care remedies for allergies, it’s a source of practical advice for all the most common medical ailments, including other spring and summer problems such as insect bites, stings and sun burn.

Courtesy of Feature Source