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It’s hard to believe that fall is already here. The allergy season is rapidly approaching. It’s necessary for anyone that faces these seasonal struggles to prepare themselves for the upcoming months.
If you’re one in the 50 million annual Americans that find themselves taking precautionary measures to battle the numerous amount of allergens that flare-up in the fall, like ragweed, mold, and dust mites, it can seem hopeless to try and make lifestyle changes that can actually help and that you’ll notice.
However, there are at least some proactive life hacks that can make having allergies slightly more tolerable. Here are some of our favorite tips and tricks to get you prepared for this year’s allergy season.
1. Do Some Research Ahead of Time
When it comes to allergies, knowledge is power. The more you can educate yourself about your allergies, symptoms, and reasons why you may be suffering, the better of you’ll be when crafting a plan of attack to defeat your allergens.
Start with seeking an allergist in your area that can recommend medications and best practices. Going straight to the experts themselves are the most direct and timely way to receive advice about your set of allergies.
Next, start researching about the pollen in your particular area. Different areas across the country are more susceptible to common allergens like ragweed and sage, so tools like the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology’s pollen tracker can give you up to date pollen counts that show what’s in the air that particular day.
2. Use Technology to Your Advantage
During the fall, most allergens live outdoors and spread in all sorts of ways. Whether it’s a windy autumn day or a neighbor kicking up pollen by mowing grass or raking leaves, it’s more than likely you will face your triggers by stepping outdoors.
Add in your symptoms of headache, sneezing, or even congestion, it’s easy to not want to leave your house if you’re feeling icky. When you feel like this, you can take one path that many people either don’t think about or simply are unaware of: the use of technology.
Managing allergies during this season can cause some confusion or anxiety for some people. If you are in this boat, the added circumstances make seasonal allergies even tougher to deal with!
That’s where technology really shines through—especially when you are feeling so out of sorts you don’t want to leave your home.
Conveniently, digital delivery services like goPuff have made so many people’s lives easier because of their ability to drop off your much-needed over-the-counter medications right to your home.
Getting your Tylenol to cure your headache, non-drowsy allergy relief tablets or lozenges to aid your sore throat can give you peace of mind rather than worrying about spending time and energy at the store.
Another extremely reliable service to check out is telemedicine, one that’s really been on the rise the past few years.
Teladoc, an industry leader in its space, is a simple replacement of going to the doctor and allows you to do so from your home. As easy as filling out a medical questionnaire and speaking with a medical professional anytime 24/7, virtual appointments are definitely the trend for the future.
3. Rethink Your Outdoor Activities
Fall is filled with some of our favorite activities: apple picking, trick-or-treating, hayrides, and many more.
However, few actually realize that some of these activities (and the fact that they take place outside) can be key reasons your allergies will flare up. Now, we’re not saying to avoid your favorite things, but we recommend you do some preparation to make sure you’re not doing things on high-pollen days.
When planning these outings, it is absolutely key to remember that the weather is everything.
Your location, temperatures, and weather conditions are factors that play into how much potential allergens you can be exposed to. Cooler temperatures day are the most ideal since cold, rainy days are more susceptible to mold and dust mites to thrive. Scorching hot days aren’t great either due to air pollution that can particularly hit those with allergies and asthma.
4. Remember the Home Can be an Epicenter
It would be naive to think that allergens are only outdoors, and while many of these triggers live out in nature, it’s necessary to remember that your home can house allergens too, eventually leading to symptoms.
Here are some of the simplest household hacks you can take to prevent all sorts of triggers from making your home an epicenter of dust.
Begin with utilizing air conditioning as your source for cool air. It might seem ideal to open the windows in the fall. Sounds idyllic to expose the cool fall breeze through your house. However, will also open the house to allergy inflaming pollen.
Another hack for anyone with allergies is to incorporate quality air filters throughout your home air handling system. Air filters specially made to rid the air of allergens are a smart investment.
Finally, make sure you’re constantly cleaning surfaces around your home. Although cleaning dust, pet dander, and other allergens can be thrown around while tidying up, ridding your household surfaces (especially the ones you’re constantly touching like counters, tables, and shelves), will keep dust particles from sitting and contributing to the poor air quality.
5. Use Natural Items to Boost Immunity
If you don’t frequently get sick, or your allergies only come in spurts, you may not be as educated on natural remedies.
Turns out there are some effective items around your home that can help you combat allergy symptoms.
Let’s start with honey. Many with allergies find honey is a great source to add to meals (or eat by itself). Honey has natural immune building properties. Since there are technically minimal amounts of pollen in honey, adding this to your diet can, over time, build up your tolerance to pollen outdoors.
Another one of our favorite tricks is using local herbs around the house to relieve some pain. Peppermint oils, eucalyptus, and other essential oils are filled with microbes. These oils can open up your respiratory system. Further, they can help clear some of the mucus that makes it hard to breathe.
And last but not least, remember to fill up on your daily supplements, and fruits and vegetables will keep your metabolism filled with great nutrients that can fight off symptoms.
As you start thinking about how you’ll prepare for the upcoming changes in season, be sure to keep these tips and tricks in your back pocket ready to use. If you want to stay in the loops with all the best hacks to maintain a healthy lifestyle, be sure to follow along with our hacks page!