If you sneeze your head off each time the allergy season arrives, you aren’t alone.
The condition can make some people take to their beds at least till those pesky allergens dissipate.
The bad news is that there is no cure for allergies but the good news is that you can keep the symptoms at bay with a few home remedies for allergies.
What Are Seasonal Allergies?
Also known as ‘hay fever’, seasonal allergies usually occur only during spring, summer, and fall and it depends on what you are allergic to.
You can suffer from an attack when allergens come in contact with the membrane lining the nose, eyelids, or covering the whites of your eyes.
If you suffer from allergic reactions in the spring, you are probably allergic to alder, oak, olive, and oak trees.
Similarly, if you start sneezing and tearing up in summer, chances are you are allergic to timothy, Bermuda, and orchard grass.
People who experience allergies during the fall are usually only sensitive against ragweed.
However, some people may react adversely to one type of pollen more than another so their allergies can flare up in two seasons at once.
Mold spores, for instance, can remain airborne for long periods of time year-round.
Common Symptoms
Seasonal allergies can trigger a series of debilitating symptoms.
They can make your nose, the back of your throat, eyes, and the roof of your mouth itch, and the sensation may start without warning.
It can be followed by a runny nose, watery eyes, and/or stuffed sinuses.
Children who suffer from stuffy noses during this season may also get an ear infection and the lining of their nose may also become inflamed.
In severe cases, the eyes may turn red and start to itch uncontrollably and in lethal cases, air passages may swell shut as well.
The severity of the symptoms differs with the season but the chronically allergic can suffer year-round.
Home Remedies For Allergies
While over the counter medication can give instant relief, they also come with side effects that can do more harm than good.
Home remedies for allergies are the safest solutions to keep those annoying reactions at bay. Here are some you can use:
1. Drink Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar can do more than make a salad taste better and clean your showers to a sparkling hue. It can also help you control your allergies.
Just a tablespoon a day will reduce mucous production and give your lymphatic system a deep clean to keep your sinuses clear of allergens.
If downing a spoonful of apple cider vinegar is not to your taste, just dilute it in a cup of warm water with a bit of honey before drinking it.
2. Workout Regularly
The last thing on your mind when you are sneezing your head off and have a splitting headache is to work out.
However, it may benefit you more than medication can. Do 30-minute workouts every day, preferably before you suffer from an attack.
The rigorous activity reduces inflammation in the nasal passages, which can reduce allergy symptoms to the point that you won’t be bedridden.
If pollen counts are high outdoors, relegate your workouts indoors to reduce exposure.
3. Consume Local Honey
Your body reacts to allergens because it deems them hazardous for your health.
Your eyes and nose start to run because that is your immune system’s way to flush those substances from your system as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, you cannot tell your body that that pollen and grass will not kill you.
However, you can control your immune response by teaching it that they aren’t deadly. Do that exposing it to small doses of pollen and grass that can irritate it.
The best way to do that without causing a dangerous reaction is by consuming local honey.
This is understood because it is made by bees from things that they find outside in nature.
As such, this honey has traces of pollen that may be making you sneeze or fall sick.
Taking a tablespoon a day will help. While it is not a magical cure that will stop your allergies, it can reduce symptoms overtime making them manageable.
4. Use A Neti Pot
These may look strange, but you can relax your sinuses and reduce your allergy symptoms significantly by using Neti pots.
The treatment flushes out your nasal passages with saline solution to flush out allergens and loosen mucus at the same time.
Using the pot is simple. First, fill the pot with a mixture of salt and warm water. You can use distilled or boiled warm water.
Now tilt your head to the side and using the nozzle, pour the saline solution into one nostril until it flows out the other one.
Repeat the process on the other nostril till you get the same result. Do not use tap water as it can contain bacteria, which you really don’t want in your system.
5. Take A Hot Shower Or Inhale Steam
A hot shower can do more than soothe aching muscles. The steaming water can also clear stuffy nasal passages and unclog your sinuses.
Just a quick one once you get inside can remove allergens from your body and flush them from your nose and eyes.
This should be the first thing you do if you come inside after a day spent gardening, especially if you have been weeding or pruning.
If you don’t want to waste time taking a shower every time your sinuses get clogged, inhale some steam instead.
The steam can flush out mucus and moisten dry sinuses almost as well as a warm shower can.
Here is what you should do. Pour some boiling water in a bowl and drape, drape a towel over your head and bend over the steam.
Inhale it for five or ten minutes. Just make sure you don’t bend too close to the hot water or you may get nasty burns.
Allergies can get the best of you if you don’t learn to manage them.
Besides making your life uncomfortable, it can prevent you from spending time with loved ones outside.
The aforementioned home remedies for allergies can go a long way in remedying that
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