Relief For When You're Stuffy and Miserable

By Cindy Williams, RN

Coordinator, Health Ministries

Seasonal allergies often cause people to feel quite miserable, even if it is for a limited time. Relief can seem far away. Here are some ideas that may help.

Reduce exposure to environmental allergens by doing the following:

• Stay inside when pollen counts are high. This is usually when it is dry and windy. Pollen counts are often highest in the early morning. Pollen counts are posted on many weather apps.
• Keep windows and doors closed at night and when pollen counts are high.
• Use the air conditioning in your car and house if you can.
• Avoid outdoor tasks, such as mowing lawns, if you are allergic to grasses. Find someone to hire for these jobs. It will be money well spent.
• Wear a pollen mask if you do have to do outside chores.
• Shower and change clothes at the end of the day when you have been outside. This will remove pollen from your hair and skin.
• Make sure that the filters in your heating and air conditioning systems are changed regularly.
• Put a portable HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter in your bedroom and use it at night.

Treat the symptoms:

• Rinse your nasal passages with a saline irrigation solution. Rinsing will flush out allergens and mucus which helps to relieve congestion. A squeeze bottle or neti pot are good alternatives to use.
• Use locally produced honey. There is some evidence that this can help desensitize you to pollens.
• Make a natural antihistamine drink. Blend two organic/non-sprayed, washed lemons with peel in four cups of water until completely blended. Add water to make two liters. Sweeten with two – four tablespoons of (preferably) raw honey. Drink throughout the day, preferably near or before meals. Many have found this to be helpful although there are no studies to confirm it.
• Add nutritional yeast to your diet. One study found that one teaspoon a day over four weeks reduced allergy symptoms significantly.
• Use over the counter medications such as Claritin, Zyrtec, or Allegra if needed.
• Hot and cold hydrotherapy treatments over the sinus area can provide a great deal of relief from congestion. An easy way to do this is in the shower.
• Decongestants like Sudafed can provide temporary relief from a stuffy nose. However, they can make symptoms worse if used for more than a few days.
• Allergy shots (allergen immunotherapy), in which regular injections of tiny amounts of an allergen are administered to desensitize a person to the allergen, are available for those who have significant and prolonged symptoms.

References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hay-fever/in-depth/seasonal-allergies/art-20048343

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flashback-friday-best-food-for-hay-fever-seasonal-allergies/?utm_source=NutritionFacts.org&utm_campaign=cda3c1cafe-RSS_VIDEO_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_40f9e497d1-cda3c1cafe-26492517&mc_cid=cda3c1cafe&mc_eid=d238303415

https://acaai.org/allergies/seasonal-allergies

This article is part of a continuing series of health during these COVID times. For other articles, please see www.uccsda.org/healthministries.

Photo by Brittany Colette on Unsplash