The Fall Equinox is on September 21, just a little under a week away.  If you suffer from seasonal allergies in the Fall, you know that despite the calendar, the season started early.

The crazy weather this past summer has contributed to high grass and ragweed populations.  Since Fall is the prime time for these plants to spread their pollen, higher populations mean more plants producing more pollen. This means you can be feeling miserable sooner than later. In fact, if you live in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Plains or the drought-stricken areas of Texas and Oklahoma you are already experiencing medium to high pollens counts each day..

In addition, the flooding in the northeast is contributing a new cast member to the Fall allergy party....mold.

Short of staying inside til the first freeze, what can you do to minimize your exposure to Fall allergens?  The first thing is to arm yourself with a reliable pollen forecast.  You can easily get this information from http://Pollen.Com. There you will find state maps and you can enter your ZIP code for a personalized forecast.  This information is important because you want to plan your outdoor schedule as much as possible around times when pollen counts are low.  I realize that your favorite college team probably won't schedule their games in accordance with your need for low pollen counts, but if you know in advance that game day will be a high pollen day, you can plan accordingly.  That may result in reducing your tail-gating time, drinking plenty of water (hydration is key with allergies) and possibly taking a nondrowsy antihistamine (like loratadine) before you leave for the game.

If you are outside on high pollen days, you can protect yourself by wearing a Q-Mask for pollen.  Also, it is very important that when you get back home and come inside, you don't spread the pollen that is on your clothes and in your hair all over the house.  This means changing clothes in the bathroom, where there are lots of hard surfaces that are easy to clean.  You also want to take a shower and wash your hair.  Wash your clothing with a little Allergen Wash to remove the pollen and to keep from spreading it onto your other clothes in the wash.

More and more health care providers are extolling the benefits of sinus and nasal irrigation as part of a seasonal allergy plan.  This includes using a Neti-Pot or Sinu-Pulse to gently rinse pollens from the nasal passages, sinus and throat.

At home, keep windows and doors closed and keep pets inside.  Pets will only bring in pollen on their fur and spread it all over the house. Something you tried to personally prevent when you showered and changed clothes! If you have a HEPA air cleaner, make sure it is running on the medium or high setting to capture the pollens you may inadvertently bring inside.

With a little planning, seasonal allergies won't keep you from the Fall fun.

Til Next Time

Cheryl
The Allergy Store