Anyone who has dealt with allergies can tell you they can make any day miserable. Whether your allergies keep you from going outdoors, prevent you from snuggling with your favorite furry pet, or just bother you from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep, you’re probably looking for solutions to make them go away or at least enable you to manage them better. We’ve asked some experts who deal with allergies of all kinds for their tips and have shared them below!
Tips from Chiropractors
“It is almost impossible to completely avoid seasonal allergies this time of year,” says Dr. Tiffany Leonida of Healthy Start Chiropractic. “As a wellness practitioner, it would be against my good faith to tell you to avoid the environmental triggers. Instead of avoiding the outdoors, make sure that you remove any potential allergens when coming indoors for the evening. Take a shower, wash your face and hands and change your clothes. This will remove any allergens that remain on you and prevent symptoms in the evening hours. Additionally, you may run a HEPA air filter for 24 hours a day in your bedroom. This portable room filter will clean the air of pollens and dust. Nutritional support for allergy symptoms is especially important, including adequate supplies of vitamins A, C, D and E, colostrums, magnesium and an omega-3 supplement. Several herbal formulations can also help bolster immunity in older children.”
“Besides washing up and changing clothes after being outdoors, I would also recommend making a conscious effort not to rub itchy, watery eyes and noses,” continues Tiffany. “If you notice allergy symptoms worsening, a nasal rinse or neti-pot rinse is an excellent way to remove any allergens that have already entered your nasopharynx cavity. As a chiropractor, I can’t close without saying that chiropractic adjustments can help by giving the immune system that boost it needs to eliminate allergy symptoms as well, so make an appointment with your chiropractor, too!”
“Allergies are extremely common in the Lincoln area,” adds Dr. Corey Dousharm of Lincoln Family Chiropratic. “Many people just ‘deal’ with them or turn to over-the-counter medications. Chiropractic care is a phenomenal alternative to just dealing with the problem. Adjustments help to increase immune function by allowing open communication throughout the nervous system. When there is a decrease in nervous input, the body is unable to respond as it should. In most, this is seen as the hypersensitivity to airborne pollens, and other allergens. I’ve seen great results with regular care throughout the year, along with some sinus and cranial work to relieve some of the congestion and sinus pressure many experience with the coughing and sneezing.”
Tips from Cleaning Companies
Allergies aren’t just triggered by environmental factors that you find outdoors, they can also be triggered by things you find in your own home or office as well. Unfortunately, trying to clean these spaces yourself may not be enough (and may actually make triggers worse). If you aren’t skilled in the type of cleaning that removes allergens, you may just be disturbing the substances and making them more prevalent in the air and instead of improving your environment, you’re actually making it more harmful. If you feel your allergies are being triggered by indoor irritants, you should consider hiring a cleaning company that is skilled in providing ‘green’ cleaning services.
Angela Paolini of ServiceMaster says, “Our green cleaning services are GS-42 certified and improve air quality, which can lower sick building symptoms by 20% to 50%, while cold and influenza are reduced by 9% to 20% and allergies and asthma drop by 8% to 25%.” Their green cleaning services trap dust and other allergens and remove them rather than just redistribute them back into the air. Their cleaning products are also free of surfactants and wetting agents and contain no ingredients that are considered corrosive, alkaline or acidic. They have no VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and are used in all industries from healthcare, education, government, hospitality, property management, manufacturing and many more.
Interior Dry Cleaning is another cleaning company that is committed to the environment as well as your family’s health. Their water-less carpet cleaning system removes allergens from carpets while providing no drying time and no harmful chemicals.
Tips from a Candle Maker
Candle lovers may be surprised to know that those candles that they think are enhancing the harmony of their homes are actually causing negative reactions in them and their family members! “We have a lot of customers coming in complaining of headaches, runny noses, coughing, etc. when they burn candles or tarts from some of the major candle companies,” says Sarah Allison of Hallow Candle Co. “This reaction is because of the ingredients that those major candle companies use in their products: paraffin, additives and unnatural preservatives. The only way to get away from these reactions is to use candles and tarts made with natural waxes. I have had so many customers back to the store revitalized and excited they can use candles again. Nature works with our bodies to keep us balanced and that’s why we only use 100% soy wax at Hallow Candle Co., creating a healthy environment for you, your family and your home!”
Tips from a Dermatologist
Though they differ from regular seasonal allergies, skin allergies are still a nuisance and, depending on their severity, can seriously impede your everyday life. There are about six million chemical agents in our immediate environment and out of these, approximately 3000 act as allergens to the skin. Skin allergies occur when these allergens bind to certain carrier proteins and present themselves to the immune system of the skin and the body. One of the most common skin allergies is contact dermatitis. This refers to either an acute or a chronic allergic inflammatory reaction of the skin caused by certain chemical, physical or biological substances. Generally, there is itching, redness in the area and, in acute phase, oozing, pain and swelling. In the sub acute stage, there is crusting and scaling with drying up of the oozing fluid. In chronic contact dermatitis, the skin becomes thickened and hardened with pigmentation.
Some tips to prevent contact allergy include avoiding the allergen that may be causing the allergy, using mild soaps only, avoiding contact with detergents, using a barrier emollient cream to avoid further direct contact with the allergen, avoiding sun exposure, avoiding excess alcohol, avoiding hot, spicy or fried foods, including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet and avoiding red meats and eggs.
Of course, if you experience any skin irritation that does not go away or is particularly bothersome or painful, making an appointment with your dermatologist right away is a good way to make sure it is nothing serious and your doctor will probably be able to prescribe something to make the irritation more bearable until it heals.
Don’t let allergies interfere with your enjoyment of the new warmer weather! If you’re experiencing seasonal allergies, consider visiting a chiropractor and make sure to take a look at your home and office environment for culprits that could be aggravating symptoms. If skin allergies are bothering you, follow the above suggestions and consider visiting your dermatologist. You shouldn’t have to deal with allergies if there are solutions available to help you feel healthy and able to enjoy all the season has to offer.