Try these 10 Daily Habits to Reduce Your Hay Fever
Are you at the mercy of your hay fever? If itchy eyes, a runny nose and sneezing have taken over your life, changing your daily habits can help you manage your symptoms and reduce your exposure to the environmental allergens, such as pollens, that trigger them.
New habits can be hard to develop, so start with one that will be easy for you to implement, and work your way up from there.
With Spring on the horizon now is the perfect time to begin! But with many of our local community having spent extensive time inside their home for lockdown, we suspect this hay fever season may be more severe and effect more people than normal. Especially as we begin to increase the time we spend outside and emerge from these stricter lockdowns.
The following ten daily habits will help you put your symptoms back in their place:
- Keep your windows closed at times when the pollen count is highest (usually in the early morning and evening) to prevent pollen entering your home and triggering your symptoms.
- Ask our Naturopaths for a herbal formula shown to reduce symptoms of hay fever such as sneezing, nasal congestion and nasal itching.
- Reduce your intake of histamine-triggering foods and drinks, such as coffee and alcohol (especially beer, cider, and wine, which contain high histamine levels). Histamine is the chemical your immune system produces when exposed to allergens, responsible for the swelling and itching in your nasal passages and eyes. However, it is also found in some foods and drinks, and avoiding these may help reduce your symptoms.
- Vacuum your house frequently, preferably with a vacuum cleaner with a high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) filter. This can remove pollens and other allergens from your home, keeping them from causing symptoms.
- Take a probiotic that helps reduce the occurrence of allergy symptoms such as hay fever by improving the balance of bacteria in your gut.
- Wear wrap-around sunglasses and a hat with a brim to keep pollen out of your eyes to limit itchy, streaming, swollen eyes.
- Minimise pollen being spread throughout your house, by showering, washing your hair and changing your clothes as soon as you get home. Not only will this keep pollen from triggering your symptoms, but it will make less work for you when you vacuum.
- Wash your bed sheets frequently and at a high temperature to remove pollen that may have made its way into bed on your clothes, hair, or through your window. Dry your sheets indoors to prevent pollen sticking to them as they dry.
- Check tomorrow’s pollen forecast so you can be prepared to manage a high pollen day.
- Clean home surfaces with a wet cloth rather than a dry cloth which can spread pollens around the home.
Take Control…
To get on top of hay fever this season, have a chat with one of our Naturopathic Practitioner’s, we find our ‘Allergy and Reactivity Reduction Program’ really helps us create personalised steps so you can take back control. This personalised plan can help you to determine whether your diet is playing a role in your hay fever symptoms and enables you to clearly determine which are the best evidence informed natural medicines for you.
Use these ten daily habits in combination with a personalised program, to help reduce your symptoms and conquer hay fever, start today.
For further information or to book a consultation with a Naturopathic Practitioner contact the clinic on 5977 0117 or visit the website peninsulaherbaldispensary.com.au to book online.
Original article written by Gauri Yardi and posted by Metagenics. Updated by Peninsula Herbal Dispensary.
This article is intended to be informational only and represents the opinion of the author. It is not intended to be used as medical advice and does not take the place of advice from a qualified health care practitioner in a clinical setting. Please check with your healthcare practitioner before embarking upon any of the treatments discussed.