You want to sit outside and enjoy the mild temperatures and lovely spring air. But when you do, the result is sneezing, a runny nose, watery eyes, and a massive headache. Can you enjoy the outdoors without all these uncomfortable symptoms of a seasonal allergy attack?
Our expert team of providers at Neuropathy and Pain Centers of Texas believes you can, through the use of functional medicine. We consider more than your seasonal symptoms when you come to us to talk about allergies. We assess your lifestyle, diet, and underlying medical conditions before devising a management plan that may include multiple modalities, including chiropractic care.
Until you get your personalized care plan, here are a few tips to help you avoid allergy attacks during the height of allergy season.
Pollen, whether from trees, grasses, or those beautiful flowers, is the main allergen most folks with seasonal allergies must combat. One thing you may not realize is that pollen counts tend to vary throughout the day.
Usually pollen counts are highest in the late morning and early afternoon hours. If you can time your outside activities to avoid the middle of the day, you’ll likely suffer less from pollen exposure. During the hours when pollen counts are highest, you may want to remain indoors, using an air filter or air conditioning, and keeping your windows closed.
If grass pollen is an irritant for you, consider hiring someone to mow your lawn. If you find your symptoms are especially bad after you’ve been pulling weeds, that may also be a task that someone else should do.
If you can’t hire someone else to handle some of your outdoor tasks, take a few precautions. First, consider wearing a face mask when you’re doing yard work. A mask can filter out some of the pollen.
Second, be sure you change your clothes and shower as soon as possible after completing your outdoor tasks. Grains of pollen can cling to your clothing, hair, and skin, so the sooner you remove it, the less you breathe in.
Finally, try to do your outdoor tasks immediately after a good rain. The rain rinses away the pollen and clears it from the air, making it an ideal time to get outdoors and get things done.
One other tip: Use the dryer instead of hanging your clothing outside to dry. Even if you hang your clothes out at other times of the year, clothesline drying is something to avoid when your seasonal allergies are in full swing.
If you’d like to learn more about avoiding seasonal allergy attacks, or find out better ways to manage your specific allergens, schedule an appointment at Neuropathy and Pain Centers of Texas today. We have four offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, Waco, and Wichita Falls, Texas.
