Oak Pollen Allergy Relief
Oak pollen allergies frequently bring symptoms of coughing, chest congestion, sneezing, wheezing, itchy eyes, sinus congestion, sore throat, and headache. Annually, beginning in March and lasting as late as May, central Texas is coated with sticky, yellow-green pollen from the live oak trees, and hundreds of people suffer respiratory allergy symptoms as a result. However, there are basic strategies you can implement to make oak pollen allergy season a much happier time of year.
Oak Pollen Allergy Relief Step 1: avoidance.
When possible, avoid extended outdoor activities. Pollen is transported by the wind from the trees to whatever it encounters, and that includes allergy sufferers. If being outdoors is unavoidable, wear a dust mask. This is especially important if you are completing gardening, yard work or outside maintenance that stirs up debris.
With warmer spring temperatures, it may be tempting to leave the windows open. But doing so will allow oak pollen to blow into your house and accumulate. This quickly becomes evident by the accumulation of oak pollen on your windowsills. Keep the windows shut as much as possible, especially in the bedroom. To further help lower indoor pollen accumulation, change your HVAC filters periodically. It may also be useful to purchase a free-standing air purifier and run it while sleeping.
Oak Pollen Allergy Relief Step 2: clean contacted surfaces.
Some exposure to oak pollen is inevitable. When you come indoors, take time to rinse your eyes, face and wash your hands. Also, rinse your nose out several times a day. This can be done with either a simple nasal saline solution, available at most drug stores or, alternatively, make your own saline using sea salt, water, and use a neti pot for application, available at most natural food stores. Removing of the majority of the pollen in your nasal passages can provide considerable allergy relief.
Oak Pollen Allergy Relief Step 3: Strive for sustained, allergy elimination.
The most common pharmaceutical allergy treatment options are decongestants, antihistamines and corticosteroids. All of these carry significant side effects. Additionally, while they may provide immediate symptom relief, they do not typically provide a long-term allergy elimination solution.
Safe, convenient non-pharmacutical treatments for respiratory allergies are available. One of these treatments is herbal therapy based on traditional Chinese herbal medicine. In addition to immediate symptom relief, a good formula will help prevent secondary infection, and with continued use, provide allergy elimination. Unlike other herbal therapies, traditional Chinese herbal therapies contain multiple herbs that work in conjunction with each other. Therefore, they often provide greater relief than single herbs.
Whatever herbs you use to provide oak pollen allergy relief, it is important to include herbs that provide symptom relief, immune modulation and secondary infection prevention. For immune modulation, which will help with lasting allergy elimination, astragalus root is extremely beneficial. All herbal remedies should come from trusted sources, made by companies that employ stringent manufacturing guidelines.
It is essential to remember that if you suffer severe asthma-like symptoms, marked by wheezing and difficulty getting enough air, emergency treatment may be necessary. If wheezing causes severe tightness in the chest, light-headedness, or a feeling of fainting, do not hesitate to dial 911. The majority of asthma related deaths in the United States are preventable. By reducing oak pollen exposure, both outdoors and indoors in combination with carefully constructed herbal therapy, the spring can be a happier, healthier time for allergy sufferers.
Necessary Research Steps Before Selecting Your Allergy Relief
Though allergy may not be listed among serious diseases, it is an extremely irritating one that leaves a person helplessly itching, scratching, and sneezing all the time. Since we know that about 35 million Americans bear the allergy cross, we can understand how important allergy relief is.
While proactive ways can be used to block the onset of an attack, it is most of the time not possible to isolate oneself completely from potential allergens. This means that all who are prone to different types of allergies should always be ready with proper means for allergy relief as well.
The right type of allergy relief has to be chosen depending upon the root cause of the allergy. Most sufferers may be familiar with the symptoms of an allergy attack like sneezing or inflammation but they may not know what exactly has triggered it off. These triggers have to be researched and written down.
While the proximity to a specific object can definitely cause an allergic response, certain types of allergies could be restricted to seasons - like to spring when flowers bloom, or to a rainy season when water pounds the roof. Allergy relief can be considered only after rightly establishing the connection of an allergic attack to these various factors.
Dust or pollen can be allergenic to many people. Those who are allergic to dust may get an attack when dusting the house, or sweeping the floor. Those who are allergic to pollen may start sneezing when they are working in the garden or in the vicinity of flowers. Once you become sure of what has set off an attack, you can start working on allergy relief measurements.
The first rule of allergy relief is to avoid contact with objects that could initiate a bout of allergy. This means that once you know that you are allergic to pollen, you should preferably wear a mask when you are in the vicinity of flowers that mass produce pollen.
Since it may not be possible to completely avoid airborne pollen, for those who are severely allergic to pollen, allergy relief may be possible only if they keep away from open spaces as much as possible.
Those who are prone to dust allergy can manage allergy relief by routinely cleaning furniture, curtains, and all nooks and corners of the house so that dust never gets a chance to accumulate, and also by never getting involved in larger cleaning up operations like cleaning the attic or the garage.
However, these preventive measures may not always work so that relying on drugs could become a must for allergy relief. Though over-the-counter medicines are available for allergy relief, it is best to take drugs under the guidance of a doctor. It is also good to avoid antihistamine drugs, especially if you need to drive after taking the drug, because it could cause drowsiness in some people.
Allergy Natural Relief May Help Fight Cancer
Can an allergy be a sign of having a natural relief for cancer and other serious illnesses?
According to a recently published study from Texas Tech University, it probably can. Dr Zuber Mulla, an epidemiologist at Texas Tech University, who led the study team, said, "More work is still needed, but the numbers show that allergy is a statistically significant protective factor."
The studies were into the causes of ovarian cancer, and it found that the chances of allergy sufferers succumbing to cancer were much lower than those of non-allergy sufferers. The only possible reason they could suggest was that adverse reactions to things such as pollen or dust mites stimulate the immune system and make it more effective in fighting off true enemies such as cancer.
The study carried out by Texas Tech was into ovarian cancer, and it found that asthmatics had a 30 per cent less chance of developing ovarian cancer than non-asthmatics. It also found that children allergic to airborne irritants had a 40 per cent less chance of developing leukemia than children who did not suffer from allergies.
This is by no means the only study that has found this link between allergy reaction and resistance to potentially fatal illnesses. Earlier studies have been carried out by Cornell University, Minnesota University, Harvard, and also the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening, and these have produced similar kinds of findings.
Canadian studies have been published showing that people who suffer from hay fever or similar allergies have an up to 58 per cent less chance of developing pancreatic cancer, compared to people who do not suffer from allergies.
Perhaps these findings should not be all that surprising. All of us want a strong immune system so as to protect us from cancer and other potentially fatal illnesses. But very often, it seems, our immune system is just a little too strong. Rather than just protecting us from serious illness, it can err on the safe side and raise the defenses to what are really harmless intruders in the form of, for example, pollen or dust mites.
The result, as we all know, is all the unpleasant symptoms of allergy reaction - sneezing, a runny nose, watering eyes, and a feeling of general wretchedness. And this can go on for weeks if not months in severe cases, prompting us to seek natural remedies for hay fever and other allergies.
But the lesson to learn here is that perhaps those of us who suffer in varying degrees from hay fever or other allergic reactions should count our blessings and realise that our immune system is only doing its job, albeit too effectively for our own good, but that it is nevertheless keeping us safe from other, far more deadly, conditions.
Dog Allergy Relief – Natural Home Remedies For Your Pets Allergies
Is there a possibility that your dog has allergies? They are no different from you and me. They can suffer from all types of allergies including food, environmental and seasonal allergies. If your pet is scratching, itching and sneezing there is a good chance it is allergies causing it. There are home remedies that will help to relieve these symptoms and alleviate their suffering...
Give your dog a bath in cool colloidal oatmeal. This will help to soothe the itching. A dog that is constantly licking and scratching at his paws could be experiencing the affects of allergies. A cool bath with Epson salts can help relieve the itching. Watch him closely so he does not drink the water. You may need to change your dogs diet. He could be reacting to one or more of the ingredients in his food. Watch him closely and there is a chance you will see him react to something either in the house or out in the yard. He could be allergic to his bedding. Some dogs are allergic to cottons and wools. If he starts to experience an allergic reaction when he is on his bed, you will want to change out the bed or type of fabric that covers it.
Like people, dogs can also be allergic to pollens from flowers, grass and other outdoor allergens. Natural remedies are the best solution for your pets' allergies. You can help to relieve his symptoms and ease his suffering just by watching to see what is causing the allergy.
Allergy Relief Air Purifier – Making Indoor Air Healthier
According to the EPA, studies done in the US and Europe have found that most people spend more than 90% of their time indoors and that the concentration of pollutants indoors is higher than it is outdoors. Indoor air pollutants, including smoke, pet dander, dust mites, mold spores and pollen can trigger allergies, relief from which an allergy relief air purifier can provide. Air purifiers remove air contaminants, and are available as whole-house systems or individual room units. Some are also used for odor control. The three most common types of air purifiers used are ultraviolet light, HEPA filters and ionic or electrostatic technology.
UV systems are used predominantly in commercial settings, particularly hospitals and laboratories. Concentrated UV light kills germs and bacteria, including airborne viruses, making these systems extremely effective against illness. Only those particles that come in close contact with the UV bulb are killed, but others that come near it are genetically altered to render them incapable of reproducing. They are only effective in areas in close proximity to the light and are energy intensive and expensive. Although excellent at killing disease-causing germs and viruses, UV systems are not as effective as an allergy relief air purifier because they don't work against dust or pet dander.
HEPA (high efficiency particle absorbing) technology was developed during WWII. HEPA filters are a very effective allergy relief air purifier method as they are able to trap as much as 99.7% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, the size of most viruses, bacteria and allergens. One micron is equal to one millionth of a meter. A fan or blower circulates the air around the purifier unit and helps push it through the high density HEPA filter, trapping the microscopic particles. Filters must be replaced often for maximum effectiveness. Some units also include carbon filters which absorb odors from smoke, food or pets.
Ionic air purifiers use electrostatic energy to clean and purify room air. As with the HEPA system, a fan circulates and draws air filters in the unit and traps contaminating particles. The trapped contaminants are zapped with electrostatic energy and become positively charged. They are effective as an allergy relief air purifier because the positively charged particles attach themselves to the negatively charged plates in the unit, which are then wiped off. Clean air is then re-circulated back into the room. Although they require frequent cleaning ionic air purifiers are able to purify a large area and are relatively quiet.
Allergy Relief Without Drugs
There's a movement to take greater control of our own health. Those concerned about taking drugs unnecessarily are becoming interested in home remedies for common ailments. Home treatment of allergy symptoms can avoid the side effects and costs of commercially available preparations. Allergy relief from safe and effect natural sources are preferred.
Natural relief of allergy symptoms
The modern response to symptoms of all sorts is an immediate quest for a multi-ingredient, shotgun-style cure all. A better idea is to give our own defense mechanisms a chance to work. Home-based allergy relief aids our body's built-in healing ability. Diet and environment become more important in this holistic view, and chemical 'tweaks' by way of drugs are eliminated or reduced.
Our bodies have a great way of communicating needs to us. We respond by eating to combat hunger and drinking to relieve thirst. Handling allergies at home requires the same attentiveness - we have to be aware of physical messages in the same way. It doesn't just start with the sniffles. Prevention with anti-oxidants and a healthy lifestyle are also important.
Too often the basics are overlooked. When you are sick, don't simply ignore it. Rest and increased fluid intake mean a lot. Don't assume you can handle the normal daily stresses and workload. Your body needs a chance to heal, even with home remedies. And home remedies are cheaper and right there in your kitchen.
Remember simple chicken soup for a cold? The hot soup vapors help clear congested sinuses and the nutrition boosts your body's resources. Add to this the simple goodness of a bowl of hot soup eaten slowly - what a great way to relax! This is an element lacking in commercial medications - the 'taking care of myself' part is missing.
Foods used for allergy relief
When added to the diet before an allergic crisis hits, these foods can lessen the frequency and duration of allergies. For seasonal allergies, these are ideal:
• Green tea - the anti-histamines and anti-oxidants in green tea act as both a preventative and a treatment. Inhale the steam for added benefits.
• Raw Honey - Locally harvested honey contains small amounts of that area's allergens that can help build immunity when you exposed to the airborne versions. Honey is also a good source of non-processed sugars - add a little sweetness to your life! It can be mixed with all sorts of foods to replace refined sugars.
• Ginger tea - Ginger root can be boiled in water to make a tea of various strengths. Ginger is a good natural decongestant. Of course, sweeten with honey to taste.
• Fresh fruits - by increasing fresh fruits, you help replace fluids and vitamins your body uses up when fighting off an allergy.
Other tips
Home remedies for allergies are not just about diet. Your environment is something you should also pay close attention to. Air purification is important if you are allergic to pollen, dust and other airborne substances. Even if you can't avoid going outside or exposure to allergens, air purification still helps during sleep or when inside. Breathing allergen-free air will reduce symptoms and give your body a chance to bounce back from the day's exposure. You should also start using some of the home remedies above as soon as symptoms appear.
• Allergy headaches - Stretching or yoga can help lower stress levels and help your breathing, while keeping the pressures of the day from growing into a stronger headache. Massage is also wonderful.
• Increase fluids - Water losses are increased with allergies from the runny nose, sinus drainage and nose blowing. Without replacing this loss, you run the risk of dehydration that will extend the episode and lead to other problems, like headaches.
• Mild exercise - Limited exercise helps get you out of bed and keeps you from that downward cycle of 'blah'. Walking in the sunshine is one of the best natural mood enhancers. Pick a day when pollen isn't blowing around on the wind. But even if you have to stay inside, a short walk around the house can help.
• When you drive, keep the windows rolled up. This will help keep dust and pollen out of the car. Some people go so far as to have a light jacket for outside wear that they remove on entering the house to keep allergens out of their homes.
• Wash hands, clothes and hair regularly to keep from re-exposing yourself to the same allergens over and over.
• Use an air purifier, and leave it on to purify household air when you are away. Sometimes, you can create a kind of 'clean room' that will give you relief from exposure. Filters should be replaced before allergy season starts and again when pollen counts fall off.
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