It seems like just about everyone is an allergy sufferer these days, experiencing symptoms that are triggered by foods, medications, or environmental factors. What can you do to protect yourself and to ensure that you suffer fewer and less severe allergy attacks? Here are a few key things to implement to make that happen.
Make Use of Air Conditioning
The natural environment can be rough on your allergies, especially during the various allergy seasons. You may need a break from the frequent attacks caused by pollen, dust, and other irritants in the air. These small particles can bother your sinuses and keep you feeling unwell. Even though fresh air is good for you, when it is filled with allergens, it isn’t really fresh air.
You can avoid a lot of allergens by using the air conditioning in your home and in your car rather than opening windows to get some cool air. Close the windows at home and as you drive and let the air conditioning filter out allergens. It can do a good job of that for you and minimize your allergy symptoms. Keep that in mind as you try to survive allergy season. AC is your friend, and you want to make constant use of it.
Keep Your Home Clean
One of the best ways to minimize allergy attacks is to have a clean home. If you keep it swept, vacuumed, scrubbed, and tidy, there will be fewer particles in the air and fewer places for dust and dirt to hide. Even people with mild allergies will suffer a lot when they have to stay in dirty environments. If their home is dusty, they may feel miserable, and simply cleaning up the place will make a big difference.
Do you feel the effects of dust in your home? The runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes are all caused by dust and other irritants in the home. However, if dust really bothers your allergies, then you need to consider having someone else do the cleaning for you. Detailed maid services for upscale homes should be something you look into.
If you have someone else do the cleaning for you, then you get the benefit of a tidier home and don’t have to expose yourself to the allergens. It can be tough for allergy sufferers to clean their own homes, but it is essential that you have a clean home to minimize symptoms. If you can get rid of the dust, dirt, mold, and pollen in the home and keep your home spotless, then that will make quite an impact on your health and how often you feel unwell because of allergies.
What you will notice as you keep a cleaner home is that you sleep better and breathe better. Your airways will be clogged less often, so you will be able to breathe with ease and to have more uninterrupted sleep. That will help to strengthen your immune system and keep you more protected against allergy attacks and sicknesses.
Clean Air Vents
One aspect of home cleaning that is very important to allergy sufferers is the ventilation system. This is an often neglected part of home cleaning, but it is absolutely essential.
When was the last time your air vents were wiped down or your air ducts were cleaned out? When did you last change the air filters in your heating and cooling system? If these parts of the home are not cleaned every so often, then dust and all sorts of other irritants can build up there. That means that every time you turn on the AC or the heating that these small allergy-triggering particles will be spread into the air and enter your sinuses.
If you change the air filters and hire a cleaning service to tidy up the vents and ducts, then you will have much cleaner and more breathable air. This is something that should be done at least once a year and maybe more often if you have a dusty environment or there are more than a few people living in your home.
Use a Humidifier
One handy machine that will do wonders to clean your air up and help you to avoid some allergy symptoms is an air humidifier. This machine will increase the level of moisture in the air, making the air more comfortable for your sinuses.
When the air in your home is very dry, your sinuses can dry out as well, becoming itchy, irritable, and inflamed. The dry air makes you more likely to experience allergy symptoms, and then makes those symptoms more severe as well. The best place to put a humidifier in your home is next to your bed or at least somewhere in your bedroom. This will allow you to get a good night’s sleep and to feel more rested when you wake up. You will have less sinus irritation, and your airways are likely to be open throughout more of the night.
Avoid Certain Outdoor Activities
What you do outside during the allergy season is potentially very harmful to your allergies. If you cut the grass, pull weeds, work in the garden, or rake the yard, you could be causing all sorts of allergens to fly up into the air and enter your sinuses. You may notice after you do some of these activities that you feel worse and that you need a long break before your sinuses feel good again.
You could be safer by wearing a face mask or face shield as you work outside. That will minimize your contact with allergens. Then, if you take off your clothes and shower as soon as you come inside, that will help as well. However, you should consider having someone else do these kinds of activities that aggravate your allergies. Try to get some help with them so that you don’t put yourself at risk as often of suffering from severe allergy attacks.
If you implement some of these methods, you should suffer from allergy symptoms less often.
