· By Doménica Palacios
A Waku Guide: How to Deal with Spring Allergies
Spring is a colorful and exciting season. We see trees growing, plants blooming, colors appearing and we feel the weather getting warmer. Now, even though spring comes with all of these perks and beautiful scenarios, it also brings along pollen or mold spores and their unfortunate consequences on our health.
As you may have experienced or noticed, spring is a season for allergies because of pollen. This occurs when a person's immune system overreacts to an allergy, causing the body to produce antibodies that make their way through the cells that release histamine and other chemicals. It is precisely histamine that makes the nose swell and for us to sneeze in an attempt to stop those allergens from entering the body or rather to expel them out.
Knowing this, we want to share with you our guide on how to deal with spring allergies so you can enjoy and appreciate spring at its best.
1. Monitor pollen counts
Since pollen is the most common cause of allergies during the springtime, we suggest that if you tend to have really strong reactions whenever you go out, to check pollen counts regularly. If the count is too high, you could avoid spending too much time outside and if you must, try to wear sunglasses and a good, comfortable mask.
2. Close your windows
Even though we are all fond of a good spring breeze entering our rooms every now and then, wind has been known to carry microscopic amounts of pollen inside our homes and this will probably cause us to have allergic reactions. So if the weather gets too hot, and the pollen count is at its peak, you could turn on your air conditioner instead of a fan to cool off.
3. Improve your diet
As you may have noticed, spring brings with it a ton of vegetables and fruits and it would be selfish on our end not to take advantage of that. This is the perfect time to start eating green and experimenting with colors and flavors. Additionally, a lot of those foods have positive effects on allergy reduction, such as: ginger, honey, lemon, oranges, tomatoes, turmeric and walnuts. Here is a list of recipes you can make that we are sure you will absolutely enjoy: 10 Spring recipes you have to try!
4. Wash your hair at the end of the day
If you have to perform activities that require you to go outside and/or spend time outdoors, it is very important that you come back to clean everything that may have gotten pollen residues. Allergy-causing elements can trap themselves in your hair and those will surely bother you at night or even the next morning. You could also pull yourself back and make sure it doesn’t have much exposure, especially during high pollen count days.
5. Clean and relax
Although we are sure you clean your house often, it goes without saying that during the spring it is important for you to change the bedding often, dry your clothes on the dryer instead of outside, and try to get rid of dust more frequently. We suggest you put on your favorite music, grab a bottle of your favorite flavor of Waku, and clean with joy so that you can chill at home afterwards.
We hope you found this information useful and that it helps you take advantage of spring as much as you want and can. Let us know if you have any more tips or ideas on how to deal with spring allergies!
References
7 effective ways to manage spring allergies