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April showers bring flowers -- and allergy symptoms Posted: Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006 - 09:27:53 am PST By NIKKI LUTTMANN Columnist
Ah spring. Soon, the trees will be budding, the flowers will be blooming, and your allergies will be driving you crazy. Whether you have outdoor or indoor allergies, there are steps you can take to minimize your springtime suffering, in conjunction with medication, or without. Allergies that have a tendency to flare up in the spring and summer are appropriately called seasonal allergies. They appear when our immune system develops an abnormal reaction to a naturally occurring environmental substance, specific to a particular time period or growing season. Symptoms can include itchy, watering eyes, sneezing, a runny nose, headache, scratchy throat, etc.Seasonal allergies caused by plants are also known as hay fever. Approximately 15 percent of the American population suffers from this annoying affliction. Hay fever was named in reference to the cold-like symptoms caused by our immune system's reaction to certain plant pollens or spores. (Ironically, you can tell the difference between a cold or flu and hay fever because with a cold or flu, there is usually a fever present and with hay fever, there is not. Go figure.) After a long, gray Sandpoint winter, there is nothing more inviting that getting outside and enjoying the rewards of springtime. Perhaps you love to garden and can't wait to get outside and start planting. However, seasonal allergies can keep you from enjoying your time out-of-doors. Before you plant this season, here are some tips for low-allergen gardening.
Even the most well-educated allergy sufferer does not always know exactly which plants trigger their symptoms. In the spring and summer, there are so many plants in bloom that it's nearly impossible to pin-point the pollen that's causing a reaction. One possible solution is diverse gardening. After all, the more of a specific allergen we're exposed to, the worse our symptoms get. It makes sense to plant a small amount of each species, eliminating completely those we know make us miserable. Lawns have always been a big issue with allergy sufferers. Lawns under stress produce more pollen. More pollen means more allergy symptoms, as we've established. So, therefore, it's important for us to keep our lawns from getting stressed out. Lawns get stressed when they are cropped too closely, so it's best to leave them just a little bit on the long side. They also like to be watered regularly. Messing with your lawn's watering schedule can cause it to go into sporadic bouts of survival mode, which again, causes them to produce more pollen. Indoors, there are other allergens to contend with. Another tried-and-true springtime activity is the infamous spring cleaning. Every year about this time, we get the urge to clean our home from top to bottom, vacuuming under beds and couches, sweeping out the garage, cleaning out our closets. With all this cleaning comes, well, dust. Dust mites, to be exact. And these little critters are responsible for many, many allergy attacks. While it's good for us and our families to do a thorough cleaning, it's best to do it safely. If you're doing something particularly dirty, where there's potential for a lot of air-born particles, i.e. sweeping out the garage, wear a face mask. They're available at your local hardware store and, for a total investment of a couple of bucks, do a great job in keeping much of the dust (and its inhabitants) out of your nose and mouth. Try to keep your hands away from your face, especially your eyes and nose, while cleaning. Washing your hands frequently can also help, as can opening the doors and windows in the area you're working in. If an area is particularly dusty, you can mist it down with some water before sweeping, which helps keep the particles from becoming air-born and getting into your nose and eyes. Sometimes allergies can be very serious, and can't be avoided or home-remedied away. In cases with severe or persistent symptoms, it is best to see your doctor. He or she can help find out exactly what you're allergic to, as well as help with medication and other necessary precautions. Well, here's to a happy, allergy-free spring! See you outside ... POST YOUR OPINION
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Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.