5 Tips on How to Cope With Winter Allergies
Are you having a runny nose, itchy eyes, and other typical allergic symptoms every time the snow comes down? If so, then you’re not alone. You’re one of the millions of people who suffer from winter allergies. Now that we’re in the middle of November, December is near, and we’ll again be battling winter allergies that can debilitate our daily lives.
However, you don’t have to accept that your year won’t be complete without winter allergies. This is because there are many things you can do to cope or even prevent yourself from suffering from these allergic symptoms. Do you want to know how? Read on.
Clean Regularly
It may seem like a very simple solution, but it’s one of the most effective ways of preventing yourself from suffering winter allergies. This is because a lot of allergens can be inside your house. Yes, that means you’re not safe even at home, and to prevent symptoms, you should clean your home regularly.
To limit your exposure more, you should do a house cleaning schedule. Of course, during your house cleaning days, you must be thorough by vacuuming every nook and cranny of your house, wiping dust from every surface, and even washing your linens and bed covers. If you neglect your house, dust, mites, and other allergens will build up, creating a house full of allergic dangers.
Limit Pet Allergy Triggers
It can be difficult to balance your love for your pets against your desire not to spend the whole winter coughing and sneezing. Not only that, but just like you, during the winter, your pets will spend a lot of time indoors, which can expose you to pet dander more. Also, your chances of getting allergies from your pets can increase if you like to hug and cuddle them all the time.
We’re not telling you to not show affection to your cat, but you could clean your house from pet dander so their dead skin cells and fur will not float around the house and have a single particle trigger your allergies.
Another way to limit your exposure is that when they have a place to sleep other than your bedroom, you need to close your bedroom doors to keep them away from you while sleeping. This is especially true for cats since they like to sleep on their owner’s faces.
Protect Your Bedding
Speaking of bedrooms and beds, according to experts, dust mites usually live in warm and humid areas, and one of their usual living spots is your bed. Even if you see your bedroom as visibly clean, dust mites are invisible to the eyes because of their size, so you can never be so sure.
In that case, you can use mite-proof zippered cases to prevent dust mites from staying on your bed. You can also use these cases on your pillows. However, this is not enough so to be sure; you must change your pillowcases, sheets, and blankets and wash them free of dust mites. And by the way, dust mites are usually why you seem okay the night before, only to wake up having allergy symptoms the next morning.
Eliminate Indoor Mold
Did you know there are more or less 1000 types of molds in the US? The worst thing about them is that most are invisible to the naked eye, and these molds produce spores in the air, which can trigger allergy symptoms. Not only that, but the more visible ones reproduce in hard-to-reach and see places like under the sink, tub, and basement. If the place is humid and warm, you can be 90% sure that molds are within that area.
If you suspect a mold problem, you need to find its breeding place and eliminate it. Luckily for you, there are a lot of household items that can pretty much do the job. You can also use household items to prevent that area from having molds again. However, if you think the problem is beyond your control, it might be time to call the professionals.
Use Medication
If you’re having an onslaught of allergy symptoms, there are a lot of medications from your local pharmacies that can fight it. Most of them are available as over-the-counter medicine like benadryl and hydroxyzine. However, before you go ahead and take these meds, it’s always a good decision to talk to your doctor about it first. You might also try to determine with your doctor if you have allergic reaction symptoms or a run-of-the-mill cold.
Final Words
Winter is almost here. It’s perhaps one of the most dreary times of the year for allergic people, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. There are many ways you can cope and even prevent winter allergies from making you suffer, such as the tips we discussed above. With all that said, may the odds be ever in your favor.
