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A More Natural Approach to Seasonal Allergies

Guest contributor: GetzWell Pediatrics

Spring is just around the corner and after all the rain, the pollen is sure to be abundant. It’s a great time to enjoy the sunny outdoors but we’re sure to hear a lot about allergy symptoms. Allergies are skewed immunologic reactions to environmental triggers and typically involve inflammation of the nasal passages and eyes. For those with an asthma diagnosis, environmental allergies may trigger their asthma symptoms.

Some typical symptoms kids and adults can experience with allergies include:

  • Stuffy/sniffly noses
  • Clear nasal discharge
  • Irritated, weepy or itchy eyes

Springtime allergies are most often triggered by tree pollens from Mulberry, Sycamore and Oak, whereas summertime allergies are most often caused by grass pollens. (Check the local pollen forecast.)

Tips for Preventing Allergies:

  1. Clean air at home: Avoid carpeting and blinds that tend to collect lots of dust. Ventilate your home and use an air filter such as HEPA to reduce dust and allergens from floating around in the air. Remove shoes before entering your place to reduce the amount of outdoor allergens that are tracked inside. Wet mop frequently with plain water or water and vinegar.
  2. Spring cleaning our noses: Use a Neti pot or similar device to irrigate the nasal passages with saline, or use simply use a saline nasal spray such as Xlear. Washing away allergens is a simple, safe and effective way to prevent them from triggering symptoms in the first place. Also, encourage your kids to rinse their faces, especially focusing on eyebrows and eyelashes, when they come home from being outdoors.
  3. Taking care of our guts: More than 70% of our immune system is located in our intestinal tracts and these two systems are very intimately linked. This means it’s especially important to eat a healthy diet of whole, natural, unprocessed foods. Colorful vegetables and fruits contain antioxidants that naturally reduce inflammation. In addition, there is evidence that promoting the growth of health-promoting gut bugs by supplementing with probiotics can reduce the incidence of allergies.

Tips for Treating Allergies:

  1. Conventional medical treatment: Anti-histamines such as diphenhydramine (active ingredient in Benadryl), loratadine (Claritin) or cetirizine (Zyrtec) can help alleviate symptoms but can also cause side effects such as dry mouth and drowsiness. Diphenhydramine causes the most drowsiness, although some kids have a paradoxical reaction in which they actually become more excitable. Another conventional treatment is steroid nasal spray, such as Nasonex or Flonase, which may also be prescribed if there is nasal congestion that it causes snoring or difficulty breathing at night.
  2. More natural approaches: Quercetin is a natural substance called a flavonoid that’s found in many foods with powerful antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties. Taking vitamin C at the same time helps to potentiate quercetin. Another example is Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapples that has anti-inflammatory properties and can be helpful in thinning mucus and clearing sinus congestion. Stinging nettle is an herb that can help with allergy symptoms (although it isn’t safe for pregnant women because it can induce contractions). One of our favorite products that contains all four of these ingredients is D-Hist and D-Hist Jr.
  3. Homeopathy: Boiron’s Sabidil, as well as their eye solution product, Optique, can be helpful with general allergy symptoms and eye irritation and we offer them in the office. We can suggest more specific homeopathics based on you or your child’s specific symptoms if you schedule an appointment with us.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for help with allergies this spring season. Here we’ve discussed only a few of the options we can offer to help you and your children enjoy the outdoors free from annoying allergy symptoms! Call us at one of our convenient locations: Union St. 415-969-6670 / Church St. 415-826-1701