Back to list 2020-03-17 14:20:59

Spring is a lot of people’s favorite season, however, for some, spring is unfortunately associated with sneezing, runny nose, the feeling of weakness, and itchiness. All around the world, people experience it and at some point we can’t really do anything about, except prevent it.

What are spring allergies and why do they happen?

Spring allergens are very common and one of the most common ones is pollen. Pollen is a substance fertilizing other plants. What happens is that these tiny particles come into our nose, skin, and eyes. The body’s immediate response triggers the whole immune system to be on guard and fight whatever that substance is.

A lot of people may be confused by this, thinking their immune system is weaker, while it is not the case. Usually the immune system does not recognize what pollen is, so it launches an attack to get rid of it. This includes sneezing, coughing, running nose, and itchiness. These are all defense mechanisms our bodies accomplish in order to eject any foreign substances that could harm the body.

The same immune response is done when the body thinks there is a virus or an infection. The only problem is that for those that have a spring allergy, the body’s immune response hits as hard as possible as if it were a deadly virus.

Another thing that can cause them in spring is the increased scents released by trees, grass, and weeds such as Alder, Ash, Aspen, Beech, Cedar, Cottonwood, Bermuda, Fescue, Johnson, and June. There are other trees and plants that have more intense reactions and the severity of the immune reaction seems to be different from one person to another.

Treatment for spring allergies:

One of the main ways to treat a spring allergy is with oral antihistamines which can suppress the histamine that causes the immune response. 

Chinese medicine offers many solutions and natural remedy for people with pollen allergy. Acupuncture is one of them: three points around the nose and you can reduce headache, clear the sinuses and improve your energy.

Other treatments can be prescribed by a doctor such as nose sprays and eye drops, but it really depends on the quality of the medications. In fact, if you have a mild reaction to pollen, then it’s best to stay away from medications because they could have an adverse effect on your health (dry mouth, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, for example).

How to prevent spring allergies:

As mentioned, there really is no way to treat it other than suppressing your immune response which is not the best thing to do if you’re trying to optimize your health. However, there are a few tricks you could use in order to help prevent spring allergies or at least reduce their effects.

The first is to recognize what type of pollen doesn’t work with your body and stay away from it. 

You could also choose to protect yourself from pollen by staying indoors when you know it’s going to be a high count day. Otherwise, make sure you close all your windows because they could leak into your bedroom which would make your sleep experience a nightmare.

You should also make sure you’re dusting your home frequently to prevent any particles from staying at your house. An extra tip is to keep an extra shirt in case your shirt touched pollen, that way, you can remove the shirt and prevent those sneeze attacks.

You should also think about purchasing an air filter that has the option to keep your home clear out of pollen in the spring season. This can be very important especially if you have a garden, a backyard, or if you grow plants in your home.