Spring Allergies: 5 Tips to Beat the Pollen

Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? With spring right around the corner, you can expect more frequent allergy attacks. Also known as allergic rhinitis, seasonal allergies affect roughly one in three Americans. If you're among this crowd, you should take precautions to minimize the frequency and severity of your allergy attacks. Even with the spring season's high pollen count, there are several ways to overcome allergies.

#1) Don't Touch Your Face

Touching your face may seem harmless, but it can often trigger an allergy attack. If you touch a pollen-covered surface and then proceed to touch your face, you may unknowingly transfer pollen to your eyes, nose or mouth. Once in your eyes, nose or mouth, the pollen may trigger an allergy attack. To reduce your risk of allergy attacks this spring season, try to avoid touching your face.

#2) Leave Shoes at the Door

When you step into your home, remove your shoes and leave them at the door. Otherwise, you may track pollen into your home. Pollen will stick to the bottom of your shoes, and if you leave them on while indoors, the pollen will end up inside your home. It only takes a minute to kick off your shoes, but doing so can help you breathe a little more easily throughout the spring season.

#3) Follow an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Following an anti-inflammatory diet can have a positive impact on your spring allergies. All forms of allergies involve an overactive immune system that's characterized by high levels of inflammatory chemicals. By following an anti-inflammatory diet -- meaning you choose foods that suppress or reduce inflammation -- you can counter the effects of spring allergies.

#4) Perform Lawn Work After It Rains

Whether you're planning to mow the lawn, prune some shrubs or plant some trees, you should wait until it rains to perform lawn work. If it hasn't rained in a while, there will probably be a substantial amount of pollen in the air. If it recently rained, on the other hand, there will be less pollen in the air, making this a better time to perform lawn work.

#5) Visit the Doctor

A visit to the doctor can offer relief of spring allergies. There are several types of drugs available that can treat spring allergies, one of which is antihistamines. Antihistamines live up to their namesake by suppressing the release of histamines, which is an inflammatory compound that's linked to allergy attacks.