Allergies have an undeniable effect on your mind and body. If your allergies are seasonal, it can cause you discomfort for several weeks each year, and if your allergies are chronic it may have more dire effects on your health.
If you find yourself feeling lethargic at work or school lacking the energy to focus, focusing on lessening your allergy symptoms through a little self-care and allergy medication may be all that you need to begin feeling better.
Today, our local McAllen ENT, Dr. Frank R. Glatz and Jonathan Lerma, a certified physician assistant and a member of the sinus relief team here at the Glatz Group, review a few methods you can use to help you lessen the intensity of your allergies.
1. Keep Your Allergies in Check With Your Local ENT Today
Allergies can knock you down whether it’s seasonal or an all-year affair, but you don’t have to be left to its mercy. If you’re feeling especially drained, you may want to consider allergy shots or immunotherapy.
People who go for immunotherapy treatment get injections that include the substances they’re allergic to, in increasing amounts once or twice a week. Its purpose is to desensitize the immune system as time progresses. Immunotherapy is the best treatment if your seasonal allergy symptoms come year-round or when you don’t have enough success with allergy medications or natural remedies.
2. Adopt a Healthy, Active Lifestyle
While eating right, taking vitamin supplements, and getting some exercise may provide significant health benefits to your body, it also may affect how your immune system reacts to particular allergens.
For instance, supplements like fish oil can reduce inflammation, and if your sinuses are inflamed and causing congestion, fish oil can help provide some relief. Fish oil can also:
- Lower your blood pressure.
- Slow down the development of plaque buildup in arteries.
- Reduce your risk of heart disease.
Other supplements like quercetin and bromelain have a chance of decreasing respiratory infections and allergy symptoms. Both are made up of strong anti-inflammatory properties that help with allergy inflammation to allow the nasal canal to properly drain and recover.
Exercise, on the other hand, may strengthen your heart and lungs while fortifying your muscles, joints, and cognitive function, but it also has an effect on how your body reacts to allergens. As working out pumps the blood through your veins, it helps you manage your allergy symptoms and directs blood to the vessels in your nose, which constrict and ease the congestion you may be suffering from. Running can also release epinephrine into your system,
While physical activity isn’t a cure for your allergies, it can help to soothe some of your symptoms. You may have to work out indoors if you have pollen allergies or outdoors if you’re allergic to dust mites, but if you can deal with some of your allergy symptoms during exercise, your body will be healthier over time.
3. Relieve Your Stress
While stress itself isn’t an official cause of allergies, it can cause your body to release hormones and chemicals like histamine that can worsen an active allergic reaction. To make matters worse, springtime is a heavy season for allergies that can leave people feeling miserable, underslept, and overly exhausted, further perpetuating their stress.
Thankfully, there are a few methods we can use to ease our stress and hopefully provide some sinus relief. Some methods to reduce stress include:
- Overcome or Remove What is Causing Your Stress.
- Get Plenty of Sleep.
- Plan Time for a Little Rest and Relaxation.
- Exercise.
- Meditate.
Using these calming techniques in tandem with allergy medication and any of the other tips within this article is your best bet at finding sinus relief. When all else fails, however, you have a sinus relief team at Glatz Group that is ready and willing to help you feel much better.