By Kate Leo
Spring is a beautiful time that brings flowers blooming, warm weather that makes you itch to go outside, and the final stretch until summer break. But if you are like me, spring also means pollen and therefore sneezing, sniffling, and coughing about 24/7. I have gotten into the habit of taking a pill every day in addition to a nasal spray, but I always find that I have withdrawal symptoms when I stopped taking this allergy medicine. Getting off the medicine was almost as worse as going through pollen season without the pills and spray!
So, I decided to look into more natural remedies that did not require me taking medicine each day. The thing that has worked the best for me so far is to do a nasal rinse with salt. Rinse kits are cheap and sold at almost every drug store. By doing the rinse, you are helping to flush the pollen and other particles from your nose. Another method that takes time, but also makes the most sense to help your allergies, is to shower midday or after coming in from outside in order to wash the pollen from your body. Today in my gym class, we were outside playing tennis, and I could see pollen clouds engulf me when the wind blowed. So immediately when coming into my dorm, I rinsed off in the shower. That way, I wouldn’t have pollen in my hair or sitting on my clothes that would have caused a mass sneezing attack just sitting down.
Another factor that has been proven to help is to drink more liquids such as water, juice, or nonalcoholic drinks. The liquid helps to thin the mucus in the nose which ultimately helps drainage. Eating healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and nuts also have been proven to help kids have less allergy symptoms, but scientists are still attempting to figure out this reasoning. Regardless, eating these foods will never hurt!
More than 50 million Americans are affected by allergies, with 8% of adults being affected by pollen specifically. Although medicine helps rid symptoms, there are many natural remedies to mitigate symptoms and may even help enough for people to stop taking medicine in the long run.
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/allergy-education-17/allergy-free-home
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