Everybody Loves Seasonal Allergies!
Spring has sprung. The sun is shining, the birds are nesting, the flowers are blooming, your eyes are watering, your pockets are packed with tissues, and you know that it’s lovely out but have difficulty enjoying it due to the constant pounding in your skull.
Congratulations, you have seasonal allergies. And don’t worry. If you don’t have them yet, there is still time for you to grow into them.
As a voice teacher and allergy-sufferer with constant sinusitis who had sinus surgery and has been to any and every holistic practitioner that would see me, I am often asked how to combat seasonal allergies. And by “often asked,” I mean, “someone mentions allergies/ sinus problems and I volunteer a bunch of things they could try.” So, if you feel drunk on pollen or struggle to keep your eyes open throughout the day, here are some tips for relief.
Use a nasal irrigator. Yes, that’s the weird neti-pot contraption that shoots saline water up your sinuses and pours our your other nostril. Exciting, right? It’s about $12 at CVS, Walgreens or Duane Read. It looks like a water bottle with a black nozzle. You lean over the sink and squirt some of the saline mixture up one nostril, and voilà, clear sinuses. You might cringe at this suggestion, but 1. it is not painful at all and 2. you will feel immediate relief. Plus, it’s just saline solution, so you can use it as much as you want. I’ve been doing it at least once a day, if not more, for nine years.
Shower. Hopefully you do this already. If you are extreme, shower every time you come home. If that sounds ridiculous instead of like the best idea ever, shower at night before you go to bed. Why? Allergens from everywhere you’ve been all day have been accumulating on your person, just waiting to wreak havoc. Wash them all off. Make sure you wash your hair before bed in particular. If you put your head on your pillow and it has pollen on it, then you toss and turn all night into the very irritant that makes you ill.
Take off your shoes when you come home. This is such a simple fix. Your shoes accumulate the detritus from everywhere you’ve been. Don’t bring it into your home. Keep shoes by the door and have the added benefit of a cleaner house.
Wash your clothes. Do you notice a theme here? Hopefully you already do this too, but you know that shirt you only wore out for a few hours the other night that has another wear in it? That’s what I’m talking about. Take clothes off and put them directly in the hamper to wash. Do not pass go, do not collect any more allergens in your home.
Wipe off your pet. Whether you have an indoor cat or a dog you walk daily, even if you are not allergic to your pet, your pet’s fur is a fun place for pollen to hide, so get some baby wipes and just wipe her down every time you get in from a walk or when you get home. Then you can snuggle without inhaling all sorts of odd things.
Close the windows. I know, I know. This isn’t the best. You want to enjoy the sunshine and the spring air, but really, can you enjoy it when you feel this bad? Close the windows and run the A/C at least on days that are particularly high in pollen and you’ll keep your environment allergen-free.
Put a pin in it. Ever tried acupuncture? Now’s a great time to start. I don’t know how it works, but when an acupuncturist treats allergies with a handful of needles, you will feel drainage and relief from sinus pain within an hour.
Oil pull. I think we’ve moved on to “dry brushing” as the latest thing, but don’t forget the last hot homeo-fix, oil-pulling. Take a bit of coconut oil, swish it around your mouth for twenty minutes. At first, it seems odd and impossible, but in time it’ll be old hat. Do not spit it down the drain. The oil congeals as it cools and it will block your pipes, so spit it out in the trash. Oil-pulling benefits include allergy-relief along with a host of other boons like whiter teeth and fresher breath. So, why not?
Get on a mat. Each yoga pose has unique benefits. Some of them are great at increasing drainage and releasing pressure. Shoulder Stand, for example, is a cure-all. It’s good for your allergies and a plethora of other issues. Just be selective with the amount of time you spend in inversions when you are blocked up. Backbends like full wheel and fish are great for opening up the chest and allowing more access to breathe. My particular favorite is supported fish pose using a block under your shoulder blades and head.
Get your Zzzzs. Often it’s hard to sleep when you suffer from allergies cause it’s tough to breathe. Sleep propped up either on pillows or put some support under your bed to increase drainage while you sleep.
Also, the real cause of allergies is not the allergens themselves. It’s your body’s response to the foreign object. If effect, it’s a malfunctioning of your immune system. Your immune system identifies an innocuous foreign body as an invader and counter attacks with a disproportionate amount of force. So in addition to getting sleep, do things to stay calm, like breathing exercises and meditation. Keeping your psyche from getting inflamed might just teach your body that there’s a better way to cope as well.
