Beat Hay Fever With These Tested Methods

It is allergy time again. The pollen is in the air and the sniffing and sneezing has started. Once again millions of people, like you and I, begin looking for ways to deal with our allergies. Some people start stocking up on medicine. Some began allergy shots. Me, I try to prevent them.

There is no cure so the best we can do is to control our allergies. After trying allergy shots and taking more kinds of medicine than I can count, I found ways to prevent my allergies. This makes the most difference in how bad my allergies are.

I use the following 5 methods all the time. The more of these I do, the fewer problems I have with allergies. I also have reduced the amount of medicine I have to take. In fact, I rarely have to take medicine at all.

So here are the 5 steps I follow. I hope that you will also follow these steps.

1. Keep the doors and windows closed.

I try to minimize the amount of time my doors and windows are open. The pollen count is very high in the morning, so I'm sure to not open windows and doors at this time. I check the pollen count on TV. If it's very high, the windows stay closed. I can air my house out on another day.

2. Limit time outside

I enjoy my time outside as much as you do. I like to take walks with my family. However, when there is a lot of pollen in the air, we stay home. We play games and I consider it extra family time. I also know that it is impossible to never go outside. I mean we have to go to work and school.

3. Shower when you come inside

It is not possible to never go outside. In addition to school and work, the grass must be cut, the garden must be weeded, and the yard must be cleaned. After spending a long time outside, your clothing and hair will be covered in pollen. As soon as you go inside take a shower, wash your hair, and change clothes. Try to spend as little time as possible walking around your house. The more time you walk around before showering, the more chance pollen has to get on your furniture and all around your house. You really should not go into your bedroom or sit on your bed.

4. Clean regularly

It should go without saying, and I hope that you already do this, but I'll say it anyway. Clean your house regularly. Every time you open a door or a window, go outside, or come back inside, pollen gets into your house. It settles on the floor, tables, and furniture. Normal traffic in your house causes it to get back into the air so you breathe it again. You need to get rid of it. Cleaning regularly will remove the pollen.

I try to vacuum my entire house everyday. If I am pressed for time, I just vacuum the bedrooms and the living room. I use a HEPA filter and I never change the bags inside the house.

I dust with a damp cloth. I never use a feather duster. A damp cloth will remove pollen. A feather duster will just send it into the air again. I try to dust one room a day. It takes me a little more than a week to dust every room.

I wash sheets, blankets, and curtains each week.

This takes a lot of time, but in my opinion it is time well spent. I have fewer allergic reactions to pollen. I enjoy my days and nights more.

5. Use an air purifier

The last thing I do is to use an air purifier. I only use an air purifier with a HEPA filter. A HEPA filter will remove 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns and larger from the air. Pollen is larger than this. An air cleaner will remove the pollen from all the air that passes through it. One thing to remember is that a HEPA filter can only remove particles from the air that passes through it so it needs a powerful fan. And a powerful fan is noisy.

I use a programmable purifier. I set it to run on high when I am not in the room and on low when I am in the room. It works well for me. I get a full night's sleep now and almost never take medicine.

There is no cure for hay fever. If you have it, you will have to find ways to manage it. You don't have to become a recluse to survive hay fever. Follow these five steps and you too, can reduce your hay fever symptoms.