Depending on your personal triggers, you can experience seasonal allergies all year round, especially in Florida.  Allergy symptoms are simply immune system reactions. For example, a fever is your immune system’s response to the flu when your body is fighting a virus. You get seasonal allergy symptoms and the inflammation that comes along with them because your body is producing histamines in response to irritants in the environment. Histamine is a protein that triggers allergy symptoms, such as sneezing, itchy eyes, and a scratchy throat. This article provides tips on how to alleviate allergy symptoms, and some of them may surprise you!

Be conscious of changes in your surroundings, so that you can avoid allergy symptoms better.  If you know the allergens you’re sensitive to, monitor the weather on TV or with an app on your phone; most weather reports will alert you to high pollen counts. If you don’t know what you’re allergic to, it might be worth getting tested. 

The first logical line of defense against allergens is to avoid them! On bad pollen days, take off your shoes and your jacket before you walk through your house, and consider showering to wash off allergens and reduce exposure time. Remember to regularly change out the air filters in your home. Consider having your air ducts cleaned after any major renovations, if significant mold is found in the home, or every three to five years. 

If you have pets that go outside, pollens will cling to their fur and will be hard to avoid. Wiping their feet when they come in from outside will help. Just be conscious of your personal hygiene and wash your hands regularly when you’re in contact with your fur babies.

Many allergy sufferers find relief by incorporating natural antihistamines into their diet. Antihistamines are substances that block histamine activity in the body. Vitamin C is a natural antihistamine. Foods high in vitamin C include:  bell peppers, broccoli, cantaloupe, cauliflower, citrus fruits, greens like kale and collards, kiwi, strawberries, tomatoes and winter squash. Naturally antibiotic foods like garlic or honey (no honey for children under a year) can also help.

The right supplements both decrease your allergic response to irritants and support your immune system. They decrease inflammation which makes the allergic response easier on your body. Bee pollen, bromelain (an enzyme found in pineapples) and quercetin are natural antihistamines. There are many foods that naturally contain quercetin, including apples, berries, black tea, broccoli, grapes, ginkgo biloba, green tea, peppers, red onions and red wine.  However, it is more efficient to take quercetin in capsule form for therapeutic purposes.

Chiropractic care provides relief for seasonal allergies, especially in children. How is that? Well, consider that everything that we ever feel or taste, every movement we make, every unconscious bodily function like digestion and breathing—are all facilitated by our nervous system. When the nervous system is stressed, it’s a lot harder for the body to do those things efficiently and to stay well. That’s why when stressed, we feel tired and come down with colds more easily.

Every nerve in the body exits the spine and wraps around the skin and organs. In other words, everything in your body is “wired” through the spine. Chiropractic adjustments remove interference as your nerves fire information throughout your body. Therefore, being in alignment alleviates stress on the body and facilitates an increase in nervous system activity and immune function. As a result, chiropractic adjustments improve neurological health and help boost your immune system.

Irritation or inflammation in your throat or sinus cavities can affect the Eustachian tubes in your ears and cause ear infections. Compared to an adult, a child’s Eustachian tubes are smaller, narrower and are positioned more horizontally in the ear, which means water does not drain out as easily. This makes kids more prone to seasonal ear infections.

The bottom of your skull and the top of your spine are also closely connected to your ear canals. When chiropractors check the top bone in your spine, they usually feel right behind the ears due to their proximity. Chiropractors can perform upper cervical (top of the neck) and cranial adjustments to help keep Eustachian tubes and sinuses clear and encourage drainage. They may do what feels like a light massage around the ears to stimulate the Eustachian tubes and gently contact the face and head to support sinus drainage.

Facial tapping is a percussive impulse on your sinus cavities, which helps loosen up phlegm and mucus and can support sinus drainage as well. Facial jarring involves touching portions of your skull and moving them against each other. This is helpful for allergies because it mobilizes the sinuses, which helps clear out the sinus cavities and allow for proper drainage. After these treatments, don’t be surprised if you have a bit of a cough, more mucus or a runny nose; it’s not a worsening of symptoms, it’s your body pushing all the allergens out.

Using a neti pot with a saline (salt) solution removes all the pollen and dander that build up and irritate the inside of your nasal cavity, throat and mucous membranes. It’s a little tricky at first to learn how to use a neti pot, but once you do, it’s a quick and easy home remedy.

A Salt Therapy session (conducted in a salt room) delivers greater benefit because you’re breathing salt particles through your respiratory system. The salt particles line your nasal passages and respiratory tract—during the therapy session and afterwards. The anti-microbial properties of salt kill bacteria and virus particles in your nasal passages, which aids in preventing and treating infections.

We hope these tips help you and your family alleviate seasonal allergies and enjoy the outdoors all year long!