How To Get Rid Of Environmental Allergies

Breathe In Some Steam

A steam treatment isnt just for spa day it can also help soothe your childs allergy symptoms. Steam can help the same way Moms chicken soup can. Breathing in humidified air can help clear the nasal passageways and make it easier to breathe, Stukus explains. It can also be soothing for irritated mucous membranes in the nose, throat, and lungs. To create an at-home steam treatment, try having your child sit in the bathroom with the door closed while you run a hot shower to offer some temporary relief from nasal congestion. Just make sure your child doesnt jump into a too-hot shower. You might also try using an over-the-counter saline nasal wash to help loosen mucus, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests.

Can Eastern Therapy Food Medicine And Diet Help My Pet With Allergies

As a veterinarian, I love combining my Western medical education and background with Eastern philosophy-based therapy. I love the more natural, holistic approach to medicine. I am going to let pet nutrition specialist, Marney Prince, touch more on Eastern Therapy Food Medicine and how it can help your pet suffering from environmental allergies.

1. Probiotics

Start with a round of probiotics. Allergy symptoms may be exacerbated if the dogs digestive system is not functioning as a balanced system. Having a healthy gastrointestinal tract is essential for dogs because this is where all food nutrients are absorbed and assimilated by the body. Undetected imbalances in the flora can cause chronic mild dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and susceptibility to infections. Imbalances may also interfere with the ability of the immune system to work properly. Probiotics will help bring balance and harmony to the GI tract, allowing your dog to heal naturally.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar

Good old, Apple Cider Vinegar! Make sure it is raw and organic add 1 teaspoon for every 15 pounds of body weight to meals daily. We love this stuff! It has anti-fungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties, which can help with skin irritation and inflammation.

3. Coconut Oil

4. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

5. Antioxidant Rich Foods

6. DIY Allergen Spray

Additional Notes

S To Getting Rid Of Seasonal Allergies

Dr. Hyman, Ive been suffering from seasonal allergies for years, writes this weeks house call. Is there anything that I can do to make these go away or am I doomed forever?

You are definitely not doomed however, I do know how miserable seasonal allergies can be, especially in the spring and summer.

Conventional medicine treats seasonal allergies with injections and pills, which unfortunately, create side effects and fail to address the root problem. If you dont address the root cause, then the allergies will never go away.

Ive seen countless patients arrive complaining about gut issues. Once we fixed their diets and healed their guts, their seasonal allergies also disappeared! When the immune system is irritated, it reacts to everything kind of like when you dont get enough sleep everything makes you more irritable.

One patient struggled with allergies, asthma and hives. She almost nearly died twice from anaphylaxis. She arrived in my office on 42 different pills, sprays and inhalers yet, she still felt awful. These drugs were suppressing and inhibiting her immune function, causing her body to attack everything. None of her doctors had questioned why her immune system was so compromised in the first place. But due to my Functional Medicine approach, thats the first question I asked.

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Ways To Get Rid Of A Scratchy Throat

Youve probably had to deal with a dry scratchy throat at one point in your life. Itchy throats arent normally a telltale symptom of a severe condition, but you will bear me witness that they are not fun, more so when it is a combination of scratchy throat and cough. Having a scratching and burning throat can be utterly depressing. Here are ten effective ways to get rid of a scratch throat without immediately rushing to your physician.

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How To Get Allergy Relief At Home

Even though they can be annoying or downright uncomfortable, most allergy symptoms are not serious. Here are a few ways that you can get relief from your allergies at home:

• Use air filters: Air filters purify the air and remove pollutants or substances that can aggravate allergy symptoms.
• Turn on a dehumidifier: By removing moisture from the air, you can turn your home into an environment where certain allergens such as mold would find it difficult to survive.
• Shut windows and doors: Keep your home’s doors and windows closed to lessen the number of pollutants in the air.
• Monitor pollen levels: Regularly check the pollen counts where you live to help you plan ahead for high-pollen days.
• Remove houseplants: Depending on the type of plants you have in your home, they might promote mold growth. You may want to avoid having houseplants or remove any that you think could be triggering your allergy symptoms or making them worse.
• Try a sinus rinse: Sinus rinses are saline solutions used to rinse your nasal passages. Some studies have suggested that sinus rinses are effective at treating and managing allergy symptoms, especially if they are mostly affecting your nose.
• Vacuum often: Vacuuming frequently will help reduce the amount of allergy-causing dust, dander, and debris in your home.

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Keeping The Eye Area Clean

Dirt, chemicals, and makeup can all cause itchy eyes.

Keeping the eyes clean at night can help relieve the itch. Firstly, a person may need to flush the irritant from the eye with cool water to clean the eye area.

Sometimes, gently rinsing the eyes with warm water on a washcloth may be enough.

People who wear makeup should consider removing all their makeup before cleaning the eye.

Natural Allergy Relief Options

What helps relieve allergies fast? Watching what you eat, getting plenty of fresh air and drinking enough water are some of the natural remedies that can relieve allergies by improving functions of the immune system.

It may take several weeks for your symptoms to subside, but they are likely to be better kept under control when you tackle the root causes. Here are nine ways to get natural allergy relief.

1. Eat an Anti-Inflammatory, Alkaline Diet

First and foremost, start eating an anti-inflammatory diet to reduce your risk for allergies and many other health problems. Caring for your body with nutrient-dense foods gives your immune system the ability to repair itself, bringing it back into balance so it can fight off common allergies in your environment.

Here are some of the best foods and ingredients to incorporate into your diet to help you beat allergies:

Although its not abundant in many foods, vitamin D is also important for immune function and may help manage allergy symptoms. In fact, certain studies have shown that children who live farther from the equator are more likely to develop allergies and suffer higher rates of hospital admissions due to allergic reactions.

You can get enough vitamin D by spending about 15 minutes in the sun most days without sunscreen and by eating foods like whole milk and some mushrooms for natural allergy relief.

2. Local Raw Honey

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

4. Quercetin

5. Neti Pot

6. Stinging Nettle

• Ginger
• Horehound

8. Probiotics

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Top 9 Natural Allergy Relief Home Remedies

By Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN

• Risks and Side Effects

According to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, one in five people, or an estimated 50 million Americans, suffer from some type of allergies. The chances are high that you or someone you know deals with ongoing allergies, whether seasonal allergies, food allergies or another type, and could use allergy relief at least from time to time.

Most people who struggle to find allergy relief go to the doctor to be treated and/or are routinely given pharmaceuticals ranging from acetaminophens to antihistamines, both of which may actually further aggravate the symptoms they were given for. If you prefer not to take prescriptions to keep your symptoms under a control, what can help allergies at home?

Home remedies for allergies including symptoms like congested sinuses, headaches, and watery or itchy eyes include using frankincense essential oil, eucalyptus oil and quercetin. Below youll learn about nine amazing, all-natural home remedies for allergies that can help provide fast allergy relief.

Talking About The Weather

What’s the spring allergy outlook where you live? Will sudden temperature changes trigger an asthma flare? Weather can play a key role in asthma and allergy symptoms and flu transmission. We partnered with Weather Trends International to provide weather forecasting and analysis for people with asthma and allergies.

• Mast cell stabilizers
• Anticholinergics

Allergen immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots, helps build your tolerance to allergens, reducing or eliminating symptoms. It works by the patient being given a gradually increasing amount of the allergen on a regular schedule, until a maintenance level is reached.

Tolerance for the allergen typically continues after immunotherapy ends however the long-term success rate varies from person to person.

Allergy shots and under-the-tongue tablets are types of immunotherapy that your allergist may recommend for treatment of your allergies. Visit your allergist to determine the best treatment option for you.

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How Are Allergies Treated

There’s no cure for allergies, but symptoms can be managed. The best way to cope with them is to avoid the allergens. That means that parents must educate their kids early and often, not only about the allergy itself, but also about the reactions they can have if they consume or come into contact with the allergen.

Telling all caregivers about your child’s allergy is also important.

If avoiding environmental allergens isn’t possible or doesn’t help, doctors might prescribe medicines, including antihistamines, eye drops, and nasal sprays.

In some cases, doctors recommend allergy shots to help desensitize a person to an allergen. But allergy shots are only helpful for allergens such as dust, mold, pollens, animals, and insect stings. They’re not used for food allergies.

Airborne Allergies

To help kids avoid airborne allergens:

• Keep family pets out of your child’s bedroom.
• Remove carpets or rugs from your child’s room .
• Don’t hang heavy drapes and get rid of other items that allow dust to build up.
• Clean when your child is not in the room.
• Use special covers to seal pillows and mattresses if your child is allergic to dust mites.
• If your child has a pollen allergy, keep the windows closed when pollen season is at its peak, have your child take a bath or shower and change clothes after being outdoors, and don’t let him or her mow the lawn.
• Keep kids who are allergic to mold away from damp areas, such as some basements, and keep bathrooms and other mold-prone areas clean and dry.

What Is The Best Air Pollution Allergy Treatment

Like in the case of other allergies, the best way of air pollution management is preventing your exposure to air pollutants. While that may not be entirely possible, you can follow some pollution allergy remedies to limit your exposure to those irritants.

You may want to consider the following prevention remedies of air pollution

• It is recommended that you wear a disposable face mask, especially while travelling in heavy traffic
• Avoid smoky rooms or zoneser
• If you smoke, the ideal way to help those suffering from allergies is to give up
• Keep windows closed to prevent pollutants from getting inside and use an AC to clear the air inside your room
• Avoid using strong perfumes and ask your friends/family to do the same, especially during times when those suffering are most likely to be hypersensitive
• You can also opt for non-sedative antihistamines to treat your allergy, but kindly consult your doctor for the right prescription
• Keep your windows closed to avoid polluted outdoor air from coming inside your house
• Keep nasal sprays handy to ease allergic symptoms and decongest blocked nasal passages
• Practice good hygiene

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Could Hacking The Immune System Cure Allergies

Scientists are redesigning natural allergens to help the immune system defend against them, in a move that could eliminate the side effects and lifelong medication of treating allergies – the most common chronic condition in Europe.

More than 150 million Europeans suffer from allergies and this number is on the rise due to triggers such as growing pollution. By 2025, one in every two people in the EU could be affected by allergies, according to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Allergies are most commonly treated by taking lifelong medication, such as antihistamines, that relieve symptoms like red eyes and a runny nose. However, about 5-10% of sufferers use another type of treatment called immunotherapy, where the immune system is desensitised to specific allergens, which can eventually cure allergies.

The process can be quite cumbersome though. Although drops or tablets can sometimes be administered under the tongue, frequent visits to the doctor for shots are more typical. Patients start with a low dose of the allergen which is gradually increased over several years.

It requires quite a lot from that patient, so thats probably one of the reasons that it isnt the most popular treatment, said Dr Ronald van Ree from Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands. If you do injection immunotherapy you have to do it for at least three years.

Birch pollen

The team is now testing the tweaked allergen in patients in Denmark.

Asthma

How Are Seasonal Allergies Diagnosed

Identifying seasonal allergies can be difficult because both seasonal and environmental allergies can have similar symptoms explained Carvalho. Dogs with food allergies can have symptoms that manifest in the skin and in the gastrointestinal tract .

There are different ways that seasonal allergies can be diagnosed, according to PetMD. One common method is an intradermal skin test.

Very similar to allergy testing in humans, with this method, a small amount of test allergens are injected under your dogs skin. Allergens are then identified by which injections cause redness, swelling and hives.

Using those results, your vet can create a specialized serum or immunotherapy shot that can be administered by the vet or at home.

Your vet may recommend other ways to diagnose the cause of your dogs allergies depending upon their symptoms.

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When To Seek Medical Help

While an itchy throat isnt typically a medical emergency, it can be an uncomfortable symptom.

If your itchy throat gets worse and is accompanied by wheezing, difficulty breathing, or painful swallowing, get immediate medical attention. Also seek medical care if your symptoms dont improve with time or home remedies.

A doctor will diagnose the condition causing your itchy throat by first asking about your medical history. Theyll also ask what occurs when you experience an itchy throat.

For example, if your itchy throat occurs after going outside, it could indicate an allergy to outdoor dust or pollen.

If your doctor suspects a food allergy, they may ask you to keep a food journal. In the journal, youll track the foods you eat and any symptoms you experience after eating them.

Your doctor also may recommend allergy testing. This can involve exposing the skin to small amounts of known irritants. If the skin reacts to a particular irritant, this indicates an allergy. Some allergy testing can also be done through blood tests.

Common irritants include:

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What Are The Symptoms

They include redness in the white of your eye or inner eyelid. Other warning signs: itching, tearing, blurred vision, a burning sensation, swollen eyelids, and sensitivity to light. Eye allergies can happen alone or with nasal allergies and an allergic skin condition called eczema. The only way to know for sure if its an allergy is to see your doctor.

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Meibomian Glands Problem May Cause Eye

If your eye wont stop watering, a problem with your Meibomian glands could be to blame.

Lacrimal glands beneath the upper eyelids secrete a liquid comprising of water and salt, the tears. Separate glands called Meibomian glands secrete oils that mix with the tears and thus prevent their rapid evaporation as well as spill-off from the eyes.

When Meibomian glands function is affected for whatever reason, a condition medically referred to as Meibomian Gland Dysfunction or MGD, eyed develop dry patches and get sore. The body responds by triggering the secretion of more tears as a reflex, eventually culminating in watering eye.

According to the UK National Health Service website, Meibomian gland dysfunction is the most likely trigger of runny eyes.

Treat Blocked Tear Ducts With Massage:

Blocked or narrowed tear ducts are the common cause of watery eyes. Blockages will keep the tearing from draining away. Narrowed or blocked tear ducts not only cause watery eyes but also eye infection. Babies are vulnerable to watery eyes. The possible reason may be that a tear duct of babies opens slowly. As the way on how to treat watery eyes, you should massage the corner of the eyes towards the babys nose gently. This treatment will open the tear ducts gradually and improve watery eyes. However, it takes you for a while. So, this treatment should be repeated several times a day. In some severe cases that happen in adults, surgery is required in order to open the tear ducts. Another way is using antibiotics that are effective in treating eye infection.

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Immunotherapy: How To Get Rid Of Environmental Allergy Symptoms

Those who suffer from allergies know how important quick relief is without feeling tired, drowsy or out of it. Severe seasonal environmental allergies can leave you reaching for allergy medicine every four to six hours wondering if there is any end in sight. Thankfully, with allergy immunotherapy there is long term relief for your allergies.

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Allergy immunotherapy involves testing to determine your sensitivity to certain environmental factors. You will be tested for food and inhalant allergens. Once all triggers have been determined you will begin immunotherapy. This process can take three to five years for full effect.

There are two types immunotherapy available: