In case you have not noticed, it is about the time of year for allergies to start acting up. In the last couple of weeks my patients have been coming to see me with itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion and runny nose, coughing and dry throats.

For this reason, I have compiled a few precautions to both prevent allergies from starting, and to help mitigate them once they have already taken hold of your system. There are actually a lot of little things you can do to safeguard against bothersome symptoms, like shutting your windows to keep the pollen out, stay indoors on windy days or reducing your intake of allergenic foods. Foods that contain dairy products, simple sugars and yeast, or drinking alcohol for example, can exacerbate allergy symptoms, so it is best to steer clear of them during this time of year.

I also recommend taking plenty of Vitamin C for modulating the immune system and quercetin, which is a bioflavanoid derived from fruits and vegetables that can act as an anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine. If you have sinus trouble, a neti-pot is a great device to use for nasal irrigation. If you have not heard of it, it is a small pot that helps pour saline water into one nostril while your head is tilted to the side and will flush out pollen and particulates from the nasal passages and the liquid will come out of the other nostril! It is a much safer solution than using nasal sprays, and actually works!

References:

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-9/neti-pots