If you’re anticipating the arrival of spring with excitement and look forward to spending more time outside before Arizona’s sweltering summer season, there’s often a downside, too, unfortunately. Many dread allergy season, which typically arrives with our spring.
Fortunately, you not only have over-the-counter medications that can help, like oral medications and nasal sprays, but there are preventive strategies you can enact to ward off allergy misery that have a major impact.
If you’re not sure what’s causing your allergy symptoms, the experienced provider team at Primary Care Walk-In Clinic offers a full range of allergy tests, so in addition to pollen allergies, we can evaluate you for food, pet dander, and other allergens. We do this either through a blood test or a painless scratch test.
Once you and your provider know what you’re dealing with, they can create a personalized treatment plan for you so you can find relief.
In the meantime, with spring fast approaching, we hope you take advantage of our allergy “news you can use.”
In short, it’s real. Spring allergies bring with them an array of unpleasant symptoms, including:
You shouldn’t have to settle for living with these symptoms, and there are easy and doable steps you can take to curb allergy angst.
There are many steps you can take to prepare your home environment to be an anti-allergy zone, and being sensitive to the weather can also minimize your allergic symptoms.
Is it windy and dry, or did it just shower? Pollen gets blown around a lot during the dry, windy days that are typical in this region of Arizona, so if you can, stay inside as much as possible when the weather’s like this.
Conversely, rain washes pollen out of the air, so taking a walk right after a rain can be a comfortable thing to do.
Arizonans can experience worse allergy problems than many other Americans because we have many dry, windy days that spread pollen, and our warm temperatures typically prevent hard freezes, allowing plants to pollinate for longer periods.
Taking your allergy medication well before you go outside will ensure that you’re good to go by the time you leave the house, and your symptoms will be addressed and minimized.
There are several things you can do to stamp out pesky pollen getting inside your home:
Adopting these habits and investing in this equipment helps banish indoor allergens.
Even if you’re an avid gardener and like to mow the lawn, assign these tasks to a pro during allergy season.
If you must pull weeds, make sure you wear a mask, then throw the clothes you wore into the laundry basket and shower afterward to remove pollen from your body and hair.
One more tip: Don’t hang your laundry out to air dry during allergy season.
Believe it or not, Fido or Fluffy can bring a ton of pollen into the house after a trip outside.
We’re not saying you have to bathe your pet every time they go out in the yard (though regular baths do help), but keeping them well-groomed makes a big difference. There are also special wipes you can buy at pet supply stores that allow you to remove pollen after each outing.
And we know this is an unpopular suggestion, but consider keeping your pet out of your bedroom (and bed) — during allergy season at least.
You’re not alone if you have allergy symptoms, like about 50 million people each year. Still, with your doctor’s oversight, effective medication, and smart strategies, you can feel significantly better and banish those allergy symptoms.
Contact the Primary Care Walk-In Clinic office nearest you to schedule an appointment for allergy testing or a consultation, or book one with us online.
