10 Tips to Relieve Summer Allergy Symptoms

Summer is here. The weather is hot, and top of mind for most people is swimming in the pool or hitting the beach, or maybe looking forward to spending time with friends and families at outdoor barbeques and concerts.

Unfortunately, summer also means allergy season, and those fun outdoor activities you might be thinking of, all of a sudden don’t seem so fun anymore. After all, what fun is playing in the yard if you’re going to be sneezing and rubbing your eyes the whole time?

The good news for anyone suffering from mild to severe allergy symptoms is there are many things you can do that can help reduce and even eliminate the wheezes and sneezes of summertime allergies. Best of all, these are all-natural solutions to summertime allergies, so they don’t come with side effects like drowsiness or dizziness like many medications bring.

So just what can you do? Here are 10 ideas.

Vintage Pillow Means Heavy Symptoms

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If you suffer from allergies, perhaps the most important thing you can do is stay on top of your pillow hygiene. If your pillow is older than three years and has not been washed, it weighs more now than when you bought it. It’s loaded with dust mites that are next to your face while you sleep. To be blunt: it’s gross and disgusting. If you suffer from allergies, always use hypoallergenic pillows over down pillows, and use a zippered pillow protector that you wash weekly for a double barrier. Wash your pillow twice a year and replace pillows every three years. I recommend the Robin Wilson line of hypoallergenic pillows and comforters sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.

There's No Such Thing as a Hypoallergenic Dog

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The latest craze in the animal world is hypoallergenic pets. Specific to dogs, Poodles, Labradoodles and Yorkshire terriers are all considered hypoallergenic because they don’t shed hair. Guess what? There’s no scientific proof that these breeds produce lower amounts of Can f 1, the most common dog allergen. The best advice when it comes to pets is limit exposure to pets, never allow them on the bed and always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water after playing with an animal. It’s also a good idea to bathe pets often to reduce the dander, and regularly vacuum the parts of the house your pets frequent.

Tear Out the Carpet

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Tile and hardwood floors are a much better choice than carpet. Some people prefer the feel of carpet, but from a cleanliness standpoint, think of all the foot traffic your carpet gets, and think of all the dirt, dust and other nasties buried deep down in your carpet. If you have tile or hardwood floors, you’re not in the clean, either. They must be vacuumed or cleaned on a regular basis to eliminate dirt and dust. Shake out and vacuum area rugs on a regular basis, and use a vacuum with a HEPA filter. I recommend the Honeywell True HEPA Air Purifier to keep your home’s air as clean and safe as possible. The true HEPA filter captures up to 99.97 percent of microscopic airborne particles, such as dust, pollen, and pet dander, that pass through the filters (that is as small as 0.3 microns–250x smaller than the width of a human hair!).

Always Use a Nylon Shower Curtain Liner

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Allergy sufferers are told to shower often to remove pollen and pet dander from their bodies. But the phthalate chemicals in vinyl shower curtains off-gas with humidity and heat, and also attract mold and mildew. Replace your vinyl liner with a nylon shower curtain liner. This is extremely important for allergy and non-allergy sufferers alike. Those phthalate chemicals in vinyl liners are bad for your overall health and the environment. You can easily smell a vinyl shower curtain a mile away. You know that really strong, overbearing plastic-like scent you smell when you walk into a bathroom? That’s from the vinyl.

6 Ways to Avoid Summer Allergies

Try out these simple solutions to prevent the sneezing, coughing, and irritation of the summer allergy season. Read next feature >