Fresh cut grass and pollen from blooming flowers and trees are typical allergy triggers in spring. Common allergy symptoms are sneezing, runny nose, and itchy watery eyes.

For people with asthma, allergies can also cause their asthma to flare up. It is important to talk with your Health Care Provider about how to treat allergy symptoms when they happen and how to prevent them from coming back.

Non-prescription allergy medications like, Claritin®, Zyrtec®, and Allegra®, are known as “antihistamines”. They are often the first choice to relieve annoying allergy symptoms. You can save money by purchasing the generic forms of these brands.

If antihistamines don’t work, steroid nasal sprays like Flonase®, Nasacort® and Rhinocort® can be effective. A few steroid nasal sprays are now available without a prescription.

As with any medication, always ask your Health Care Provider if allergy medications are safe for you to take.

Here are 10 tips to keep your allergies in check:

1. Keep your windows closed, especially at night. This will keep outside pollen, dust, and other things in the air form entering your house.

2. Check the furnace filter once a month and change it when it looks dirty.

3. If you own a pet with hair or fur and have pet allergies, keep your pet out of the bedroom. Pet dander on bed sheets and pillows can cause allergy symptoms like nighttime coughing, stuffy nose and congestion.

4. Check the pollen forecast. Go to www.pollen.com. Just like a weather forecast tells you how to prepare for the weather, a pollen count forecast can help you decide if you should limit outdoor activity if the pollen count is expected to be high.

5. If you have a dust allergy, damp dust and use a vacuum with HEPA filter once a week to prevent dust build up on carpets and fabric covered furniture.

6. Keep bathrooms and basements dry to prevent mold. Mold is a potent allergy and asthma trigger.

7. Potted live plants have mold in the dirt. Spread aquarium gravel over the top of the dirt to contain mold.

8. Remove clutter, tabletop ornaments, collectibles, books and magazines that are “dust catchers” and store toys and games in plastic bins.

9. Control cockroaches and mice with cheap traps from the store. Wash and put away all dishes and do not leave food out in bedrooms, living rooms or the kitchen for pests to get to.

10. If your allergies happen all year long and affect your asthma a lot, ask your Health Care Provider about going to an allergy specialist.

By managing your allergies properly, you can keep your asthma in good control and enjoy the nice weather too.

Post by Dan Wilson, RRT, CPFT, AE-C

To find a HealthNet location near you, please click here.

]]> http://blog.indyhealthnet.org/controlling-allergies-asthma/feed 0 http://blog.indyhealthnet.org/care-spring?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=care-spring http://blog.indyhealthnet.org/care-spring#comments Mon, 05 May 2014 13:44:10 +0000 giveacareindy http://blog.indyhealthnet.org/?p=4582 Post by Bhumi Bhavsar

Spring is in the air and aren’t we all excited!! After such an intensive winter we had this past year,  you may have noticed your mood, or moods of friends, family or children have changed as well.  Believe it or not, the weather can have an affect on our moods and behaviors as well.  So take the opportunity to use this awesome season to bring in and cultivate new behaviors and feelings. 

Being a big believer in self care, I encourage you to take this time of year to do just that.  Take the opportunity to take a walk outside in the evenings – to enjoy the sun, wind, birds, budding flowers, trees, and all the other fun stuff that mother nature has to offer.  Doing such helps us to focus on things outside of our lives and helps provide a sense of release.  Experience or explore something different for yourself and your family, to shake off the monotony of life.  If we take a few minutes to work on change for ourselves, then only will that bring about change in our life circumstances or ways we react to those life circumstances.  Remember, we cannot change others or their behaviors, the only people we have control over for change is ourselves.  

It is also important to make sure we are eating regular meals and snacks.  Sometimes we get so busy with life, that we forget to take a few minutes to be kind to ourselves and skip meals.  Do you expect your car to run properly if you haven’t filled the gas tank or completed routine oil changes?  No, probably not.  Then why would you expect your body to continue working if you don’t give it the basic things to function?  Did you know that eating fruits and vegetables has the natural dopamine and serotonin levels that our bodies need?

Another great piece of self care is sleep.  Our bodies and mind do need rest for it to function properly as well.  Take the time to get the rest that you need, otherwise we are easily irritated, agitated, frustrated, etc. With season of change and new things coming around us, take the time to focus on yourself and be kind to yourself, and you may be surprised what you notice after you do just that. 

If you are facing challenges that are stopping you from taking time for self care, contact a HealthNet location near you to make an appointment with a Behavioral Health Provider. For more information, please visit www.indyhealthnet.org.