Thanksgiving dinner, holiday shopping and parties are just around the corner, but allergy symptoms can make all these activities incredibly uncomfortable. As your allergists, we want you to enjoy the festive season without worrying about allergies, so let’s discuss some strategies to help you do that.
Hazards For the Holidays
Fall and winter are prime time for environmental allergies: mold, dust and pet dander. Mold can become a real problem in the winter when damp weather combined with indoor heating creates ideal conditions for mold growth. Spending extra time indoors also increases your exposure to pet dander and dust.
Moreover, if you’re doing any traveling for the holidays, you’re opening yourself up to the allergens of an unfamiliar environment.
How to Stay on Track with Allergy Progress
We know it’s easy to get complacent in the cold months, especially as the festivities swirl around you. Keep your worst symptoms at bay by being proactive with allergy management.
Keep Taking Your Immunotherapy Doses
If you’re one of our immunotherapy patients, it’s critical that you keep on top of your doses, whether you’re getting allergy shots or allergy drops. Don’t miss a dose or an appointment if you can help it. Make sure you have enough doses of allergy drops at home, or for allergy shots, make sure you’re carefully consulting your calendar when you make appointments to avoid any conflicts.
If you’re getting allergy immunotherapy for seasonal allergies, it’s easy to fall off the wagon at this time of year because allergy season feels so far away. But be warned: falling behind now could cause ripple effects you’ll feel once allergy season returns, especially if you’re in the build-up phase right now; missing a dose could make the build-up phase take longer.
Use At-Home and Over-the-Counter Allergy Management
Deal with symptoms as they arise with things like antihistamines and neti pots. Immunotherapy treats the underlying cause of allergies, but these OTC medications will bring about quicker, albeit temporary, relief.
These will especially come in handy if you’re doing any traveling. Airplanes and other people’s homes can hide your offending allergens and trigger a massive allergy flare-up away from home. Pack your preferred OTCs.
Maintain Your Home
As mentioned above, we spend extra time indoors during the holiday season. Maintain your own home’s allergen saturation by keeping clean, vacuuming frequently, watching for mold growth and bathing your pet (if you have one). As you pull holiday decorations out of storage, dust and vacuum them thoroughly to prevent adding more dust into your environment.
This is also a great time to consider getting a HEPA vacuum and/or installing a HEPA air filter in your home. These types of allergy-friendly upgrades will greatly reduce the number of offending particles in your home.
How We Can Help
North Alabama ENT Associates is here to keep your season warm and bright, instead of sniffly and miserable. If you’re an immunotherapy patient, talk to us about strategies to keep you on top of your regimen. And if you’re interested in getting started with long-term allergy treatment, call us today to schedule a consultation.