April showers bring May flowers. Hello allergy season!
For most people, spring is an enjoyable time of year. Trees are budding and flowers are blooming., but for those with allergies, it can be miserable.
Every spring, trees, grasses and weeds release tiny grains called pollen into the air to fertilize other plants.This pollen then gets into the bodies of those with allergies and causes them to have terrible sniffling and sneezing fits. This condition is called allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever.
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), roughly 7.8 percent of Americans 18 or older experience hay fever. In addition, allergic rhinitis affects between 10 to 30 percent of people worldwide.
Allergies are everywhere, and sadly, there is no magical cure. The best thing to do is to just treat the symptoms and strengthen the immune system.
According to Director of Health Services Lynn McCarty, allergies are caused when pollen enters the body and the immune system mistakenly sees the pollen as a foreign invader. This sends the immune system into overdrive, and a substance called histamine is released.
Histamine triggers the reactions that lead to the common allergy symptoms: scratchy, red, burning eyes, sneezing, a sore throat or anything; else that can make someone feel miserable.
Junior Haley Crowe said that her allergies become so bad that she sometimes experiences flu-like symptoms.
“I went to the nurse this spring because it was the worst it’s been in a long while,” Crowe said. “She’s like ‘I think you have the flu, sweetheart,’ and I was like ‘No, I don’t, I promise you.'”
The most common triggers for allergies include dust, mold, pollen, animal dander, foods, medicines, latex, insect bites and nuts — just to name a few. Pay close attention to these allergies, however, because some can have significant results or even be life-threatening.
The key to preventing severe allergic reactions and controlling allergies is to identify them so that you can avoid them. The problem is, though, for those with allergies to trees and grass, it’s hard to avoid them without staying inside your entire life.
Therefore, the easiest way to control allergies is to take an over-the-counter antihistamine. Antihistamines like Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec help to reduce the amount of histamine in the body decrease and they cause the swelling and other symptoms to decrease.
For those with more severe allergies the next step would be allergy shots. According to McCarty, an allergy shot gives you a tiny amount of the thing you are allergic to so that your body can gradually build up antibodies to where it doesn’t overreact anymore.
“If we can calm down the overreaction, then you can get through the allergy season better,” McCarty said.
Sophomore Sarah Jackson, however, takes a tablespoon of raw honey everyday and works to strengthen her overall immunity with vitamins and minerals to help with her allergies. From her experience seeing allergy specialists, she said she learned that medicines often only target symptoms — putting a band-aid on the problem.
“If you can build up your immune system and do a more holistic approach, instead of just targeting the symptoms and actually going after what your body is doing to cause that all to happen, then you’re going to be a thousand times better,” Jackson said.
In the end, you can’t avoid allergies. Eventually you must come to terms with them and learn to handle the symptoms.
