PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — If your allergies are blowing up, blame the weather, specifically the wind and the dry conditions Thursday.
“The wind is just blowing and bringing up those particles and we’re breathing them in,” said Dr. Trissana Emdadi of Patient First, “and it tends to aggravate and provoke the allergies we’re already feeling.”
If you are allergic to pollen, stay indoors as much as you can and shut the windows.
If you are outside, hop in the shower as soon as you come inside.
“Just rinsing off with the water will oftentimes bring all those small particles off of your body and decrease the allergen response you will produce,” Emdadi said.
Rain has the same effect on the outdoors, so, just after a rain shower can be a good time to go for a bike ride, take a walk or take part in any other outdoor activities.
“Just because there won’t be so many particles that are in the air.” Emdadi said.
There are lots of medicines you can use to alleviate symptoms. For sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny noses, Emdadi recommends an antihistamine such as Zyrtec, Allegra, Claritin or Xyzal taken in the morning.
“If you’re having a lot of congestion, or if your allergies are really bothering you, can take a Benadryl at night time,” she said. “However, the Benadryl is sedating so. I don’t recommend taking that during the day.”
A steroid nasal spray such as Flonase or Nasacort can also help with congestion. Emdadi also recommends saline rinses as a preventative to wash out allergens in the sinuses.
If you’re still feeling miserable, you may want to make an appointment with an allergist.
“[The] next step in medicine with that,” Emdadi said, “is sometimes needing allergy testing if this is something that happens to you yearly.”
