5 Best Natural Remedies for Seasonal Allergies - #Expert Tips
When the weather changes and the seasons shift, that means nasal congestion, runny nose, and itchy, watery eyes. If you fall in this group, you’re probably wondering how to get through allergy season without feeling sick for weeks upon end. While there are, of course, allergy medications you can take, they have side effects, including making you sleepy, which is no good for productivity. You can also visit a sinus specialist.
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Best Natural Remedies for Seasonal Allergies
1. Smell Essential Oils
Essentials oils can be a great way to open up your nasal passages during allergy season. Any of your favorite essential oils will do, but menthol-based ones will work the best at clearing up your sinuses. Pick up some bottles of pure peppermint, spearmint, and eucalyptus oils and smell them throughout the day. You can simply twist the cap off and smell the oil or you can get an essential oil diffuser so the smell fills the room, rub a few drops on your wrist, add some drops to your bath, even add some to your tea — it’s up to you! Either way, you’ll be breathing easy and your sinuses will be cleared up in no time.
2. Try Herbal Remedies
There are a few herbal remedies that have been known to clear up clogged sinuses and alleviate allergy symptoms, but we’ll discuss just two herbs — quercetin and butterbur. Quercetin is found in many plants and foods and is an antioxidant flavonoid. Including this herb in your diet may help relieve common allergy symptoms as it works to block the release of histamines. Butterbur works similarly and also acts as an antihistamine. This herb has been known to help alleviate headaches, seasonal allergy symptoms, and more. (Click Here To Learn About All Herbal Remedies)
There are a few ways to clear out your nasal passage, ridding your mucus membranes of pollen, but the most commonly used is a neti pot. This nasal irrigation treatment looks like a little teapot, which you add a saline solution to, and pour through one of your nostrils. Keep your head tilted so that the solution runs through the other nostril. It definitely feels weird, but once you have rinsed your nasal passages thoroughly with a neti pot, you will feel much less congested. Keep in mind that you may need to repeat this method once or more times a day in order to keep the pollen out of your nose and prevent allergy symptoms like sneezing and watery eyes.
While they work wonders when used correctly, improper use of a neti pot could increase symptoms and potentially cause an infection. Here is a guide to using a neti pot, written by the FDA.
4. Give Acupuncture a Try
This is a must-do for everyone who lives with allergies — clean, clean, clean your home. Seasonal allergies are linked to changes in nature, so there’s a very good chance that you are tracking allergy-inducing pollens from the outside into your home. So, even if you think you’re escaping the outdoors, they have likely come inside to wreak havoc on your sinuses and cling to your mucus membranes.
Use the 5 tips above for seasonal allergies and save yourself the stress.