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Nothing can ruin a person’s day quite like having their allergies flare up. At least when you actually have a cold, you can take comfort in knowing that the bug will eventually run its course.
Allergies are different in the sense that you can pretty much sneeze your brains out all day without seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
Worse, people are constantly underestimating the toll that allergies take on sufferers. After a full day of sneezing with watery, itchy eyes, the last thing you need to hear from a friend is, “well, at least it’s only allergies.”
If you’re using an entire box of tissues each time you walk into a room, the cause behind your sniffles may be coming from something small in your environment or daily routine.
Here are a few common culprits to avoid before your next allergy flare-up:
- Fruit with pollen-like proteins: If you’re constantly sneezing, sniffling, and rubbing your eyes inside the comfort of your own home, the problem may be coming from the fruit in your kitchen. A particular protein found on a number of different fruits—including tomatoes, apples, and cantaloupe—actually makes your body think it’s swallowing pollen. To reduce these annoying symptoms without throwing away your produce, try peeling the fruit to reduce your chances of having a reaction.
- Stress: Anxiety and stress may trigger a slew of different health problems, but not many people know that an allergy flare-up is one of them. A recent study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology tracked the stress levels of 179 people with hay fever over 14-day periods. Of those studied, about 64% of the participants who reported higher stress levels also had four flare-ups or more.
- Alcohol: Ever feel especially congested after drinking a glass of red wine or your favorite beer? That’s because your body is sensitive to the sulfites that naturally occur in these particular alcoholic beverages. Many people with allergies have reported feeling especially stuffed up after drinking red wine.
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- Chlorine: If your eyes start to get a little watery around strong perfumes and candles, then you should also stay away from chlorinated swimming pools. Chlorine is an irritating gas that can have the same effect on your sensitive allergies as toxic fumes. If you can smell chlorine just by sitting near a pool, then it’s getting into your body. A little tip—indoor pools are worse than outdoor ones, because the chlorine is contained in a smaller space.
Which of these triggers surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments!
Photo Copyright © 2014 Tina Franklin/Flickr
