Ahhh, Spring Allergies?

The grass is turning green, the flowers are starting to bloom, the buds on trees are turning to that spring green we all look forward to seeing…. There’s nothing like spring! Even though you might look forward to spring after a cold New England winter, spring allergies can put a damper on your excitement. The good news is, there are some things you can do to help your body handle the allergens and still enjoy the beauty of spring.

Make yourself and your home more allergy-friendly:

Allergens are part of the dust makeup of your home, so make a clean home a priority. Remove your shoes at the door, vacuum and dust frequently, and wash your sheets and bedding regularly. A good quality air filter from a company such as Austin Air or Dyson can help filter out allergens and other irritants from your indoor air supply.

Washing your face and hair before bed can help keep your sheets cleaner for longer and keep allergic triggers away from your nose, ears, eyes, and mouth.

Help Your Body clear Congestion:

Try a Neti pot saline rinse- use a ceramic or porcelain pot. Fill the Neti pot with warm, sterile (or previously boiled and cooled) water and dissolve 1/4 tsp non-iodized salt. Run a full Neti pot through each nostril. You can add a few drops of an herbal booster. I like the Neti Salt and Neti Wash Plus by Himalayan Chandra, available on their website or through Amazon. Do this 1-3 times per week during allergy season.

Try a steam inhalation- bring a pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add 5 drops of Eucalyptus, Thyme, or Rosemary essential oils. Make a “tent” over the pot by placing a towel over your head and breathe in through the nose to tolerance. Do as needed for nasal and sinus congestion.

Try hot and cold compresses- place a hot compress on your face over your sinuses and let it sit there until it cools. Then apply a cold compress for 30 seconds. Repeat about 3 times and end with cold.

Teas and nutrients that may support your body during allergy season:

Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) tea- Mix 1 tablespoon herb per 1 cup of water. Steep for 15 minutes and strain. You may choose to drink 1 cup twice per day.

These nutrients may support a healthy inflammatory balance and reduce irritation in the sinuses and respiratory system:

Vitamin C – an antioxidant, which may stabilize mast cells’ release of histamine

Quercetin – a flavonoid, which may stabilize mast cells’ release of histamine, and support capillaries and blood vessels

Bromelain – a proteolytic enzyme, which may stabilizes mast cells’ release of histamine, and degrade inflammatory proteins

N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine – an antioxidant, which may stabilize mast cells’ release of histamine, and break down mucus

Stinging nettle leaf – a nutrient-rich botanical which may stabilize mast cells’ release of histamine

Products like Aller-Aid, Aller-C, and D-Hist combine some of these nutrients and may be helpful with allergy symptoms.

It’s Tick Season! Tips for Preventing and Responding to Tick Bites

With warmer weather comes… tick season! Knowing how to prevent tick bites and respond to one if it happens is key to enjoying spring weather without fear. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” as the old saying goes, so let’s go over some quick ways to avoid tick bites, and then how to respond if prevention measures fail.

Following these suggestions may prevent tick bites:

Wear long pants and tuck them into socks when outdoors
Wear light colored clothing to be able to spot ticks easily and quickly
Wear tick repellant spray or pre-treat clothes and gear with permethrin
Apply essential oils including geranium, grapefruit, yellow cypress, Texas cedarwood, and lemongrass to exposed skin before going outdoors (add some citronella and mosquitoes will avoid you too!)
Avoid tall grass and brush when possible
Perform head-to-toe tick checks when you come in from outdoors, paying special attention to any areas with skins folds (behind ears, armpits, groin, etc)
Designate an area of the house to take clothes off when coming in from outside to avoid ticks falling off in other places in the house
Put clothes just worn outside in the dryer on high heat for 6-10 minutes

Tick control Strategies:

Landscaping: rake leaves, clear brush and debris from grass & gardens, keep grass short, trim shrubs & low branches, create paths in the yard made of wood chips or stone, keep bird feeders at perimeter of property, remove any Japanese barberry shrubs (which create a prime tick habitat), plant deer-resistant plants in the yard (Bee balm, Brunnera, Catmint, Golden Marguerite, Jack in the pulpit, Japanese painted fern, Lily of the valley, Lungwort, Meadow rue, Sea holly, Sweet woodruff, Turtlehead, Virginia bluebells, Wild ginger).
Tick tubes: can purchase from farm stores and online (Damminix Tick Tubes® – www.ticktubes.com; Thermacell Tick Control Tubes – www.thermacell.com/products/tick-control-tubes). Mice take the permethrin-treated cotton from the tick tubes back to their nest, where it kills the tick larvae infesting the nest without harming the mice.
Pet management: conduct tick checks after time outdoors, limit pets’ presence in sleeping and living areas of the house as much as possible, consider tick repellent collar (Seresto, K9 Advantix II, Vectra 3D) or essential oil spray (Cedarcide Tickshield – www.cedarcide.com).

So you took all the prevention steps and still got a tick bite… now what?

Remove the tick immediately, being careful not to squeeze the tick body
Clean the bite site
Send the tick in for testing so you know if/what that tick was carrying
If available, you may choose to start taking Ledum 30c immediately, 5 pellets 3x a day for 4 days
Call our office to schedule an Acute Tick Bite visit, a 20-30 minute telehealth visit with one of our doctors to customize a tick bite response plan for your unique needs and health history
Addressing a tick bite sooner rather than later is always the best course of action

Don’t let fear of ticks stop you from enjoying the beautiful New England spring!