Grasses, Pollen, and Mold, Oh My!

It's spring...my favorite time of the year. The grass is green again; the azaleas are in bloom, and the daffodils are springing up everywhere. I just love the beauty, but I struggle too. It is at this very time of the year that I am also plagued with runny eyes, burning nose, sneezing and one sinus infection after another. But not this year---at least not so far.

I've taken some preventative steps, and they seem to be working! First of all, I bought an air purifier. At first, I thought purifiers were just a gimmick. Could a machine really clean the air and would that really make a difference in my health? Well, I'm here to tell you that it has.

I keep it running in my bedroom 24 hours a day. When I wake-up now, I don't have a headache, sore throat or burning nose. Now, the purifier obviously doesn't protect me from the onslaught of pollen in the air, dust in my office and mold in the various locations I frequent, but I begin the battle in much better condition.

How do I deal with that onslaught? When I get home, I cleanse my nose with warm, slightly salted water dispensed from a Neti Pot. What I'm doing is washing out the pollen and dust that can infiltrate the sinus and turn into an infection. It's easy and fast and a lot less gross than it seems.

I am thrilled with not having to take over-the-counter drugs to deal with the symptoms and antibiotics to resolve the resulting problems. This process is natural, easy and inexpensive. Neti Pots vary in price between $10-$25. Ceramic pots, instead of plastic, are the most expensive, though I don't see the need for that version.

Purifiers, on the other hand range from $70 to $700. I tried a $500 version but found it did not perform any better than the one for $70 that I run now. Gratefully, you can try the expensive one from Oreck, and, if you don't think it is not significantly better, you can return it at no expense. I bought my more inexpensive model from Walmart. I just made sure it had a Hepa filter that is washable.

The last thing you can do is obliterate the dust in your environment at home and in your office. Curtains, carpets and decorative pillows may harbor dust and its mites that can cause allergy attacks. Get rid of dust collectors or clean them thoroughly with a wet process. Do not dust with dry rags. You are spreading the culprit.

Now..go out and enjoy the spring. You can beat that bad air!