Surviving Cedar Allergy Season in Austin
- Posted on: Feb 26 2024
With cedar season in Austin in full swing, many find themselves struggling with heightened allergy symptoms—nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, fatigue, and ear popping among others. Luckily numerous strategies exist to effectively manage allergies and regain control over your well-being.
Lifestyle Changes:
During times of high pollen levels, limiting exposure is crucial. Incorporating the following lifestyle adjustments can help prevent a reaction to cedar pollen.
- Indoor Precautions: Keep windows closed to prevent pollen from entering, use air purifiers with HEPA filters, and change out sheets and pillows frequently.
- Change Clothing Frequently: Change your clothing and shower after coming indoors after spending time outside to remove pollen.
- Limit Outdoor Activities: Limit your time outdoors, especially when pollen levels are high. If you must be outside consider wearing a mask to limit your exposure.
Medical Management:
The following medications can help alleviate allergy symptoms from cedar pollen.
- Over-the-counter Medications: Antihistamines and decongestants reduce congestion, itching, sneezing, and drainage caused by cedar pollen.
- Nasal Sprays: Over-the-counter steroidal nasal sprays such as Flonase® reduce swelling and help with congestion caused by allergies. Antihistamine nasal sprays like Astepro® can be added to help with runny nose and sneezing.
- Eye Drops: Over-the-counter antihistamine eye drops can help reduce eye itching and watering.
- Prescription Medications: Such as steroids sometimes need to be prescribed when allergy symptoms are severe.
Sublingual Immunotherapy:
Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT), also known as allergy drops involves placing highly concentrated allergens under the tongue daily. This triggers the immune system to build a tolerance to the allergens and is a preventative and effective long-term treatment for allergies.
Individualized Treatment: Allergy drops are formulated specifically to each patient and are based on your allergy skin testing and symptom history.
Consistency and Patience: With sublingual immunotherapy, the immune system typically starts to form antibodies after 6 weeks of continued use and the patient will begin to have improvement in the symptoms. By 6 months most patients feel that their allergy is nicely controlled. A treatment time of 3-5 years is necessary for the immune system to provide lifelong protection from allergies.
Schedule An Appointment
Don’t let Cedar season make you miserable. Call or securely text our clinic today to get on allergy drop therapy at 512-601-0303 to set up an appointment
Tagged with: allergies, Allergy drops, Cedar Season
Posted in: Allergies, Allergy Drops, Cedar Season
