It’s always good to know some home treatments to combat allergies ; The first one is keep the house clean and free of dust.

If there are dust mites allergies, cover the mattress and pillows and use only synthetic pillows.

Screens on doors and windows will prevent insects flying in and stinging.

On windy days, if you are allergic to pollen, keeps the windows closed to prevent pollen from getting in and aggravating your eyes and nose. Especially between 10AM and 3Pm, that is when the pollen is at it’s highest.

Before turning on the heat the first time in winter, make sure you clean the heating ducts. They tend to collect dust during the summer months and activating the heating system without cleaning will cause the dust to fly all over the house.

Use a air purifier in the house, especially if you have small allergic children. It removes pollen, mold and other allergens from the air.

Use a humidifier to keep the air in the house moist. Dry air aggravates seasonal allergies.

Finding out what food causes an allergic reaction might take some work. Write down everything you or your child eats and note the difference in the reactions. With time you are bound to find which food it is.

If you have itching and hives on your skin – make sure you know what caused it, what plant exactly and get rid of it, or don’t go near it in the future.

If an allergic reaction did happen and the throat is sore – gargle with warm salt water.

Take an antihistamine when you feel the onset of Hay Fever.

Allergies are worse in wet weather. Prevent the formation of mold in bathrooms and basements, and get rid of it as soon as you find a wet spot. Bleach will help kill the mold.

If the allergic reaction is severe, if a difficulty in breathing develops or the face and throat and tongue start to swell or a skin infection develops go to the emergency room. The time it takes for a severe allergic reaction to develop is very short.

It is possible and not too difficult to live with allergy. All it takes is a little planning.

While environmental allergies enter our body through the nose and mouth, and can be avoided or removed, the reaction to the food allergy happens inside the body and that is what makes it much more dangerous.  As the person eats the food he is allergic to, he might feel an itch in his mouth, then when the food is in the stomach he might start vomiting, when the allergens reach and travel trough the blood stream it might cause a drop in blood pressure.

The histamines that are released into the blood can attack the ears, and they will itch, the skin and the body will develop hives or if the attack happens in the stomach it may manifest itself as pain or diarrhea.

The foods that are most common to cause allergies are shell fish (shrimp, crab, lobster), eggs, nuts and peanuts.

In small children the allergy can be caused by milk, eggs and peanuts and they can outgrow them. Adults who develop an allergy to certain food will keep it for the rest of their lives.

Not all intolerance for food is considered allergy. Lactose intolerance affects about one in ten people. It is caused by a different substance. The body doesn’t have enough enzymes to break down the milk. Instead the bacteria in the stomach feasts on it, creating gas and bloating.

The most dangerous for children is the peanut allergy, especially in the United States. It’s interesting to note that different countries have problems with different food allergies. In the United States the peanuts in it’s various forms as peanut butter is highly popular. In japan the most common food allergy is to rice. In Scandinavia it is to cod fish.

The danger in peanut allergy for kids is a severe drop in blood pressure, swelling of the throat up to almost a complete closure that might be fatal. The main treatment is to avoid those foods all together because the allergy might be triggered by a very small amount of the allergy causing substance.

People with severe food allergies have to be able to treat themselves when they accidentally ingest a minimal amount they were not aware of. They should carry with them, always, a syringe with adrenaline and be prepared to self inject when they think they are getting a reaction for something they ate. The symptoms can come about in a matter of minutes.

A normal reaction to a bite will be redness in the bite area, some swelling of the affected area and pain.

The more sever reaction can be swelling that extends beyond the bite area. While it looks frightening it is usually not much worse than a normal reaction.

An allergy to sting and bites will manifest itself in a more serious way; difficulty in breathing, hives that appear on the skin, swelling of the throat and face, rapid pulse, dizziness and a sharp drop in blood pressure.

The bigger problem is that it can lead to a shock, unconsciousness and cardiac arrest. All that in the span of no more than 10 minutes. And the next time they are bitten or stung the reaction might appear much quicker.

The way to treat an allergic reaction to a sting or a bite is my injecting adrenaline into the blood stream. In most cases the injection will prevent the symptoms from getting worse.

Those who are highly allergic need to carry a syringe with them at all times because you never know when you might get bitten and how long it would take to get medical attention. In some cases I.V fluids have to be administered and oxygen given to help the patient regain the levels of oxygen reduced by the constrictions of the lungs. In some cases one injection is not enough, so a person who is known to have sting allergy has to be rushed to a hospital for continuous treatment.

To avoid this unwanted consequence people have to recognized to what they are allergic and try to avoid activities in an infected area. When going outdoors, they need to protect themselves with long sleeves, long pants and closed toe shoes, avoid wearing perfume that might attract insects, never go hiking alone or engage in any other sport while unaccompanied. Most important – protect their living environment with screen on doors and windows, and apply insect repellent  (such as Deet).

Allergic reaction to insect bites can be prevented with a monthly shot. They are very affective, up to 97% of the cases will avoid allergic reaction if given the shot, and by increasing the dosage gradually it might stimulate the immune system to become resistant to future allergic reactions.

The most common of them all is allergy to pollen, or as it is called “Hay Fever”. It is a seasonal allergy most common in the spring and fall. Symptoms are watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose and nasal congestion. There are many over the counter medication that address this problem by administering anti histamine that blocks the body’s reaction to those normally not harmful substances. 

To prevent the appearance of the allergy in the first place, one has to avoid certain plants that are known as allergens by removing them from the immediate surrounding and staying indoors when the wind is blowing especially during the blooming season.

Dust mite Allergy is caused by those microscopic organisms that thrive in house dust and in the mattress one sleeps on. The symptoms are like those of the pollen allergy but they continue all year round. The same medications that helps pollen allergies might help the dust mite allergy.

To prevent the allergy from starting, it is advised to keep the house, especially the bedroom clear of dust, cover the mattress and pillows with dust covers and wash the sheets weekly in hot water. Stuffed animals, rugs and curtains also contain dust mites.

Mold allergy – mold is a fungi that has microscopic spores that get released to the air and breathed in by us. Mold can be found in bathrooms, basements and closets and needs the presence of humidity to thrive. The symptoms are similar to those of pollen allergy with the addition of a dry cough.

Animal dander – The saliva, oil glands and skin of certain animals cause an allergic reaction in some people. The symptoms are runny nose, itchy eyes and skin itch. Unfortunately the treatment and prevention of those kind of allergies requires the removal of the pet from the house. Medication might help but you’ll have to keep taking it all day every day.

Latex allergy – Those gloves used by doctors and nurses cause allergic reaction in some people. Symptoms can include watery eyes, skin rash, cough, wheezing and shortness of breath. They can be moderate to severe with hives developing and gastrointestinal problems. It is important for those people to wear a medical bracelet in case they will need an unexpected medical attention that can be aggravated by the use of latex gloves.

Environmental allergies are uncomfortable and annoying but the symptoms are usually mild. A twenty four hour antihistamine can solve the problem without too many side affects.

Allergy is when our body react to harmless intruders, such as pollen, as if it was an enemy. The body produces an antibody which attacks the intruder and binds with him. Our body releases a chemical into the blood stream called Histamine. This substance causes most of the symptoms we call allergy.

There are many kinds of allergies; seasonal allergies that are connected to pollen, dander allergy connected to reactions to animals like cats and dogs, food allergies and insect sting allergies.

When the symptoms are mild, the allergy goes almost unnoticed. Moderate allergy is when you feel like you have a cold or a flu. Severe allergies can be life threatening. Most symptoms of the mild allergy will go away after the source of the allergy is removed. In sever allergies the reaction of the body already started and only an antidote will stop the symptoms.

Most people are aware what triggers their allergic reaction and try to avoid it. The allergic reaction is unique to the person. A plant that causes watery eyes and itchy nose in one will not have the same affect on another.

There are a few way to fight allergic reaction. The abundance of over the counter medicines is a testament that many people suffer from allergies and that the drugs help lessen the affect. Another treatment is monthly shots that eliminate the necessity of the daily drug.

Yet another way to fight the allergy is to find out what causes it, if the source is not obvious. This is done by injecting small amounts of allergy causing material into the body and seeing to which one of those you are allergic. It is a lengthy process that sometimes requires a hundred shots to be administered before you find the one that triggers an inflammation. After that you can avoid the allergy causing element, or, and this is a new method, expose the body to small amounts of the allergen for a period of time until your body develops tolerance to substance.