Watery eyes, sinus congestion, wheezing, and general misery — just from breathing outside air. Depending on the climate and season, your outdoor environment can be an ever-changing soup of allergy and asthma triggers, including tree and grass pollens, ragweed, secondhand smoke, car exhaust, and dust. You can’t always control your environment, but you can take steps to avoid airborne triggers.

Ways to stay safe

The American Medical Association recommends the following strategies for steering clear of allergens and irritants in the outside air:

• If you’re allergic to pollen, check your local pollen count, a measurement of the amount of pollen in the air. Try to stay indoors with the windows shut between 5 A.M. and 10 A.M., when rapidly rising temperatures signal to plants that it’s time to pollinate — in other words, that’s when the most pollen is released. Pollen counts also vary with the weather. Counts are usually lower on rainy, cloudy, or windless days, and higher on sunny, warm days.
• If you’re planning a trip out of town, call your health care provider to discuss any special health needs you may have when on the road. Based on projected pollen levels at your destination, your doctor may prescribe a different medication or increase your dosage.
• Stay away from secondhand smoke. In addition to causing lung damage and heart disease, breathing tobacco smoke is a major risk factor for asthma. And of course, if you smoke, quit.
• If antihistamines help control your symptoms, ask your doctor about the best way to schedule your medication. Many people find allergy symptom relief by taking an antihistamine tablet about a half hour before enjoying outdoor activities.

In the backyard

Simple chores like tending to the garden or cutting the grass can spell misery if you have allergy-related problems. The following might help you enjoy yourself a little more:

• Avoid raking leaves during pollen season. When doing any yard work, from raking to mowing to weeding, wear a particle mask.
• Landscape with your particular allergies in mind. Pollinating grasses like timothy, bermuda, and orchard grass spread the most pollen. With trees, it’s oak, olive, elm, birch, ash, hickory, sycamore, maple, and walnut that are often the worst culprits.
• Decorate your garden with allergy-friendly flowers. Fortunately, most allergies are caused by ordinary weeds and grasses, not colorful flowers like roses and daffodils. But avoid highly perfumed plants and flowers since strong fragrances can trigger allergy symptoms.
• Barbecue with care. The smoke from wood and charcoal fires contains nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and other irritants that can trigger asthma episodes. Consider turning grilling duty over to another member of the family, as well as keeping your distance from those burning coals.

While on the road

From smoggy highways to dusty back roads, a journey by car can be filled with allergy and asthma triggers. Try to limit your problems with these tips:

• When driving, keep the windows up and the air conditioner running. This will reduce the amount of dust and exhaust fumes inside your car.
• If you’re on foot, stay away from highways and other major roads. Fast-moving cars can stir up road dust — an allergy-provoking mixture of dirt, car exhaust particles, tire dust, and plant fragments.

Allergens and irritants can be sneaky, hitching a ride indoors by sticking to your hair and clothing, or drifting in through open windows. After spending time outdoors, shower as soon as possible and change into clean clothes. You can also try using a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter in your home. These filters help reduce the microscopic allergens and irritants floating in household air. Outdoor allergens can’t be avoided completely, but with minimal effort, you can enjoy the fresh air without worrying so much about the allergens that may float in it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 8:44 am and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.