Tips for Spring Allergies, part I

Do you start sniffling or sneezing once the weather warms up? Allergies. If you suffer from seasonal allergies in any way you may start to dread the arrival of Spring.

What can you do?

I suggest taking a holistic approach by working on

1. Calming the symptoms

2. Prevention by clearing allergens from your environment

3. Supporting your immune system & overall health

In today’s article, we’ll tackle those symptoms first, in the hopes that you can find some relief. There’s not a one size fits all approach, so try out the suggestions and see how you feel.

When your body reacts to an allergen, such as plants, grasses, pollen, or dust mites it identifies it as an invader. Your immune system kicks in to handle this invader, and you get the inflammation, redness, itching, watery eyes, and runny nose.

Your body really is trying to protect you, it just seems to overreact. We’ll get into possible reasons in a future article.

Feeling crappy stinks, so let’s discuss tips to help reduce inflammation, open your lungs, and calm those annoying allergy symptoms.

Tip #1 Clean or lubricate your nasal passages

You can cleanse and protect your nostrils to support strong breathing passages. Your breath is vital to your well-being, and it can be pretty frustrating when it’s difficult to breathe through your nose.

Using a nasal rinse or oil to lubricate the nostrils are two practices that originally come from Ayurveda. Considered a sister science to yoga and the “Science of Life”, Ayurveda is an ancient Indian healing practice.

Nasal Rinse

You may have heard of a “neti pot”. It kind of looks like a small teapot. It’s actually a teapot for your nose. But instead of pouring delicious tea, it’s designed to pour a saline solution up your nose to help cleanse your nostrils.

It may sound uncomfortable. But it can actually be very relieving and helpful at removing excess mucous and rinsing away dust and pollen. It just takes practice. You can find an instructional video here.

Nowadays you can also find pre-bottled saline rinses so you don’t have to use your “nose teapot.” We keep bottles of saline rinses on hand. We use them in our house after working in a dusty environment or if the wind is blowing pollen around.

Nasya oil

Nasya is an herbal oil that helps moisturize and protect your nasal passages. It also helps relieve sinus congestion.

If putting oil in your nose sounds odd, an easy way to start is to put a drop on your pinky finger and carefully massage the inner walls of your nostrils. You can find more details and an instructional video here.

Personally, I use Nasya oil regularly. I find that it helps moisturize my nose during the dry winter months and when the wind kicks up during certain seasonal changes.

Tip #2 Use essential oils to calm symptoms

Essential oils can help relieve the discomforts of allergy symptoms. How? Essential oils are made up of chemical components. Some of these researched components can relieve inflammation, coughing, and congestion.

1,8 cineole – a key component in eucalyptus essential oil, 1,8 cineole supports clear breathing and helps to calm inflammation (1).

Terpinen-4-ol – a key component in tea tree essential oil, it helps reduce inflammation, reduces muscle tension, and has an antihistamine effect (2, 3, 4).

Linalool – a key component in lavender essential oil, it also helps to reduce inflammation (5).

Combining essential oils provides a synergistic effect. This way you can help reduce allergy symptoms from different avenues. I suggest you use an inhalation method to help relieve allergy symptoms. Below are 3 great options.

Diffuser – choose a couple of essential oils to diffuse. Check the instructions for how many drops to use,

Personal inhaler – a DIY personal inhaler makes it easy to breathe in essential oils anytime without affecting those around you. You can purchase a blank inhaler and add 6-12 drops to it.

A simple cotton ball – In a pinch I add 2-3 drops of essential oils to a cotton ball and inhale.

Try out essential oils from the list below, categorized by therapeutic properties. This is not an exhaustive list but includes commonly found essential oils.

Essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

Frankincense (Boswellia carterii)

Cedarwood (Juniperus virginiana)

Ravintsara (Cinnamomum camphora ct 1,8 cineole)

Essential oils with anti-histamine properties

Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)

Sweet Marjoram (Origanum majorana)

Essential oils to support clear breathing

Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata)

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Black Spruce (Picea Mariana)

Essential oils are highly concentrated. Please use them safely and with intention.

• Children under 10 – I prefer to avoid essential oils rich in the component 1,8 cineole

• People with asthma or any breathing challenge – I suggest you sniff any oil first and notice how you feel. If your chest feels tighter, don’t use that oil. Don’t skip this step! Just because an oil is supposed to have a specific effect on a body doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for everyone.

For example, years ago when my husband was recovering from pneumonia he couldn’t even tolerate lavender essential oil. Lavender is considered one of the most gentle oils that exist, but at that time it was too much for his system. Listen to your body!

For more information on using essential oils safely, please refer to this article.

Tip #3 Salute the sun

Sun salutations are a wonderful way to warm the body, get flood flowing, and connect your breath with movement. I suggest you do half sun salutations.

1. Stand tall with your feet slightly apart, toes facing forward.

2. Inhale and circle your arms up to the sky.

3. Exhale and start to bend at the hips, slowly forward folding. Your arms can circle down as you do this.

4. Keep your spine long as you move.

5. Bend the knees slightly or a lot, the legs don’t have to be straight.

6. Let your head hang here, knees bent.

7. Inhale and press into your feet as you rise back up. Knees can be bent and arms can circle up to the sky.

8. As you rise up, keep your spine long, and minimize rounding the back.

9. Exhale the palms to prayer position.

10. Repeat 5 times.

Tip #4 Bhramari breath (Bee Breath)

Bhramari pranayama creates a humming sound that resonates throughout the head and neck. It can help relieve symptoms related to inflamed sinuses (6). The humming also stimulates the vagus nerve which activates the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) (7).

Let’s face it, dealing with allergy symptoms can be stressful and kick us into fight or flight mode. The PNS is our rest, digest, and restore part of our nervous system. Activating this part of our nervous system has a calming effect.

How to practice Bhramari

1. Sit tall and close your eyes

2. Let your hands rest on your thighs

3. Relax your face and neck.

4. Inhale through your nose.

5. As you exhale keep your mouth closed and hum. You should feel the vibrations in your throat and face.

6. Repeat 5-10 times.

7. After your last round, inhale through the nose and exhale out the mouth.

Options

You can choose to use your hands to “mute” certain senses.

• Gently press the cartilage between your cheek and ear with your index finger.

• Another option is to cover your eyes with your palms. Place the heels of the palms on the cheekbones and fingers resting on the forehead.

Tip #5 Open the chest

The muscles between your ribs may become sore from helping you clear nasal passages. A passive backbend can gently stretch these muscles and open the chest area.

Passive backbend

1. Roll up a blanket or towel.

2. Lie on the roll so the roll is across your upper back, just under your armpits. The roll is on an area of the upper back that often is ignored and can round.

3. You can decrease your roll if it’s too much.

4. Don’t let your chin point to the sky. If it does this, support the head with a block, another towel/blanket, or book.

5. Keep the knees bent.

6. Arms are out to either side.

7. Breathe here for 3-5 minutes. ( I don’t suggest you stay here long enough to fall asleep, you will shock your body)

8. To get out of this, roll to the side.

Dealing with allergy symptoms is not fun. I hope some of these tips offer some relief. Try out some of these tips and comment below on how it goes! Next week we’ll address prevention.

Sources:

1. Silva, J., Abebe, W., Sousa, S.M., Duarte, V.G., Machado, M.I.L. and Matos, F.J.A. 2003. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of  essential oils of eucalyptus. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 89, 277-83.

2. Guimarães, A.G., Quintans, J.S.S. and Quintans-Júnior, L.J. (2013) Monoterpenes with analgesic activity – a systematic review. Phytotherapy Research 27, 1-15.

3. Edris, A.E. (2007) Pharmaceutical and therapeutic potentials of essential oils and their individual volatile constituents: a review. Phytotherapy Research 21, 308-323.

4. Koh, K., Pearce, A., Marshama, G., Finlay-Jones, J. and Hart, P. (2002) Tea tree oil reduces histamine-induced skin inflammation. British Journal of Dermatology 147, 1212-1217.

5. Peanna, A.T., D’Aquila, P.S., Panin, F., Serra, G., Pippia, P. and Moretti, M.D. (2002) Anti-inflammatory activity of linalool and linalyl acetate constituents of essential oils. Phytomedicine 9, 721-726.

6. Abishek, K., Bakshi, S. S., & Bhavanani, A. B. (2019). The Efficacy of Yogic Breathing Exercise Bhramari Pranayama in Relieving Symptoms of Chronic Rhinosinusitis. International journal of yoga, 12(2), 120–123. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_32_18

7. Pramanik T, Pudasaini B, Prajapati R. Immediate effect of a slow pace breathing exercise Bhramari pranayama on blood pressure and heart rate. Nepal Med Coll J. 2010 Sep;12(3):154-7. PMID: 21446363.