As most of East Tennessee looks forward to warmer weather, with that weather comes the return of spring allergies. Knoxville consistently remains on countless numbers of “Top 10 Cities for the Worst Spring Allergies” lists. This is largely in part due to pollen from oak, birch, and maple box elder trees that gets trapped in the valley thanks to our beautiful Smoky Mountains.
With beautiful East Tennessee afternoons, spring sports, and all the other outdoor fun to be had in the spring, it’s unlikely that your family will completely be able to avoid allergy season. However, we wanted to provide some tips to help you and your family lessen the blow of Tennessee’s most sneeze-inducing season.
- CLOSE YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS: The best way to keep your home free from pollen is to keep your windows and doors closed. Although the spring air may feel amazing coming through an open window, this lets more pollen than necessary into your home.
- ALLERGY FILTERS: To keep your home a little safer from pollen, consider putting an allergen-reducing filter on your air conditioning unit. This could further improve the air quality inside your home.
- WASH YOUR CLOTHES: A basic way to reduce pollen being carried into your home is to wash your clothes after a day of heavy outdoor spring activity. Don’t linger and sit on soft surfaces of your home allowing pollen to collect!
- SHOWER SOONER: Although you may want to wait to shower, the sooner you hop in the hot water, the better! Much like washing your clothes, the sooner you shower off the pollen the less likely it will be able to collect inside your home.
- SMARTER YARD WORK: If you need to get some weeds pulled or your lawn needs to be mowed, check out the pollen counts or predictions for the week in your area. Avoid doing yard work on days when pollen counts are extremely high.
- KEEP IT DRY: Utilize a dehumidifier inside of your house. Increased moisture can lead to mold and dust mites. Keeping the air cool and dry helps eliminate the environment that allergens thrive in.
While these tips are not 100% effective, we hope that these will help reduce the amount of pollen that is able to slip into your home. Spring allergies peak from March until the end of June, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the summer heat.
Finally, if you do suffer from spring allergies, come and see us at Well-Key Urgent Care. Well-Key treats non-emergent injuries and illnesses in adults and children six months or older. All of the Well-Key locations are operated by Dr. Rothwell and Dr. Huskey, who both continue to work in each of the three clinics on a regular basis as physicians, alongside the many physicians and nurse practitioners in each facility. All locations of Well-Key offer patients a walk-in clinic, no appointment necessary.
While spring allergies can be difficult to manage as a busy parent, we are prepared to help you or your loved ones through allergy season, and get you on the right track to feeling better. We hope that these tips and tricks help your family stay a little more pollen-free this year!
