Most people think of allergies as a spring condition. In an earlier post we talked about common fall allergies but are you aware that for some people allergies spike during the holidays. Lots of holiday favorites can trigger or irritate allergies, from food and pets to wood-burning fires and seasonal greenery.
While you may manage allergy symptoms pretty well most of the year, symptoms to indoor allergens like these can really spike during the holiday season. Why? Blame our tendency to snuggle in when the weather cools. You’re in a closed-up house, the heater is on, the windows shut — that’s why indoor allergies get worse in the winter. You can do a lot to alleviate holiday allergies — but first you need to know what’s triggering your symptoms to begin with.
Some of the more specific holiday allergy triggers include –
Food
Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas: winter holidays mean lots of dining away from home, plenty of seasonal foods, and an abundance of parties all of which heighten the chances you’ll accidentally eat or be outright tempted by foods you’re allergic to.
Mold
It’s invisible to the naked eye, it floats in the air like pollen, and your exposure to it may increase during the holidays because mold spores love damp evergreens like the wreaths, boughs, and trees we bring inside this time of year. The mold and mildew in decaying leaves only adds to the irritation as we track them inside on shoes and clothes.
Pets
Your pets probably enjoy the seasonal socializing as much as you do. That’s one reason symptoms to pet allergies can worsen around the holidays; pets are indoors more, both at your house and in the homes of friends and family.
Dust mites
These microscopic allergens are a perennial allergy irritant and they can be even more aggravating around the holidays when the air gets damp and we spend time in hotel rooms and in other people’s beds.
Innovative Health and wellness offers comprehensive allergy testing at our Woodstock office that will isolate which of these triggers may be affecting you and prescribe an appropriate treatment. We utilize skin tests since they are the gold standard in allergy testing and provide the fastest results, at less cost than blood testing and is generally fully covered by most major insurance plans. At Innovative Health and Wellness we test for 48 of the most common allergens that are prevalent in the southeast. This includes dander and pelt of cat, dog epithelia, horse dander, molds, and pollens from weeds, grasses, and trees.
For more specific information on our Allergy Testing services, visit the “Lifestyle Services” section of our website and click on the link to allergy testing.
To schedule your consultation regarding allergy testing at our office in Woodstock, call us at 770-926-4646 or use the convenient “Contact” feature on our website.
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