It’s that time of year again: time to run through the pumpkin patch at The Bartels Farm looking for the perfect orange gourd to carve. Before you head to the patch, let’s take a look at a few common fall allergens to watch out for and how you can protect against them.
Three Fall Allergens
The three allergens you’re most likely to encounter at a pumpkin patch include:
- Mold. Mold can grow inside damp hay bales and release spores as the hay is moved around or unbaled.
- Dust. If you happen to take a hayride on a dry day, you may react to kicked-up dust in the air.
- Ragweed. Ragweed pollen is one of the most common fall allergens, typically at its highest between late summer and early fall.
How Can I Manage Allergy Symptoms?
Nobody wants dry eyes, sneezing or skin rash interfering with their treasured pumpkin patch day. Try a few of the following to manage your symptoms:
- Don’t play in the hay. Farms and hay are generally a packaged deal. If you or your kids are allergic, keep your distance from loose hay as much as possible.
- Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses help stop pollen and dust from flying into your eyes. Wear them while walking the fields or if you take a dusty hayride.
- Take medication. Allergy medications like antihistamines, decongestants, steroid nasal sprays and mast-cell inhibitors provide short-term relief from allergy symptoms. Take your medication the morning of your farm visit to help ward off symptoms.
- Bring allergy cream. Medicated antihistamine creams soothe itchy rashes. If you have a history of skin rashes, bring a cream to the farm to discourage scratching.
- Consider immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a long-term allergy treatment that desensitizes you to environmental allergens like pollen, dust mite and some molds. The therapy takes three to five years to complete, but you can expect growing symptom relief in the first and second years. While immunotherapy may not help you this fall, starting it now can make trips to pumpkin patches even better in the coming years.
Don’t let fall allergies dull your pumpkin patch fun this autumn. Contact Alpine Ear Nose & Throat PC to schedule an appointment with one of our allergists today.