About 36 million Americans suffer from ragweed allergies. If you’re among them, make this the year you beat the ‘weed.
Angie’s List offers 6 ways to a sneeze-free fall:
- Kiss your mower good bye: Ragweed alone comes in 17 different species, and each plant can emit a billion grains of pollen. While you can’t stay sealed up indoors until the first frost, you can minimize your contact with the pollen. Hire a reliable lawn service to mow, get rid of ragweed and other unwanted plants from your yard and garden, and to fertilize your lawn. You’ll sneeze less and have more time to play.
- Seal yourself off: Autumnal breezes can seem refreshing, but they’re full of pollen, so keep your home and car windows and doors shut until ragweed dies its annual death. Change the filters on your heating and ventilation system; it will clean the air and keep your unit operating efficiently, saving you money on your energy bill as well. Consider a HEPA filter to deep clean the air.
- Wear & Wash: Don’t be that guy who sniffs his shirt to see if he can wear it again. Once your clothing has been exposed to the pollen-filled fall air, wash it – and that goes for you, too.
- Mold check: Ragweed isn’t your only enemy. Mold spores like to snuggle into compost and bark mulch. Check for pockets of the fungus that could be triggering your allergies and get rid of any you find. Wear protective clothing if you’re going to remove the mold. If you’re really susceptible to mold, hire a mold removal professional.
- Garden smart: Gardening on cool, cloudy days, or an hour after the rain, are your best bets because rain washes pollen out of the air. Pollen counts are at their highest in the early morning hours and on warm, dry, windy days.
- Talk to your doc: Keep the Kleenex handy, but don’t suffer more than you have to. Talk to an allergist about remedies that can range from over-the-counter nasal irrigators to prescription medicine.