Walk outside for a run or walk lately and immediately notice your eyes watering?
Or do they water even before you walk out the door?
The night before? The afternoon before? You get the picture.
Seasonal allergies are brutal -- for those who suffer through them, the affects can include not just itchy eyes, but runny noses and headaches or even migraines.
And they can affect your workouts.
About 36 million people in the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The condition also is called by its common name hay fever, or its technical name, allergic rhinitis. And while it may provide little comfort, the pollen you react to actually is harmless -- it is a result from am case of mistaken identity, according to Discovery Health.
Your body believes that the pollen in the air is actually dust mites or fungal spores. In response, it releases histamine - a natural chemical that is part of the body's immune system response. The histamine causes irritation and inflammation of the soft tissue, which results in your sniffling and other symptoms.
Right. That does little to comfort the constant swelling eyes and sniffling taking place.
Still, there is no reason why allergies should limit physical activity, and even making a switch to allergy-friendly exercise such as swimming could help, according to a CNN article.
I know only one runner who is affected by seasonal allergies to the point of giving up his runs ere and there. And if you know runners, they don't do this. So when it hits, it can hit hard.
How can you still exercise during this time? Several suggestions:
- Visit weather sites or download the pollen.com app for your phone. If the count is high, try to stay indoors as much as possible.
- If you run or walk outdoors, do so in the afternoon, when pollen counts are lower. (Oh, we know that's not really a preference in the south, but pollen count is highest between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.) But if your allergies are really bad, you're better off sticking with the gym or at-home workouts.
- Up to 40 percent of seasonal-allergy sufferers have asthma, making it much more difficult to exercise. It is recommended that people with asthma take up swimming as an aerobic activity because exercise there's moisture and warmth so you're less likely to have trouble breathing.
- Another option? Yoga, which is less likely to trigger heavy breathing, and heavy inhaling of allergens.
Whatever you do, don't over do it. Stay hydrated, especially this summer. Don't ignore the headaches that come with suffering from allergies. Exercising outdoors will make it worse and make you feel overall exhausted and sick. It's hard to be forced inside for a run or walk on a treadmill, or even on a bike trainer, but it beats fighting against Mother Nature.
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