Combating Your Child’s Spring Allergies
As spring rolls around, so do pollen and other irritants. As your child will be outside for the majority of their camp stay, finding ways to reduce allergic reactions are crucial.
Dealing with allergies is never a fun time, but luckily there are a few simple methods you can put into place to help combat your child’s allergies. Let’s take a look at how spring allergies come about and how you can help!
Keeping your child healthy throughout the spring
Springtime is always a time for wonder and joy. As the cold weather finally comes to a close, the prospect of warm weather and outside play can be incredibly enticing for your child. But whether they’re playing a sport or just soaking up the rays, you’ll want to take extra precaution in protecting your child against spring allergies.
Tree and grass pollen are the main types of allergens that affect your child during the spring. Pollen, a fine dust-like substance, is essential for plant fertilization, though it can bring about very uncomfortable symptoms. Inhalation of said pollen can lead to symptoms such as sneezing, runny noses, congestion, itchy eyes, and overall discomfort. Here’s how you can combat this and better protect your child!
Stay hydrated
It’s very important for your child to stay hydrated throughout the spring. As the presence of allergens and other irritants ramp up, so does your body’s production of histamine.
Though histamine is meant to protect your body against allergens, your body can overproduce it — leading to bad allergic reactions. Drinking water and keeping your young ones hydrated, however, can help with the overproduction of histamine.
Alongside fighting against allergies, histamine helps control your body’s water supply. Whenever you’re dehydrated, histamine preserves remaining water. Stay ahead of the curve by keeping your child hydrated, as it will keep their mucous membranes moist and hydrated throughout the day.
Take a warm bath or shower
If you find your child coming down with allergy symptoms, taking a warm bath or shower will definitely alleviate any discomfort.
The warm water will help wash off any pollen and other irritants, while also clearing your sinuses and aiding in decongestion. A change into clean clothes will also help!
Use a cold compress
A cold, wet compress to the eyes can help in fighting off allergic reactions, too! Itchy eyes are quite burdensome — and while it may be tempting to scratch your eyes when spring allergies hit, a cold compress will actually do you better.
Compresses help by cooling off any inflammation around the eyes. It also restricts circulation to the surrounding area.
Take medication
Another way of remediating your child’s allergies is to have them take medication.
According to Healthline, your body releases histamine — a substance meant to fight off allergies — whenever you come in contact with allergens. Antihistamines like Benadryl and Claritin, which are available over-the-counter, can often clear up allergic reactions by curbing the effects of histamine overproduction.
Nasal sprays like Nasonex, although uncomfortable for many kids, also help clear up the nasal passages when spring allergies strike.
Indoor Activities at Buckley Day Camp
At Buckley, we offer both indoor and outdoor facilities for all camp goers. To learn more about our programs or to enroll your child at Buckey, contact us today!