Do spring and summer bring on your allergy symptoms? You’re not alone. About 25% of Americans have seasonal allergies.
Our board-certified allergists with Advanced Allergy & Asthma diagnose and treat many types of allergies, including to environmental triggers such as dust, pollen, pet dander and mites, food allergies, and allergies to substances such as latex.
When talking about seasonal allergies, different kinds of pollen surge during different months of the year. In May and June, levels of grass pollen are very high. Levels of tree and weed pollen are moderate in June. Of course, the type of pollen varies depending on where you live.
Scientists tell us that allergy seasons now last longer than they once did. Climate change is lengthening spring, summer, and fall, so environmental pollen stays around longer.
In addition to being life-threatening in rare cases, allergies can diminish your quality of life. If being outside in the spring, summer, or fall, or being inside in the winter causes you sneezing or coughing fits or watery, itchy eyes, it spoils the fun. You’ve tried over-the-counter allergy medication and it isn’t helping enough.
You’re looking for an effective solution. You’ve heard about using honey from farms in your geographic area to help relieve allergy symptoms. Is that true? Should you visit your nearby farmer’s market to buy a jar?
Our allergists with Advanced Allergy & Asthma say that you can try using local honey for allergy relief, but it’s really not an effective antidote.
You might think that the honey that bees produce would desensitize you to your seasonal allergy triggers. However, that’s not at all likely.
If you have seasonal allergies, your allergic reaction to pollen stems from the pollen in trees, grasses, weeds, and other similar environmental triggers. However, bees harvest pollen from flowers, and most flower pollen is benign.
Your local honey may have pollen from 10-20 plants or more. It likely doesn’t include the pollen causing your symptoms. The pollen from grasses and trees is smaller and lighter than the pollen which bees collect. If the honey does include some of the pollen you react to, it likely won’t be a significant enough amount to help relieve your symptoms.
No large studies have been completed on honey as a treatment for allergy symptoms. Most small studies show no significant difference in those who consume local honey versus those that don’t.
Honey is a delightful product nature provides, and most people can enjoy it — just don’t expect honey to help your allergies.
There are a couple of caveats you should know relating to honey consumption. For example, it shouldn’t be given to infants. Also, if your allergy symptoms are severe, take care when eating honey. In rare cases, some individuals have suffered anaphylaxis, a life-threatening emergency, when eating honey.
We provide effective allergy treatment that controls or eliminates your allergy symptoms so you once again have a good quality of life. If you have seasonal allergies, you can once again enjoy being outdoors and soaking up nature. It’s not healthy to live your life indoors. In fact, doctors now prescribe “nature bathing” to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and improve sleep.
We provide thorough testing to determine the source of your discomfort. Often, prescription medication helps enough to relieve your symptoms. If it doesn’t, we administer allergy shots to desensitize you over time to your allergy triggers.
Call Advanced Allergy & Asthma or request an appointment through our online portal today for allergy relief.
