Elder care professionals share some summer allergy relief secrets

Your parents may be looking forward to summer. After the waves of flu in the winter and early spring, they may be looking forward to the warm summer. But now, although they aren’t ill, elder care professionals may have noted that your mom or dad still have some ongoing sniffles. Perhaps summer allergies are coming on.

Allergies can come about at any time and for people of any age. For adults suffering from allergies while dealing with other aging medical issues, this is just one more challenge they would prefer not to have to deal with. However, elder care specialists state that allergies may be developing as your parents are exposed to certain allergens repeatedly and their bodies become sensitive to them. Even new allergies are usually here to stay.

Allergies can produce many symptoms that may confuse mom or dad as to what is ailing them. Your parent may experience water, itchy, red eyes, sneezing, runny nose and congestion. These symptoms in an older adult, specifically one with any other chronic illness, may lead to pneumonia or cardiac arrest. If your parent is one of these individuals, our elder care team recommends contacting their primary care physician immediately; you do not want to wait until this becomes an emergency.

Some nutritionists believe seasonal allergies can be controlled by diet. Eating foods like apples, flax seed, ginger leafy greens and those high in vitamin C are known to reduce the inflammation that often is caused by allergies. It is possible for some individuals to lessen the inflammation through diet, reducing their symptoms.

If the pollen from outdoors is your mother or father’s primary allergen, keeping doors and windows closed will prevent (or at least reduce) any additional exposure to them. When going outside, we recommend your loved one wears sunglasses to prevent dust from getting in your eyes, and they wash their hands and face when they return home.

Visiting Angels of Auburn, NH provides in home care services to families in Auburn, Candia, Derry, Goffstown, Dunbarton, Londonderry, Raymond, Salem, Manchester, Hooksett, Bedford, Suncook, Weare, Concord, Bow, Atkinson, Deerfield, Sandown, Hampstead, Chester, Fremont, Allenstown, Pembroke, Hopkinton, Danville, and other areas around Auburn, New Hampshire.