Surprisingly Ordinary Allergy Triggers

Pollen is the number one enemy for folks with seasonal allergies, but these factors can make a bad day worse

- Alanna Nunez & Lauren Gelman

Wearing shoes at home

 In addition to tracking in dirt and mud, you can track in pollen through your shoes and even clothes, says Dr Achal Gulati, director principal and director professor of ENT, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College & Hospital, Delhi. The hidden pollen particles could get trapped— continuing to trigger symptoms. Using separate jackets and shoes for indoors and outdoors can be a partial deterrent, says Dr Isaac Mathai, medical director, SOUKYA, Bengaluru. Dr Mark Dykewicz, a professor in the allergy and immunology division at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, USA, recommends not only taking your shoes off when you get home, but also throwing them (and everything else you are wearing) for a wash. Use a vacuum cleaner regularly on surfaces and curtains to get rid of dust particles.

Exposure to smoking

Smoke can affect those susceptible to allergies in two ways. First, through first-hand and passive smoking: “The tobacco on the tip of a cigarette, when lit, has a temperature of 600– 800°C which releases more than 3,000 chemicals, about 50 known carcinogens and 400 other toxins like tar, hydrocarbons and ammonia,” says Gulati. He adds that these damage the mucous membrane of the oral and respiratory tract in the early phase and could lead to a malignant change in the oral cavity, voice box or the lungs. The fine cilia on the surface of the mucous membrane is also damaged, which, as a result, inhibits the clearance of the mucous. Therefore, the pollutants, toxins and pollen, he explains, do not get expelled, leading to infections, asthma or other harmful effects. The second is through environmental stressors like noxious gases, which contain carcinogenic hydrocarbons.

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