Ease Your Allergies - These holistic remedies may provide relief from seasonal symptoms.

For people with seasonal allergies, sniffling and sneezing are just the tip of the drippy, itchy iceberg. And symptoms can range from mildly annoying to truly debilitating.Seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever, are allergic reactions to airborne allergens like pollen and mold spores, says Katie Marks-Cogan, M.D., an allergist at Clear Allergy in Culver City, CA. Normally harmless, certain allergens can prompt an immune response in some people, leading to itchy, watery eyes; sneezing; runny nose; congestion; coughing; and shortness of breath.

- By Madeleine Haase- illustration by Doug Chaika

For people with seasonal allergies, sniffling and sneezing are just the tip of the drippy, itchy iceberg. And symptoms can range from mildly annoying to truly debilitating.

Seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever, are allergic reactions to airborne allergens like pollen and mold spores, says Katie Marks-Cogan, M.D., an allergist at Clear Allergy in Culver City, CA. Normally harmless, certain allergens can prompt an immune response in some people, leading to itchy, watery eyes; sneezing; runny nose; congestion; coughing; and shortness of breath.

Seasonal allergies work similarly to food and animal fur allergies, says Dr. Marks-Cogan. When an allergic person comes in contact with the allergen, antibodies trigger the release of histamine, a chemical that cues vexing allergy symptoms.