6 Healthy Halloween Tricks for Treats
SEP 16, 2024Eating a good meal before trick or treating, planning a costume party, and keeping an eye on candy consumption are just a few tricks for a healthier Halloween.
Read MoreEvery spring and fall, I see patients complaining of allergy season, and every spring and fall, I see a different group of patients coming in saying that their allergies are worse this year than they were last.
Next year, I know that it won’t be the same people who were here this year. It’ll be a different cohort. Not to say that people won’t have allergies that year but it’ll be a different group of people who seem to be suffering more than the other folks with allergies.
A lot of it has to do with our ever-changing climate. Some years are wet and some years are dry. So, sometimes there are higher levels of mold, sometimes there are higher levels of ragweed, and sometimes there’s more tree pollen in the air.
Some years the grass pollen seems to take over in the spring and really give people with those allergies a lot of trouble. Some people have indoor allergies that would be more consistent with dust mites and molds. Those are more year-round allergies and they don’t see as much fluctuation in their symptoms.
We know there’s a lot of things that we can do to help with allergies. You see all the commercials on TV for the antihistamines and the nasal steroid sprays.
There are also some non-pharmaceutical options that people have for their allergies. I’ve had a lot of patients have good success with nasal rinses. There are different sinus rinses that people use, some people refer to them as Neti Pots.
But, rinsing the sinuses seems to remove the allergens from the airway where we’re sensitized to those agents. By simply removing ourselves from the environment that we’re allergic to, we can have really good control of our allergies.
The same thing happens for indoor allergies. We know that people who have mold and dust allergies do better when they have hardwood floors versus carpet. It’s much easier to keep a hardwood floor clean than it is to keep the dust out of the carpet.
But still, every year, we’re going to see a different group of people who are suffering from allergies and having to do more this year than they did the year before.
Eating a good meal before trick or treating, planning a costume party, and keeping an eye on candy consumption are just a few tricks for a healthier Halloween.
Read MoreWe encourage all to get their flu and other vaccinations each year to avoid these and secondary issues or even hospitalization.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever hesitated to ask your doctor a question because you were embarrassed or unsure, you’re not alone.
Read MoreWhen you need local health information from a trusted source, turn to the CHI Health Better You eNewsletter.