Allergies Taking Your Breath Away? Here’s Help

Don’t let the great outdoors--and the allergies it brings--keep you from exercising. The American Lung Assn. suggests the following:

* Stretch indoors to minimize time spent outside.

* If you’re going to take an antihistamine, take it 30 minutes before going outside.

* Breathe through your nose; it’s a natural air filter.

* Avoid exercising too early; most pollen is emitted by plants between 5 and 10 a.m.

* Plan activities around allergies. Exercising after a rain can be better for people with pollen allergies but worse for people with mold allergies. Molds also tend to be worse in damp places, such as by the pool and in the forest.

* Wear glasses or sunglasses when mowing the grass or working in the garden. If necessary, use a particle mask (available in hardware stores).

* Bathe and wash your hair after exercising, especially before going to bed. Pollen clings to hair and can rub off on pillows and trigger allergies overnight.

* Avoid exercising in fields or meadows where irritating grasses, weeds and trees can be abundant.

* Avoid these pollen-allergy triggers: oak, maple, poplar and elm trees; Timothy, Bermuda and orchard grasses; ragweed, sagebrush and pigweed.

* The following are less likely to be troublesome:

Trees--dogwood, ginkgo, pear, red bud, pine, plum, mulberry, magnolia, palm, tulip, redwood.

Shrubs--boxwood, yucca, Pyracantha, hibiscus, crape myrtle.

Ground cover--sedum, cinquefoil, tradescantia.

Flowers--azalea, begonia, bougainvillea, camellia, poppy, iris, tulip, pansy.

For a free copy of the Tavist Year-Round Allergy Management Calendar, which includes more than 50 tips on surviving allergy season, call (800) 828-4783.

* Sources: American Lung Assn. and Tavist-D; American Lung Assn. of California.