Summer, the season in which the sun endows us with its beautiful shine and warmth, is also known for the occurrence of maximum number of allergies. The common allergens affecting the people are dust, pollens, mites, sea food, etc. The amount and thus, chances of exposure to these allergens are very high in the summer season. The symptoms normally visible in an allergy are itching, redness of skin, swelling, watery and red eyes, itchy throat and nose, clogged nose or sneezing and coughing.

These allergic responses can sometimes be very severe, so proper care should be taken to avoid the exposure of the body to allergens. Some methods commonly employed to prevent allergic responses are:

1. Avoidance: The best possible way to prevent the attack of allergens is to stay away from them. If you are allergic to some kind of smell or some kind of food, then prefer not to have them. Exposure to dust, mites and pollens can be avoided by covering your nose and mouth with some cloth, where excessive amount of these things is present. This will check the air- borne allergens from entering your body and prevent allergic responses. Air filters and surgical masks can also be used. Also, the amount of allergens in the surroundings can be reduced by increasing the flow of fresh air, free from dust, in the room.
2. Medication: If it becomes difficult to contain an allergy through avoidance, then one can opt for treatment. In this, anti histamines, cromolyn sodium, corticosteroids, decongestants, epinephrine are used. The allergic reactions occurring due to allergens are because of the excessive secretion of histamine in the bloodstream. Anti- histamines are capable of reducing the amount of histamines in the blood and preventing the response of the immune system to the misidentified proteins.
3. Immunotherapy: In case of severe allergic responses, immunotherapy can be done. In this, the allergen is clinically introduced in the body at regular intervals of time in increasingly large amount. This helps in developing immunity against the allergen but it is quite risky and is to be done regularly.