76 / WOMEN’S HEALTH APRIL 2019
Sleeping With the Enemy Pollen sticks to your hair by day and rubs off on your
pillow (and face) at night. The fix: Wash fiberfill and down pillows in warm water on
the gentle cycle. Add an extra rinse and tumble dry on low. Most foam pillows can’t go
through the washer, so vacuum them with the upholstery tool and spot-clean surface
stains. Even better: Encase them in an allergen-blocking protector, like those from
AllerEase (aller-ease.com).
When your eyes encounter a puff of
pollen, your body releases hista-
mine, a chemical that boosts blood
flow to the area. The extra fluid can
make the skin of your eyelids and
nasal passages puffy. Swelling and
congestion can also obstruct your
circulation so blood pools around
your peepers. Not ideal.
YOUR PLAN A low-tech but effec-
tive remedy: the cold compress.
Soak a washcloth in cool water and
place it over your closed eyes for
about 20 minutes to help shrink
blood vessels. But do it while
you’re sitting up, not lying down;
gravity can help drain blood from
around your eyes. To treat the
underlying allergy, try over-the-
counter or Rx antihistamine eye
drops, which block histamine re-
ceptors in your eyes and can have
spillover benefits to lids. “Start a
week or two before the allergy ex-
posure is expected, and continue
until after the season ends,” says
Lorne Yudcovitch, OD, of Pacific
University College of Optometry.
Congestion in the maxillary sinuses,
which sit right on top of your upper
molars, can put pressure on the
underlying chompers’ nerve roots,
creating a throbbing sensation.YOUR PLAN Anti-inflammatory
nasal steroid sprays should relieve
tooth pain by clearing up pressure
from the congestion—if that’s in-
deed the reason for your sensitivity.
“Inflamed nasal cavities are great
breeding grounds for bacteria, so
you can get superimposed sinus in-
fections,” says Beth Corn, MD, an as-
sociate professor of medicine at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai. In fact, an unexplained tooth-
ache is a good sign that your allergy
might have progressed to something
that requires an antibiotic. So see
your dentist or family doctor.You normally swallow about a quart
of mucus a day (pause for collective
“ew”). Add postnasal drip and you
down enough to cause stomach
pain or even vomiting. Your tum
might be especially out of sorts in
the a.m.; nighttime breathing thick-
ens mucus so your system may have
more trouble clearing it out.YOUR PLAN Neti pot, anyone? The
saltwater solution used to flush out
your nasal passages thins mucus so
it’s more easily cleared. Use distilled,
filtered, bottled, or boiled water
(never tap) and clean the pot with
the same kind of H 2 O after every use.
Saline sprays have a similar effect. If
you’re not a fan of cleaning out the
crud with salt water, an OTC decon-
gestant containing pseudoephed-
rine can bring some short-term relief.SWOLLEN EYELIDS
SENSITIVE TEETH STOMACHACHE
Source: Carolyn Forté, director of Good Housekeeping Home Appliances/Cleaning Products/Textiles Labs