Best health practices for upcoming allergy season

We're just weeks away from allergy season in the borderland, as autumn begins Sept. 22.

UTEP environmental health professor Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia believes the region will experience more ragweed, pollen, mold spores from damp leaves, and even irritants tracked inside by pets.

Some of the best practices to get some relief from allergies are:

• Showering after being outdoors -- pollen sticks to our clothing.
• Wash all your bedding and clothing -- and don't hang it out doors to dry.
• Bathe your pets and groom them frequently to remove dander.

And after all the heat and several dust storms this year, Ibarra-Mejia gives some advice.

"Because we tend to spend a lot of time indoors in our houses or in our offices, ventilation is is key," he says. "If you don't have a household that is completely weatherized, then probably you need some air or HEPA filters."

If you have chronic allergies, it can have long term effects on your health by putting your immune system on high alert and stress it out.

But it can also exhaust it so much that it responds at a very low level.

Ibarra-Mejia says your best bet is using allergy medications.

Some are over the counter like nasal sprays, saline nasal rinses, or antihistamines.

"It's going to become worse in the sense there going to be more cases. And of course, those of us that suffer allergies, we know that more or less already today, like in February, in September or October," he says.

Of course, first check with a doctor first to make sure you can take them.