Sports in the spring: don’t let allergies force you to stay at home

ALLERGIES occur when the immune system reacts in an exaggerated way to an external agent that generates a series of inflammatory and other similar responses in our body.

There are different types of allergens. The most common are pollens – mainly from trees, grasses and shrubs – and allergies mainly occur during the spring as that is when they are in flower.

 Where and when to practise sport:

• If you don’t want to give up sports in the open air, the best thing to do is to go out when levels of pollen in the atmosphere are at their lowest. These levels can be consulted online or on specific applications on your smartphone.

• Pollen levels escalate at certain times during the day. The concentration is significantly greater between five and 10 in the morning and later in the day (from seven in the evening).

• Practise sports in an enclosed area such as a gymnasium, an indoor court or a swimming pool. This will help you gain strength and stamina and work muscles that are generally ‘abandoned.’ 

• Keep away from contamination in parks. The combination of pollen and pollution aggravate the effects of allergies.

Tricks for practising sport with allergies

• Be careful with contact lenses and use your glasses if necessary. Use an elastic band on them so they don’t fall off.

• Sunglasses will also help to alleviate any trouble with bright light in delicate eyes and nasal lenses will help you breathe better.

• If your eyes feel itchy, don’t rub them. It’s possible that the allergy is not the only thing to blame since this could be the result of dust or other matter accidentally getting into the eyes. You could damage the cornea which is very painful and this could have negative consequences for your vision.

• Using a face mask helps to reduce the amount of pollen inhaled. Choose disposable ones and change them after each training session. Wash all your equipment as soon as you return home so as to get rid of any pollen that might have clung to it.