How do you deal with this...an allergy issue

[zoom-zoom]

Another thing you can do is to get one of those netti-pot type products meant for people with congested sinuses during cold/flu season. You can flush your sinuses with that or a saline rinse to help decrease the pollen load that gets sucked up your face as you breathe. My brother has had good success with doing this after riding around in Houston daily. We like to say, Dilution is the Solution to Pollution.

Oh, yes, the neti pot is priceless. I used to suffer 3-4 sinus infections/year. Now I am down to 1 maybe every-other year.

[OakLeaf]

+1 on the neti pot, and also washing your face before bed.

To keep your face off those moldy hotel pillows (and support your neck), I just take a bath towel, fold it in thirds, roll it and put it under my neck, to sleep on my back.

But the pollen this year has been insane, and the molds have come right up just as the pollen is going down. I've been fighting a raging case of allergic conjunctivitis (could hardly see out of my left eye), which I've never had to deal with before outside of very mild itching. My doctor prescribed Patanol eye drop$$ which only helped about halfway until the pollen came down a bit.

[malkin]

I got steroid nose spray from my doc.

It's pricey (and probably makes me ineligible for certain competitions), but I have permission to bump up the dose for situations like you describe.

[Mr. Bloom]

Thanks for all the responses! Specifically, I'm concerned with addressing the musty smells since their impact on me is extreme. For various reasons, I'm unable to use antihistamines or steroids...

however, I like the Febreeze idea and will try that

Oh yeah +1 on neti pot!

[zoom-zoom]

A good air freshener like one of those plug-in warming units can really knock out a lot of stink.

[Mr. Bloom]

A good air freshener like one of those plug-in warming units can really knock out a lot of stink.

Zoom, have you really had luck with plug ins? They put me into hyperdrive with sinus infections...plus I hear that they're aroma is highly toxic

[zoom-zoom]

Hmmm...I like the scented oil ones. I never liked the ones with the little rectangle of gel stuff. I wonder if there's a difference. Or what about a reed diffuser or something like that?

[ny biker]

I find that plug-in scented oil things can be irritating to my throat. And even if they mask the odor, they won't remove the allergens from the air.

Would Lysol help? I sometimes have a problem on humid summer days with a musty smell in my condo. If I spray lots of Lysol when I leave for work in the morning, it still smells fresher when I get home later in the day. (I'm hoping my almost-finished kitchen renovation will solve or significantly reduce the problem in my case, since lots of old wood cabinets and some moldy drywall were removed.)

[bmccasland]

Mr. Bloom,
If you're driving, can you bring your own pillow? It isn't that an unusual thing for people to do. At least your face won't be in the musty pillow all night long.

[malkin]

Those plug ins HURT me!!