You Can Reduce Allergy Symptoms With Simple Daily Habits

In this timely Haque's Health Hacks episode, from Haque Chiropractic, Dr. Anita Haque sits down with long-time patient and groundsman Juan Castro, who battled severe seasonal allergies and asthma for years—complete with constant wheezing, shortness of breath, and reliance on inhalers and a respirator at work.
Discover how targeted chiropractic adjustments (focusing on neck and upper back nerves), simple sinus techniques, hydration, pollen avoidance strategies, HEPA filters, saline rinses, and an anti-inflammatory diet (think ginger, turmeric, leafy greens, and vitamin C-rich foods) helped Juan ditch his meds and breathe freely within months—no more nighttime "herd of cats" wheezing or vomiting from pills.
Perfect for April pollen season, this conversation shares practical, drug-free tips to tackle stuffiness, inflammation, and breathing issues at the root. Whether you're dealing with seasonal sniffles or chronic allergies, these natural "hacks" could change your life!
Watch now for real-patient results and actionable advice.

Transcript

Welcome And Allergy Season Setup

Dr. Anita Haque 0:01

Hi, and welcome to Haque's Health Hacks. This week's podcast or this month's podcast is on a topic that is so timely in my practice with my patients since we are in the month of April. And as we're filming this, it is allergy time. Seasonal allergies. Sometimes patients get so indoctrinated with the stuffiness and the sinus cavities, and it is problematic. No one wants to feel like they can't breathe. And with all the pollen and things that are rolling around in the air and our weather shifting from cooler to hotter, we are getting these symptoms. So today I have one of my esteemed patients and friends, Juan Castro, here with me, who is not only an incredible person who is so into health, but also into natural health care. But we met many, many years ago. I met many years ago, and the reason why we have him here as my featured guest is Juan is also someone who has suffered with allergies. So before I get into some of the healthy natural things our listeners, our viewers can do to help them, you know, through seasonal allergies. Juan, if you could just take a moment. First off, thank you so much for taking the time today. I think you're on a little vacation. You're taking time to join me on this uh podcast. But I want to start at the beginning. Like, when did your allergies like first show up? Like, what were your symptoms like when you first started having them, dealing with them? What were they like? You know, what was the worst symptoms? Tell me, tell us a little bit about this background for you.

Juan’s Asthma And Outdoor Triggers

Speaker 1 1:36

Well, my background for me is I've had asthma all my life, and allergies have always been an issue. And as a groundsman for the school district, I'm playing in it every day. And there have been times we go home.

Dr. Anita Haque 1:52

I mean, you're outside, just for those of you, I'm outside every day.

Speaker 1 1:55

Rain or shine, cold or hot. I'm the guy outside. And asthma and allergies are just, you know, killing me on a they were killing me on a daily basis. It was it was bad, to the point that I could barely breathe at night. I was wheezing so bad it sounded like a herd of cats. And I was fortunate enough, I want to say it was either 2009 or early 2010, uh, at a safety meeting at work, you were brought in uh as a speaker, and you gave your spiel, and it was like, no way, really? And so my wife and I both went, and oh my god, what a difference. Being able to get adjusted, it took a few weeks to a couple months before I wasn't forced to have to wear a dual-cartridge respirator at work in order to breathe. The wheezing stopped, and you know, as I proceeded to go on and on and on with you, I learned more tricks on how to you know get the allergies away, and you know, with the adjustments, with the exercise, the stretching, just drinking more water, all the combinations just made the difference. And right now, I do not have asthma anymore, which is is huge. I'm just exactly it, it's great. I tell all my friends I can breathe because of you, and it's just been an incredible, you know. It did no more, you know, wheezing, no more shortness of breath. You know, I just keep on my job.

Dr. Anita Haque 3:38

You're still outside.

Speaker 1 3:40

I'm still outside. I no longer have to wear a dual cartridge respirator. I only wear it when I'm playing with extreme allergens, otherwise, I don't have to wear it every day in the fac in the past I had to wear it every day. Yeah. Now it's now it's a choice, depending on what I'm working on. I can go ahead and wear it to just preventative maintenance, but otherwise it's it's not a you know a must-have daily.

Dr. Anita Haque 4:06

That's amazing.

Speaker 1 4:06

Which is awesome.

Dr. Anita Haque 4:07

When I'm sort of curious, even for my own self, you said, you know, I came to your work, and it's true. I did do a safety talk. I talked a little bit about natural health and chiropractic, and you said I did my spiel. What was it for you in that spiel for you that made you go, huh, maybe this can help me? What was it that caught you or kind of got you interested? I'm curious myself.

Speaker 1 4:30

Well, you know, you you talked about a a a variety of different things. You were talking about lifting, stretching, and you know, you learn all this stuff as you're going along. You're like, yeah, yeah, does it really work? Does it not work? And you were pretty confident in it. And I figured, you know what, let's give it a shot. I talked to my wife, we both both joined, and you were amazing.

Dr. Anita Haque 4:50

Thank you. And I we love Laura too, because she's yeah, she's she's always part of this conversation. So I'm curious, just since we're going into allergies, you know, was there like a moment for you, even prior to us meeting, where you know, with the asthma and being outside and doing the dual cartridge respirator, like I've had enough moment.

Speaker 1 5:11

Well, I had plenty of those, but I didn't know of anything that would work. I mean, I had my asthma inhaler that I would have to take every once in a while. I used to have pills that I had to take, but I'm not a pill taker, so taking the pills was always difficult for me. So they gave me a liquid form, and the liquid form was so bad tasting and just smell horrible that as soon as I would take a sip of that, it would induce vomiting. And it got to the point it was like and I'm not taking this anymore. I started trying to exercise more, and that seemed to make a difference. And it felt like I always had to keep moving. So, you know, in result, it's like I'm constantly on the go. Okay, let's go here, let's go let you know.

Dr. Anita Haque 5:57

Because when you rested during this time, it would come back. Yes, the symptoms were that much more aware, like apparent for you. And like I'm guessing with the asthma, hard to breathe, were you also feeling like stuffiness in your your your cavities for your nose and your congested, all of that. So you probably always sounded like you had a cold. Yeah, tell me more, just because I want to know if this resonates with the listeners here today, because many people who have allergies they do have different types of symptoms. So yours was sounds like a lot more extreme because of the asthma and because of your career and your job having to be outside all right. You know, were you able to, you know, besides moving around to just to get through it, the dual cartridge respirator, was there like was it hard to sleep? Were you feeling like it was affecting, you know, parts of your day-to-day lifestyle? I'm sure you got used to it as well because you had dealt with it for so many years. But you know, was there, you know, something you kind of noticed that was just kind of starting to wreak havoc in your life?

Speaker 1 6:56

Yeah, you do get used to it, and then you figure out ways to to work around it. It's just uh kind of crazy, you know, with the the watery eyes, you find yourself just you know spraying some water on it for a little bit, close your eyes for a sec. I found that what really worked was being in cooler temperatures. So if I was having some major attack, whether it was asthma or just the allergens, I found that if I got into a vehicle, started it up, cranked the AC up, I could close my eyes and just focus on breathing. Everything would calm down and it would, you know, surpass and go away for a little while till it acted up again. But uh it was it was kind of crazy.

The Turning Point With Chiropractic

Dr. Anita Haque 7:40

But yeah, it's pretty extreme having to do that like maybe on a break or something for you, get in your car, and put the that sounds kind of extreme for you to have to have done. So wow. Um, okay, let's do this just again for the you know, the this the case and the sake of our listeners and watchers here. Walk us through what a typical visit with me or chiropractic adjustment looked like for you. Was there any specific like adjustments or things that you and I know already this answer, but uh that I have you know done with you that really made some sort of a difference?

Speaker 1 8:12

So the the the the the most noticeable difference is when you do the sinus. When you're pressing up and just putting that pressure there, I've walked in with a stuffy nose and walked out clear as deck. I mean, it's just incredible what you do.

Dr. Anita Haque 8:29

Thank you. And honestly, I mean I'd love to take all the credit, but it's really your body just able to do what it's supposed to do. Um, and you know, one of the things that I try to do with all of my patients, especially this time of year when they're suffering with allergies, is to focus on the nerve in the neck that impacts the sinus cavities. And that's comes out of the second between the second and third vertebrae, first, second, third vertebrae, those nerves in particular at the top of your neck, kind of at but below the base of your skull, those specific nerves impact the functioning of the nasal, the sinus cavities, the frontal, and you know, kind of our breathing or airway system. And then the upper back actually impacts the lungs more for asthma. So something that I really try to impart on each visit and adjustment with you as we've gone through many years now together, you know, working on keeping you at your your peak performance of health, is adjusting those segments if they're out of alignment to make sure those nerves are freed up so that your body, your brain rather, can communicate to those sinus cavities and and work more efficiently so you're not so stuffed up you can breathe better, because we all know we need oxygen to survive, right? So that is uh definitely something. So were you able to notice over, you know, how long did it take when we first started working together before you started to notice improvements? You know, was it easier to breathe? Were you feeling less congested? Did you notice like you had to take less meds or less of your inhaler? You know, some things that you noticed and how long it took for you, any surprises that may have happened when we first started to work together.

Speaker 1 10:05

Yes, when we first started, like I said earlier, I had to work every day with a dual cartridge respirator. And after about a month, month and a half, I stopped wearing it. And about two weeks later, you asked me, it's like, how are you doing at work? And I kind of chuckled and said, you know, I haven't worn my respirator in two weeks. And my wife looked at me and said, What? And it's it was it was a surprise for everybody. That's when I started to notice what chiropractic care really does for me. And it was like, uh now I'm in. I'm in 100%, and let's let's do this. And it's been incredible.

Dr. Anita Haque 10:47

I'm so glad to hear like that this is transpired for you, so you don't have to do the meds, and don't have and you can still continue doing the things you've been you know wanting to do for your livelihood as well. As I know you are kind of a uh outdoors person, um, as I've gotten to know you over the years and you like with irrigation systems and water, you mean you are like so into being this is kind of like your nature as well, I think, for you. Um correct me if I'm wrong, or maybe you're just having to do it now. But I'm just glad that you're able to do it without like some of the things that you had to, you know, suffer with, obviously. So, you know, for listeners that are maybe battling, you know, seasonal allergies right now, what would be maybe one piece of advice that you might want to give them based on your journey? Like what would you tell someone who's maybe even like skeptical? And I know there's a lot of skeptics you and I both deal with, you know, saying, really, go see someone for allergies, see a chiropractor for allergies. Like, so is there any, you know, what what advice maybe would you give to our listeners on that?

Speaker 1 11:47

Well, I tell everybody the same thing: go see my chiropractor. She is amazing. I work outside every day. The allergies I'm stuck dealing with, it's just incredible. The adjustments and the maintenance of the chiropractic care has just been amazing for me. And I'm constantly telling people, go, go, go. Chiropractic is real and it works.

Dr. Anita Haque 12:11

Yeah, and thank you for that because I've had the opportunity to meet many of your referrals, fan friends, and family members whom I also enjoy and love taking care of, and it's such an honor for me. So uh

Sinus Adjustments And Nerve Pathways

Dr. Anita Haque 12:22

truly. So, you know, are there any seasonal hacks that you may swear by besides your adjustments, but during like, you know, this peak pollen vibe in in our Bay Area that you know we live in? Anything that you kind of swear by that like really helps you naturally? And I'll get into some of those hacks in in just a moment for our listeners too.

Speaker 1 12:43

Well, for me, it's just staying hydrated, drinking lots of water makes a huge difference for me. I used to drink a lot of soda, and now it's like once in a blue moon, I'll have a soda. Most of what I drink now is water.

Dr. Anita Haque 12:56

That's amazing. I am glad that you brought that up as your hack because I think that's one simple thing, hydration that we take for granted as a whole, like in our society, our community. And sometimes we don't realize that we're getting so dehydrated because we're drinking coffee or our tea or iced tea or even sodas that have caffeine or chocolates and those energy drinks. And we are even more depleted of you know, water by consuming these beverages, which sort of make us sort of feel like we're hydrated, but we're not. So, like this this effect can really take place in your entire body of like aging too quickly, the allergies and just feeling more fatigued and weight loss. I mean, water is just like the basis of uh, you know, what we're formed with anyway. So um, one great tip that I usually offer to patients and and and you know, people that I care about is to get more hydration. It's as simple as having a good water bottle with you at all times. When I say good water bottle, I mean don't get the plastic ones. Exactly, just like pay-free, maybe a metal one, a glass one. Something that's with you that you take with you to your car, to your job, to your desk, to your tractor, wherever you're working. Just having it in plain sight can make the difference for me of drinking more water. Sometimes you don't realize you're thirsty until you take your first step and you're like, oh, this tastes good. I need more, right? You know, so yeah, or you know, we're playing them out. Exactly. And we're so busy doing the things that we're doing that we forget like to actually hydrate because we can ignore our thirst, we can ignore our hunger, we can ignore our aches and pains, we're adaptable, our minds can, you know, shut that off and then just get focused on what we're doing. And then three hours go by and you're like, I'm really dehydrated now, I'm really thirsty. And you don't realize why you're hungry and you're eating food, but you're really thirsty. So such a great, great tip. Here are some other hacks that I like to share for our listeners. You know, definitely like you said, hydration is a key one. But sometimes for those of you who may just be suffering with seasonal allergies and not all year round, it's a track pollen. And there's like a daily pollen count, you know, on apps, our local news has it, and that really kind of gives us a gauge, just like looking at the weather for those people who really suffer. Sometimes just and I know you can't do that because you have to go to work regardless of that. But for some people, they might be able to stay away from the outdoors on a day that the pollen is so high. Maybe that's the day you don't do your gardening. Maybe it's a day you don't go out to the park all day with your family and friends, maybe going out after rain when the pollen is washed away. That's also a really good tip for people who do have, like, you know, the seasonal allergies. Keeping the windows or windows closed sometimes during this time where we want to open them up and get the you know, spring air. But if you really suffer with allergies, it's maybe best not to do that to keep your windows closed. It could be more beneficial if you're gonna be suffering. The other thing I have found has been beneficial for a lot of sufferers, even myself at times, is using like a HEPA air purifier. They're everywhere now that you can get these air purifiers online, they're not very expensive, and the room that maybe you spend the most time in. Or perhaps if you're someone who suffers at night a lot, able, you know, not able to sleep properly with your sinuses being so stuffed up, having that air purifier put on in your bedroom for a few hours even before you sleep or throughout the day, just to keep that air really clean can help minimize some of the symptoms that can come from allergies. Here's another thing that I recommend to some of my patients who you know are suffering, you know, with seasonal allergies is you know, as soon as you get home, if you're an outdoor person, like Juan is change your clothes, get them off, shower, okay? Shower and change, like shower and clue, you know, rinse off that pollen from your hair, your face, your hands. It's simple, you know, get your laundry, get your you know, done. Don't hang your clothes outside either, obviously. Throw them in the dryer. Um, but yeah, just sort of getting the pollen off of you. Can't see it, but you can feel it. Um, but it's there. So sometimes just doing that wash, shower, and change strategy from your clothes wash can make a huge, huge difference too. Have you ever tried one? This is another little tip. A neti pot something or a saline spray. Sometimes those can be beneficial for people who no, I haven't. Yeah, okay. Good. You haven't needed to, thankfully, right? But it is something that's available. There are neti pods, like basically it's a it's like a nasal rinse to help like clear out the sinus cavities. Like I said, there's those saline sprays that are available and more natural, over-the-counter, easy to get to. And it can kind of give you that like cheap, drug-free, you know, natural, fast relief sometimes when you know you really have to soft work it outside. The other thing I also like to recommend is our diet. Let's talk about our diet because I don't think that we as collectively, when I say we as a society, sometimes realize the impact of what we put into our bodies has on our functioning of our bodies. Sometimes we forget food is our medicine or food is our toxicity, either one, you know what I mean? Like it could be good or bad, what we're eating. So, like high inflammatory foods can really spike up, unfortunately, allergies, you know, and and seasonal things, as

Hydration And Daily Allergy Habits

Dr. Anita Haque 18:07

well as asthma, you know, so foods that are high in inflammation, things like dairy, refined carbohydrates, artificial processed foods. I mean, those are gonna be high on the list of, you know, inflammatory uh factors in our body. And anything that's like processed to me, something that you're gonna probably buy in a package, in a box, something that has a shelf life, you know, it's not necessarily grown naturally. It's been, like I said, formulated in a lab. Maybe it's processed, it's put in a bag, in a box, in a frozen compartment, in a can, even sometimes, and it's meant to like live forever so it can sell and make money, but then by the time your body consumes it, it doesn't know how to break down these chemicals and things that make it, you know, stay fresh. And that's what can lead to a lot of these symptoms of inflammation and not just for allergies, but for a lot of things like heart disease and diabetes and weight gain and fatigue and depression. I mean, just to name a few things. So if we can cut back, you know, if you're listening today and you're thinking, how can I just naturally like just reduce my negative health effects? Eat a little bit more natural stuff, dark green leafy vegetables, adding that into your diet, even if it's like adding a serving of spinach to your diet every day, you know, kale, maybe you're having a mermaid lettuce. Oh no, you don't always like some of these things. It's hard. And and if you can't get this from natural foods, I will I will even suggest to patients sometimes having like a natural liquid multivitamin that maybe contains the this nutritional like vitamin substance that your body needs to perform its best could be another alternative. And I always, you know, have some good advice for that too. But yeah, I I think that vitamin C rich foods, those are huge to help with allergies and minimize the impacts. And vitamin C rich foods, most people think oranges, right? But I like to remind people that bell peppers have even more vitamin C than an orange, lemons, limes. That's why, as you know, Juan, such as a person, and you're always like getting me lemons and limes from your neighbors or excess, you know, if there's available. And I mean, I use lemon on everything. And you can use, you know, like even a diffuser inside your home sometimes with natural like um essential oils like the lemon or even peppermint, things like you know, um, that can kind of open up the sinus cavities. That can also be a very helpful thing as a natural thing. But also, you know, besides you know, oranges and citrus, there's a lot of vitamin C in our greens, too. So, again, I'm gonna go back to those green leafy vegetables because it really serves our body and so many levels for health improvements. Things that we can't see, but things that we can feel. Onions, apples, berries, those are huge on the list. Also, things like ginger and turmeric. Huge for decreasing inflammation, as you know, Juan, like in our water, our Buzz Balance water, we add lemon, lime, ginger, apple cider vinegar to really enhance, you know, the hydration. So you

Diet Changes To Lower Inflammation

Dr. Anita Haque 21:04

can take your water that you're drinking every single day and actually add that vitamin C, add those anti-inflammatory, natural like foods you might even have in your pantry to not only boost your health, but boost your hydration up, boost those effects to minimize allergies and symptoms, um, which I think is a huge, huge thing to do if you're suffering with allergies. Because let the face, the truth is this many of my patients that suffer with allergies this time of year, not only does it affect you know their moods and how they're performing, as you know, Juan, but it also is something that they don't want to necessarily take over-the-counter meds and a lot of people taking the pseudopeds, the nasal stuff, things that but there are effects to those as well that aren't positive to your body, and it's not necessarily fixing the cause of the allergies, right? Like, you know, it's just silencing the symptoms. So sometimes that can actually make things worse. Um, I think it's a a good idea to try to do. The natural things, if you can, first, and then if you need something on top of that, then yeah, talk to your doctor, get the get the things that really help you because we have to breathe. Um, absolutely.

Meds Vs Natural Relief And Wrap

Dr. Anita Haque 22:10

So, is there any other health tips or anything else from your life, Juan, that we can share here with our listeners before we wrap up this call, or any questions that you might have for this podcast for the sake of yourself as well as our listeners to help with allergies?

Speaker 1 22:27

No, actually, I'd pretty good. I like I said, I started meeting with you and have learned and just wow, thank you.

Dr. Anita Haque 22:37

It is absolutely my pleasure on so many levels to not only have impacted your health and well-being, but also you and Laura have impacted my life in so many positive ways, just with your energy and your presence and uh helping me to really serve my purpose, which is helping other people live better naturally, you know, uh through health, better health. So thank you so, so much for taking the time on your little vacation today to come on and be my my esteemed guest and to share some of your insights with our listeners on how to breathe better, live better, feel better, especially during this allergy season. So thanks again, Juan, and I will see you again soon.

Speaker 1 23:18

All right, take care. Thank you for the opportunity.

Dr. Anita Haque 23:21

Thank you.