The Toll Allergies Take On Our Lives
People who do not suffer from allergies think allergies are no big deal. They think it just means a little itch on the nose, maybe some extra sneezes. They think allergies only arise when someone is holding a certain flower up to their nose, or cuddling with a cat. They don't realize what a huge impact they can have on our lives. Allergies can render us incapable of going about our usual days. They can make us feel like half a person for months. Here are a few scenarios to show just what a toll they can take on a person:
Personal:
Allergie-related head pains can be as severe as the flu. They can take over your entire head and leave a pounding sensation that infiltrates your entire body. Allergies can make it so difficult to hear because your ear drums feel like they are sealed up.
When my allergies hit last year, I barely wanted to speak to anyone let alone see them for weeks. Speaking on the phone sounded as though I was ten leagues under the sea. I had to struggle to just get the basics of what a friend was saying, and it's impossible to carry on an engaging, lively conversation like that. My friends didn't understand why I wasn't returning their phone calls. My friends who don't suffer from allergies, that is.
Going out, my body felt like it was covered in sand bags. My friends didn't invite me out anymore because they figured I was just being a drama queen and just used my allergies as an excuse.
Professional:
At important business meetings, the CEO believed I wasn't listening because I wasn't speaking up. In actuality, I wasn't saying anything because I hadn't been able to make out anything anyone was saying. The perfectly healthy attendees could hear everything and, of course, make contributions and suggestions that got them attention from the boss.
Sometimes I wonder what promotions I've missed out on all because my allergies made me half a person at important, game-changing meetings.
Allergies can also affect one's ability to speak. It has never happened to me, but I know it plagues a lot of people who depend on their voice for their work. I felt a lot of sympathy for a singer I saw in a recent video about healing one's voice after an injury. In this singer's case, he had incurred quite a bit of damage to his vocal chords because of allergies. He couldn't do what he loved—not to mention the activity he got his income from;for months!
About the Author
Julia Austin has covered topics in healthy lifestyle, leisure and travel, dating and sex for sites such as Discovery online, Yahoo! Shine and MadameNoire.com. Her article topics have ranged from how to diet on vacation to how to ditch a first date and even how to improve one's singing techniques easily with sites like http://www.thesingingzone.com/
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