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9 Essential Tips for Allergy Sufferers
Do you suffer year-round with itchy, watery eyes, sinus pressure, and nasal congestion? Maybe you are looking for the best medicine for allergies and have yet to find relief. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, you know your sneezy, wheezy symptoms can continue for months, no matter what time of year it is.
Allergies can take two different forms: seasonal and perennial, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. When symptoms occur because of trees in the spring, grasses in summer, and weeds in the fall, they are said to be seasonal. Seasonal allergic rhinitis is usually caused by seasonal tree, weed, or grass pollen, or even a rise in mold spores brought on by weather changes and rain. If you experience year-round allergies, you could have perennial allergic rhinitis, or an allergy to environmental dust, dust mites, animal danders, mold spores, or mildew. Your allergic rhinitis can be triggered by remnants of fur months after a cat, dog, or other pet has been removed from your home.
Overall, seasonal allergic rhinitis is easier to treat with allergy meds because the symptoms are short-term; perennial allergic rhinitis from year-round exposure is more difficult to control. Many people get used to living with annoying allergy symptoms, but getting the best medicine for allergies can provide control year-round.
If you have what is typically termed as seasonal hay fever, you’re probably taking all the right precautions, including:
- Removing pollen from your clothes
- Staying indoors during peak pollen times
- Using eye drops to keep your eyes clear and moistened
- Washing your hands often
But it can be all too easy to unknowingly make your allergy symptoms worse. Did you know that taking a dip in the pool, playing with a friend’s pet, or wearing outdoor shoes around the house can all be triggers?
Along with allergy meds, preventing your exposure to allergens is important for good symptom control. Take note of what might be escalating your allergies and how you can respond right now.
Shower Immediately After Being Outside
When you spend a lot of time outside, particularly if you’re working out in the yard, pollen can end up on your skin and hair, worsening allergy symptoms. If you’re highly allergic to pollen, it’s a good idea to take a second shower after you come inside to rinse away the pollen and avoid allergy symptoms, explains Mark S. Dykewicz, MD, a professor of allergy and immunology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri.
Leave Your Shoes and Pollen at the Front Door
You can carry quite a bit of pollen into the house after you’ve been exposed to it by exercising or working outside. If you don’t take off your shoes as soon as you come into the house, you may be tracking pollen into every room. The same goes for your clothes. It’s not necessary for everyone, but if seasonal allergies like hay fever are particularly troublesome for you, change your clothes as soon as you come in and throw them in the wash to keep allergy symptoms from following you around the house, Dr. Dykewicz advises.
Avoid Opening Windows Once Spring Hits
It can be hard to resist the allure of a warm spring breeze once the temperature rises, but opening your windows when seasonal allergies are at their peak is like giving pollen an open invitation to invade your living space and cause allergy symptoms. Keeping your windows closed and using an air conditioner with an allergy filter can be an effective way of treating allergies and may help you breathe better, says Dykewicz.
Skip Having a Drink With Dinner
Drinking any type of alcohol increases blood flow to the linings of your nose and can make nasal allergy symptoms worse, notes Dykewicz. Also, if you’re someone who has year-round nasal issues, including frequent congestion, this scenario can be complicated by alcohol. When seasonal allergies hit and you’re already feeling congested, skip the beer or wine to avoid worsening your allergy symptoms.
Stay Away From Chlorine and Strong Perfumes
Odors such as chlorine from a swimming pool and strong perfumes can irritate the nasal airways and lungs and make you cough. Irritants such as perfume and dyes in cosmetics and cleaning products can also cause an allergic skin reaction, known as contact dermatitis. Dermatitis can cause a rash and lead to itching, which will make your other allergy symptoms feel even worse.
Skip Short-Acting Allergy Meds at Night
Some medications for treating allergies, like cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra) last 24 hours and don’t need to be taken at night. But if you’re combating allergy symptoms with a different antihistamine first thing in the morning, keep in mind that its effects will only last six to eight hours. If you don’t take it again before going to bed, you may wake up to more allergy symptoms in the morning, Dykewicz says. Check the label of your medication to be sure you’re taking the correct number of doses for your seasonal allergies.
Put the Humidifier Away
If you’re allergic to dust mites, using a humidifier may make your allergy symptoms worse, especially if you use one in your bedroom. Humidity promotes the growth of dust mites, Dykewicz says. The best thing for treating allergies from dust mites is dry air. So if you suspect a dust mite allergy, stop using your humidifier and see if your symptoms improve.
Avoid Foods That Can Cause a Reaction
People with seasonal allergies often have antibodies that can cause their immune system to overreact to certain foods. This phenomenon is called oral allergy syndrome, notes the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. For instance, if you’re allergic to ragweed, you may experience allergy symptoms like itching on your lips, tongue, and mouth if you eat bananas, melons, cucumber, or zucchini, Dykewicz says. If you’re allergic to birch tree pollen, you may have allergy symptoms after eating apples, pears, peaches, hazelnuts, kiwi, carrots, or celery. These problems may only occur during the season in which your allergies are at their worst.
The Mayo Clinic offers more ways to reduce your exposure to allergens:
- Avoid yard chores that stir up dust, debris, and pollen. Ask someone to do your yard work and other chores during peak pollen season. If you must work outdoors, wear a mask.
- In addition to your house windows, close your car windows to avoid excess pollen.
- Stay inside on dry, windy days. Wait until a good rain has cleared the pollen and dust from the air before you go outside.
Regardless of the season, help minimize your allergy symptoms by keeping all these triggers in mind and avoiding them as much as possible.
- Hay Fever. American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. June 17, 2020.
- Seasonal Allergies: Nip Them in the Bud. Mayo Clinic. April 27, 2022.
- Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS). American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. September 28, 2020.
Jon E. Stahlman, MD
Medical Reviewer
Jon E. Stahlman, MD, has been a practicing allergist for more than 25 years. He is currently the section chief of allergy and immunology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta's Scottish Rite campus and the senior physician at The Allergy & Asthma Center in Atlanta. He served as the president of the Georgia Allergy Society, has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, and was listed as a Top Doctor by Atlanta magazine. His research interests include new therapies for asthma and allergic rhinitis as well as the use of computerized monitoring of lung function.
He received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Emory University. He completed his pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital and his fellowship in allergy and clinical immunology at Harvard University’s Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After his training, Dr. Stahlman conducted two years of clinical research at Boston Children’s Hospital and was part of the faculty at Harvard Medical School, where he taught medical students and allergy and immunology fellows.
Stahlman is board-certified and recertified in allergy and clinical immunology. He served as a principal investigator on phase 2 through 4 studies that are responsible for most of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved therapies for allergies and asthma available today.
Outside of the office, he centers his interests around his wife and three daughters, coaching soccer for many years, and his hobbies include cycling and triathlons.
Marie Suszynski
Author
Marie Suszynski is a Pennsylvania-based freelance health journalist who writes authoritative stories on a wide range of topics, including diabetes, arthritis, and more with a focus on highly detailed, easy-to-follow tips to help readers transform their lives. Her work has appeared in WebMD, Reader's Digest, and Prevention.
Suszynski is the coauthor of But I’m Hungry! 2 Steps to Beating Hunger and Losing Weight Forever and has contributed to more than a dozen Prevention-branded books about diabetes, nutrition, weight loss, and menopause (Prevention’s Ultimate Women’s Guide to Health and Wellness, Energy for Everything, Natural Hormone Solutions). She holds a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.