Spring Allergies Are Back…With a Vengeance. Here’s How to Deal

The first wisps of warmth are only just gracing much of the US, but already spring allergy season is raging for people who deal with the sneezing and wheezing that pollen can stir up. Southern cities like Atlanta and Houston, as well as central North Carolina, have notched record-high pollen counts for the month of March, and experts suspect the peak pollen blast will wallop New York City and the tristate region sooner and to a greater extent than usual. So there’s no time like the present for a refresher on getting allergy relief.

Generally, spring allergy season tracks with warmer temperatures, rippling through the states in the opposite direction as fall foliage changes, Leonard Bielory, MD, a professor of allergy, immunology, and ophthalmology at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, in New Jersey, tells SELF. “While trees change color from north to south, pollination starts in the south and moves north.” That’s because the extra warmth and daylight is what tells trees it’s time to reproduce, which they do by releasing tons of minuscule pollen grains into the air for wind to scatter over many miles. (Grasses spew pollen later in spring and summer, whereas weeds do the same in the late summer and fall.) If you’re unlucky enough to have seasonal allergies—which affect about a quarter of adults—your immune system registers the pollen as a threat, setting off a reaction that can trigger the full works of blegh symptoms: itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose, and the like.

The predictability of a pollen surge come spring might typically help you forecast and get ahead of these symptoms…but the recent trend of earlier, bigger pollen booms is making that all the more challenging. Not to mention, it’s very possible for people who haven’t experienced spring allergies in the past or as kids to newly develop them as adults once certain types of pollen surpass a particular threshold, Beth Oller, MD, a family medicine physician in Stockton, Kansas, tells SELF. Read on to learn what’s contributing to the rise in spring-allergy woes and how to prevent or squash the worst of your symptoms.

Why it feels like your spring allergies hit sooner or get worse every year

The big culprit here is the upward march of climate change. Higher average temperatures in much of the country are extending the growing season by shifting it earlier, Dr. Oller says, meaning trees can pump out allergenic pollen sooner and for longer. (Bigger upticks in temperature and more freeze-free days across the northern parts of the country could make the extension of allergy season especially noticeable there.) Increasingly warmer weather also expands the suitable habitat for certain trees. As they crop up in places where they previously couldn’t survive, they introduce a new type of pollen into that locale…which could spark a fresh wave of allergy symptoms.

There’s also the independent impact of carbon dioxide emissions (a major contributor to climate change). As Dr. Oller points out, research suggests increased levels of the gas swirling around in our atmosphere can crank photosynthesis into overdrive, supercharging the growth of plants such that they release more pollen. It’s no wonder a 2023 study predicted that by the end of this century, the length of pollen season in the US will grow by weeks, and the amount of pollen wafting in the air will rise by as much as 200%.

In the shorter term, a spike in drought in certain regions of the country may also be worsening spring allergies, Dr. Oller adds. While rain naturally cuts down on airborne pollen, as droplets encapsulate and carry it down to the ground, dry conditions can keep the stuff floating in the air for longer (from where it enters your eyes, nose, and throat and can wreak havoc). This also makes it easier for the wind to carry it even farther than usual, potentially exposing people to new kinds…that can again trigger new-onset allergies, Dr. Oller notes.

How to keep spring allergy symptoms at bay and still enjoy the warmer months

The thing with allergies is, the more you’re exposed to the allergen, the more you’ll react, Dr. Bielory says. You can certainly keep pollen out of your system by just going outside less, particularly when the pollen count is high (search your zip code on the Accuweather site and scroll to the allergy outlook)—but you probably don’t want to coop up all season. Thankfully, there’s plenty you can do to cut down on pollen exposure without going hermit-mode. Here are some tips from Dr. Bielory and Dr. Oller for doing just that:

• Wear a mask when gardening, doing yard work, or mowing your lawn. These kinds of activities really up your risk for a face full of pollen, but sporting a face covering can keep the stuff from entering your nose or mouth en masse. A standard surgical mask will block out many larger pollen particles, while more heavy-duty options such as an N95 will be more effective at catching smaller bits.
• If you’ve been outside a while, take a shower when you get home. And regardless, shower and wash your hair each evening during peak pollen season. This way, you’re not hanging around inside in clothes that are coated with pollen (and continually breathing it in), and you’re also stripping any grains from your skin and hair before you crawl into bed, which keeps it off your pillow and sheets.
• Avoid hanging your laundry to dry outside. You don’t want to give pollen any more opportunities than necessary to cling to your clothing or bedding.
• Keep your windows closed. The spring breeze may feel so nice, but letting it indoors risks filling your home with pollen too.
• Use high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in your HVAC system. Or consider buying a portable air purifier that uses a HEPA filter for your bedroom (if you don’t have central air conditioning or can’t access your HVAC system), and use a vacuum that includes a built-in HEPA filter. These filters are especially good at trapping tiny allergens like errant pollen grains as well as animal dander and dust that might be circulating in your space. Just be sure to change them at the cadence specified on the package (set a reminder for yourself when you install them) to keep them working well and prevent them from becoming dirty or moldy.

As Dr. Oller points out, we often think about showering our bodies to rid ourselves of pollen, “but if you consider where pollen hits you the most, it’s up in your nasal passageways…so you want to shower those too,” she says. That’s especially true if you’ve been outside for a while and you’re feeling that itchy-eyed, runny-nose sensation when you come indoors. A saline nasal spray or irrigation system (like a Neti Pot) uses saltwater to flush irritants like pollen out of your nose; the former is a bottle that you squeeze to squirt the fluid up each nostril, and the latter looks like a mini teapot that you use to run the solution into one nostril and out the other—which can be more effective at clearing things out.

You’ll just want to keep a few things in mind before using a Neti Pot. Many of them come with salt packets for making the saltwater solution, but you don’t want to mix them with water straight from the tap; while tap water is totally safe to drink, it can contain some microbes that, when inserted into your nose, may linger in your nasal passages and cause an infection, per the FDA. Instead, use distilled or sterile water, or tap water that you’ve boiled for three to five minutes first and then let cool to lukewarm. (According to the Mayo Clinic, you can also make your own saline mixture for use in a Neti Pot by combining three teaspoons of noniodized salt with one teaspoon of baking soda, and then mixing one teaspoon of that mixture with eight ounces of the distilled, sterile, or pre-boiled water.)

To effectively use a Neti Pot, lean over the sink, tilt your head sideways (ear toward shoulder), and then place the spout of the filled pot into your higher nostril so the fluid seeps out your lower one. Then tilt your head the opposite way, and repeat.

There are two main categories of OTC drugs often touted by allergists for alleviating allergy symptoms: oral antihistamines and nasal corticosteroids. While both can be effective, solo or together, know that they often take a week or two to kick in, Dr. Oller says, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel better straightaway. (This is also why some allergists suggest starting on either or both a week or so before pollen season begins in your area.)

Antihistamines work by defanging histamine, the main chemical responsible for the miserable milieu of allergy symptoms. The first-generation ones, like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), are known to make you drowsy, so much so that they’re used as sleep-inducing agents in some meds. So if your allergy symptoms are keeping you up at night, it makes sense to enlist diphenhydramine, Dr. Bielory says. (You just don’t want to make a regular habit of using an antihistamine to doze off.)

But if you’re looking for daytime relief, you’d be better off taking a second-generation—and non-drowsy—antihistamine like cetirizine (Zyrtec), levocetirizine (Xyzal), loratadine (Claritin), or fexofenadine (Allegra). And if one of these isn’t doing much for you or used to work wonders but seems ineffective now, Dr. Oller suggests swapping it for another one on this list. Perhaps your body has become accustomed or desensitized to your OG choice, and a different drug will spark a better response this season or within your current pollen environment. Just keep in mind, too, that all antihistamines have some potential side effects, Dr. Bielory notes, like dry mouth, dry eyes, and constipation.

Nasal corticosteroids, on the other hand, are meds like fluticasone (Flonase), triamcinolone (Nasocort), and mometasone (Nasonex) that you spritz into your nostrils to specifically relieve a runny or stuffy nose, as well as nasal itchiness or irritation. Rather than blocking histamine, they work by tamping down on inflammation. Just be sure you don’t confuse these nasal steroids with decongestants that also come in the form of nose sprays, like oxymetazoline (Afrin). The latter meds can clear out your nostrils super-fast for immediate relief…but can also trigger rebound congestion if you use them for more than a couple days, Dr. Oller says, potentially leaving your stuffier than you were to start.

Combining a once-daily oral antihistamine with a nasal steroid (spritzed in each nostril up to twice a day) can usually blunt, if not completely knock out, spring allergy symptoms, Dr. Oller says. But if you’re still trudging through each day in an itchy-eyed haze or sniffling through the night, it’s important to make an appointment with an allergist (or your primary care doc, who can refer you). They might recommend a prescription antihistamine or steroid, or immunotherapy, which involves training your body to react less with increasing exposure to the allergen, Dr. Bielory explains, whether via allergy shots or below-the-tongue drops.

But again, if your spring allergies fall in the mild-to-moderate camp, you can likely find relief—and get back to reveling in the warmth and fresh air—by embracing these preventative and therapeutic tactics, well, right about now.

Related:

• Allergies vs. Cold Symptoms: How to Determine What’s Making You Miserable
• What Are the Most Common Allergic Asthma Triggers
• Could Allergies Be Causing Your Shortness of Breath? Here’s How to Tell

Get more of SELF's great service journalism delivered right to your inbox.