Allergies occur when the immune system reacts inappropriately to substances found in the environment. Your body treats harmless particles as potential threats and attacks them accordingly, even though their presence poses no real threat.
Allergies usually appear during certain times of year, depending on your location. Tree pollen, grasses or “hay,” and ragweed all cause seasonal allergies that often strike during spring, summer or fall.
Spring
At this time of year, the cold weather is long gone, days are longer, trees and flowers bloom, and your allergies manifest themselves with gusto. Allergies result from your immune system mistaking harmless substances like pollen as harmful ones and reacting accordingly, producing symptoms such as runny noses, watery eyes and sneezing attacks.
Symptoms depend on your location and allergens present in the air. Seasonal allergies often stem from tree, grass and weed pollen being released by growing plants; these allergens affect all age groups and genders alike, with those suffering from asthma often experiencing worsening of symptoms during spring. This can be particularly frustrating because they cannot take full advantage of what the season offers them.
First step to diagnosing seasonal allergies: visiting a primary care doctor. They may then refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT). An ENT may then perform a skin test to see if you’re sensitive to certain allergens by pricking samples with potential allergens onto your skin and watching for any red bumps or hives to form on it. Or over-the-counter allergy medicines like antihistamines or nasal corticosteroids to alleviate symptoms may help as well.
Summer
Allergies tend to flare up more commonly during spring and autumn seasons, yet can impact people at any time of year. An allergic reaction occurs when your immune system misidentifies an allergen as harmful; common allergy symptoms include itchy eyes and nose, sneezing, congestion and fatigue while more serious reactions could involve rashes, headaches, shortness of breath or anaphylaxis – even anaphylaxis can occur!
Tree pollen production dwindles off by late spring, so summer allergies primarily center around grasses and weeds such as timothy or ryegrass and Ambrosia (Ambrosia). These can travel hundreds of miles on the wind and trigger symptoms in people allergic to them.
Burning bush, cocklebur, sagebrush and tumbleweed can also trigger seasonal allergies in summertime, along with certain fruits and vegetables from the ragweed/grass family like bananas, melons, peaches or tomatoes.
Climate change-linked warmer temperatures are lengthening pollen seasons and increasing your chances of seasonal allergies this summer. But there are steps you can take to manage symptoms effectively, including avoiding triggers, staying indoors on days with high pollen counts and showering after being outside for too long. Over-the-counter antihistamines and decongestants may help as well, though if these don’t help talk to your physician about other treatment options like allergy shots that could provide relief.
Fall
With school back in session and autumn’s cool air, your child may be experiencing allergies in fall. Although most people associate spring as allergy season, for the 1 in 4 individuals suffering from seasonal allergic rhinitis (also referred to as “hay fever”) summer and fall can also be prime times for symptoms to manifest themselves.
Dependent upon where you reside, different forms of pollen may cause allergic symptoms in children. Tree pollen can aggravate their condition from mid-late spring through summer while grass and weed pollen tends to peak from late summer into fall – Ragweed being one of the common culprits that persist even into winter in some regions.
If your child’s allergy symptoms continue throughout the year, it’s time to see their doctor. An allergy skin test is a reliable way of identifying what your child is allergic to; medical professionals can apply diluted allergens onto his arm and monitor for any reactions; this test can then help identify which allergens your child is most sensitive to and help guide treatment – for some kids over-the-counter antihistamines or decongestants may help provide temporary symptom relief until pollen levels decrease during wintertime.
Winter
Allergies can affect much more than your nose and eyes – they can alter sleep quality, daily activities, as well as contributing to asthma or sinus conditions.
Winter allergies may not be as widespread as spring and summer allergies, but they do exist and can produce symptoms similar to those caused by a cold. They’re typically triggered by indoor allergens such as mold spores, mildew, pet dander and dust mites which become even more potent due to closed windows/doors as well as using heating systems in the home reducing fresh air circulation and further compounding their impact.
Dry winter weather has an effect on pollen levels, potentially exacerbating allergies and respiratory ailments. Climate change shifts precipitation patterns and increases carbon dioxide levels, prompting plants to produce more allergenic pollen that could extend allergy season for longer.
People can ease winter allergies by avoiding triggers that set off their allergies, including foods or substances that irritate nasal passages, homemade saline solutions made by mixing salt with warm water in a squirt bottle and used to relieve sinus congestion, or by getting tested by an allergist who will identify which allergens are triggering their condition and create an effective management plan for it.
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