Winter Allergies: What Causes Them and How You Can Get Relief

“You don’t have pollen [in most of the United States] in the winter,” says Douglas H. Jones, MD, director of Rocky Mountain Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology in Layton, Utah. So outdoor winter allergies aren’t such a cause for concern. “But you still have the indoor [allergens].”

• Animal Dander It’s the dander (dead skin flakes), not the hair of household pets such as cats and dogs, that can cause acute or chronic allergic reactions in people.
• Dust Mites These microscopic bugs might be the most common cause of year-round indoor allergies, notes the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America.

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  Dust mites thrive in bedding, carpeting, and the upholstered furniture inside your home.
• Indoor Mold We all breathe in mold spores, but for those with an allergy, exposure can trigger sneezing, congestion, and itchiness. Mold and mildew favor damp areas, like basements and bathrooms.
• Cockroach Droppings These persistent pests can live anywhere, and while they’re not a sign of an unhygienic or unsanitary household, it’s important to keep food well-contained and be vigilant about cleaning up crumbs. Fixing leaky faucets and pipes and sealing up cracks and crevices in your home can help keep cockroaches away.

Matthew A. Rank, MD, an allergy expert with the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, says that although specific data is hard to pin down, roughly 5 to 20 percent of Americans suffer from some form of winter allergy.

Symptoms of indoor allergies include:

• Sneezing
• Stuffiness
• Runny nose
• Itchiness inside your nose, the roof of your mouth, throat, eyes, or ears

It may not be possible to get rid of winter allergies entirely, but you can reduce exposure to allergens, at least in your own surroundings. Dr. Jones, Dr. Rank, and other allergy experts offer these tips for minimizing indoor allergen exposure in winter:

• Use a humidifier to reduce dryness in the air, but don’t turn your home into a rainforest: Dust mites thrive in humidity over 60 percent and temperatures of 60 to 85 degrees F. Mold also grows faster in high humidity. Rank recommends a maximum humidity of 50 percent. You can monitor humidity levels with an instrument called a hygrometer. And be sure to clean and change the filter in your humidifier to prevent mold from growing and circulating in the air.

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• Avoid wall-to-wall carpeting, which provides a favorable environment for dust mites. Use area rugs instead.
• Clean, dust, and vacuum regularly, using a vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.
• Wash sheets and bedding weekly in hot water — at least 130 degrees F — and dry on high heat to kill dust mites, and use hypoallergenic cases for mattresses and pillows to keep dust mites trapped.

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• To minimize animal dander, bathe pets once a week — though not more often, as more frequent bathing can dry out a pet’s coat and skin and make the problem worse. Keep animals out of the bedroom of anyone in the house who has allergies.

If you’ve done all you can to allergy-proof your home but you still have symptoms, it might not be your fault, Jones adds. Public areas, such as workplaces, can have the same allergy-inducing conditions as your home: dry air, dust, and dust mites.

In addition, pet owners often get dander on their clothes and unwittingly transport it into public places. The level of cat dander in public places is high enough to trigger an allergy, Jones says.

A big problem with winter allergies is that indoor heat can be drying to your skin and nasal passages, turning an allergic reaction into something worse. It increases the incidence of nosebleeds and skin cracking, notes Jones, which boosts infection risk when your nasal passages are already inflamed from allergies. Jones recommends using nasal saline rinses to lower the risk of contracting a secondary viral infection.

During the winter, it can be difficult to distinguish an allergy from a cold. Both share symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, and congestion. But colds are usually viral infections, while an allergy is your body’s immune system response to an irritant or trigger.

Symptoms like itchy, watery eyes are typically a sign of an allergy while cold and flu symptoms tend to include:

• Aches
• Fever
• Cough (more severe when it’s due to the flu)

If your winter allergies are severe or persistent, or are affecting your day-to-day life, check in with your doctor. If strategies to prevent or lessen indoor triggers aren’t providing relief, there are some medical treatments available.

Options include over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medications that contain loratadine (such as Claritin) and cetirizine (such as Zyrtec), says Jones. Prescription steroid nasal sprays (some of which are also now available over-the-counter) tend to be more effective than antihistamine tablets when used regularly, adds Rank, though individual responses vary, and the two types of drugs are often used in combination.

Jones urges caution with certain OTC allergy drugs containing decongestants, like pseudoephedrine, which can raise a user’s heart rate. Additionally, the active ingredient in the antihistamine Benadryl — diphenhydramine — causes some tissues to dry out and promotes urinary retention, he says. ”So people with prostate problems, who may have trouble urinating, find that that condition worsens when they take diphenhydramine.”

• Winter allergies are primarily caused by indoor allergens like dust mites, pet dander, and mold.
• Strategies to minimize exposure to indoor allergens include using a humidifier, regularly cleaning and dusting rooms, and ensuring proper ventilation to reduce mold growth.
• While allergies and colds have some of the same symptoms, allergies generally persist as long as the trigger is present, while colds clear up in 7 to 10 days.
• If allergy symptoms severely impact your quality of life, consult a healthcare professional about possible treatments.