Winter Allergies: Everything You Need To Know

Itchy, watery eyes and runny noses brought on by seasonal allergies aren't just limited to the springtime. When nature gets frisky and the pollen count soars, many people have to reach for antihistamines — up to 60 million people annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But as the days get shorter and temperatures drop, some folks can experience similar or intensifying allergy symptoms, and even asthma or eczema flares. What gives?

It turns out, more time at home — especially in winter when we close our windows and our homes get less ventilation — can increase our exposure to non-pollen allergens, with the main culprits being dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and cockroaches. Ick!

Health Digest spoke with allergy experts to get the information you need to identify indoor allergens, reduce their presence in your home, and improve the snotty symptoms of winter allergies.

Some indoor allergy symptoms, like runny nose and congestion, can overlap with those of viral respiratory infections, including the common cold, the flu, and COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. But your body can give you clues about what's really happening.

Allergies don't cause fevers, for one thing, according to allergist Janna Tuck, and they don't usually cause sudden, severe body aches or fatigue. Instead, allergy symptoms ramp up gradually. "Usually you'll have symptoms for a week or two before you really start feeling terribly rundown with allergies, versus influenza in particular, you know, you'll feel fine and 24 hours later, you'll feel like a Mack truck hit you," Tuck told Health Digest.

Never noticed indoor allergies before? While it is possible to develop allergies at any point in life, it's more likely that your exposure level to an unknown allergen is what actually changed. Many of us used to spend significant time outside of our homes. Now that we're home almost 24/7, we're potentially being exposed to higher levels of allergens that were less plentiful at the office. That's especially true if you've welcomed a new pet into your life since the start of the pandemic.

While dust bunnies may sound cute and seem harmless, allergy-inducing, invisible dust mites living large inside them are not. They're actually teeny-tiny relatives of spiders, with eight legs and a taste for dead skin cells, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI). And they're all over your home.

"Dust mites are microscopic creatures that are present in our bedding, carpeting, upholstered furniture, heavy drapes, and even stuffed animals," said Payal Patel, an assistant professor and physician at Rush University Medical Center within the division of allergy and immunology. Dust mites thrive in warm places with high humidity, Patel told Health Digest, and allergists often see more patients with dust mite allergies in winter because people are spending more time indoors.

The ACAAI says dust mites also float around and can get puffed into their air like baby powder whenever fabric-like surfaces get disturbed, for example by vacuuming, walking on carpet, and rustling your bedsheets. Your home doesn't have to be visibly dirty or dusty to be overrun with dust mites, and overenthusiastic cleaning can sometimes just stir them up and make allergy symptoms worse.

We'll tell you the bad news upfront: There's no such thing as a hypoallergenic pet. When it comes to pets and allergies, "they have triggers that are located in their dander" — actually their skin, not their fur — "in their saliva, and in their urine, which is why there really isn't an allergy-free animal per se," according to Chicago-based allergist Payal Patel. When people with pet allergies inhale these proteins, they can experience symptoms like congestion or runny nose. If you're allergic to dogs, for example, and pet a pup and then touch your face, you could experience itchy or watery eyes.

But there is also good news! An allergist isn't going to make you get rid of your beloved four-legged floof. While some families may be willing to find new homes for allergy-triggering animals, "it's not for everyone, and an allergist understands that," Patel told Health Digest. You don't even have to keep your pet outside, which can be impractical advice for many folks due to extreme winter and summer conditions or individual living situations.

Mold exposure is more of an outdoor allergen problem than an indoor one, even if your home has a musty-smelling quality to it. "The amount of mold [in the air] as soon as you walk out your front door is many, many times what the air is in your home," according to New Mexico-based allergist Janna Tuck. As a general rule, she told Health Digest, mold won't be pervasive in a house, but rather occurs in concentrated areas, and that's where people with mold allergies can get into trouble.

"If you're concerned about mold in your home, you need to look at your structure. You need to make sure you don't have leaks," Tuck explained. Our homes are made out of organic materials like wood, she said, so if water gets in, mold will grow. Things like poor insulation around windows and inadequate ventilation in bathrooms are just a few examples of mold waiting to happen.

If you do discover water damage in your home, Tuck said you're not doomed to have a moldy house forever. But you do have to be certain to find and correct the source. "You can rip out the drywall but if the roof is still leaking, it's going to get wet again," she said.

As if these apocalypse-resistant pests weren't gross enough, cockroaches can trigger allergy symptoms for some people — about 20 to 40 percent of American adults and children, according to some studies. They're also in way more of our homes than we'd like to admit. According to a pest control trade group, cockroach allergens are present in over 60 percent of homes in the United States, and those rates are even higher in big cities (via the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology).

In the winter, these creepy crawlies make their way inside your home to get out of the cold and find food, according to Any Pest. The microscopic shedding body parts, saliva, and excrement of cockroaches all contain proteins that can aggravate both allergies and asthma when they're kicked up into the air, especially in children (via Healthline).

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children. And according to a 2016 report in Allergy, 60 to 80 percent of kids living in urban areas who have asthma are allergic to cockroaches. So if you or your child has asthma, it's seriously important to get pests under control.

Luckily for folks with allergies, there are more over-the-counter allergy medicines today than 20 years ago, and they have fewer side effects. But if you've been having symptoms consistent with allergies and you can't figure out what's triggering them, or over-the-counter remedies aren't giving you relief, call your doctor.

"It's never bad to speak with your primary care provider to start with," said Janna Tuck, an allergy specialist and a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Your primary doctor knows your history, and can discuss other potential causes for your symptoms. But if you have a family history of allergies or asthma and you're having a hard time getting symptoms under control, it's probably fine to seek out an allergist directly, Tuck told Health Digest.

Before your appointment, Tuck advised, it's a good idea to write out your symptoms, what you think may be triggering them, any medicines you've tried, and what you hope to get out of your visit, all of which can streamline the process. When you schedule your appointment, you may also be told not to take antihistamines for a certain number of days beforehand, to ensure more accurate test results.

Once you discover the cause of your winter allergy symptoms, your doctor will work with you to develop a treatment plan, involving environmental changes, medicine, or both. Medications include pills, nasal sprays, and eye drops that can help block the bothersome effects of histamine. Other medicines may help reduce inflammation associated with allergies. Dr. Payal Patel, an allergist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, says these medicines are a good starting point for managing symptoms, but they won't actually change the way your body responds to allergens. "But it will improve your quality of life, reduce your symptoms, and help you feel better," she told Health Digest.

What can change the way your body responds, Patel said, is desensitization or exposure therapy, aka allergy shots. Although the process can take three to five years, regular allergy shots slowly expose your body to the things you're allergic to, and eventually can change your immune response so you can stop or decrease the amount of medicine you need to control your symptoms.

"The allergist will go through all the different options you have at your disposal and all the pros and cons of each, and then a patient can make that decision as to what fits their lifestyle the best," Patel said.