Getting Relief from Seasonal Allergies

By Rachel Nania, AARP April 2025

Suffering from seasonal allergies? Allergy symptoms can worsen with age. Here's what you can do to stop sneezing and itching.

If you’ve been sneezing, itching and wiping away at watery eyes, you are not alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says about a quarter of U.S. adults suffer from seasonal allergies, and interestingly, the burden is more likely to fall on older adults.

While 24.7 percent of adults ages 18 to 44 have seasonal allergies, roughly 28 percent of people 45 to 64 and 26.4 percent of adults ages 65 to 74 experience them, data shows.

If you’re among the pollen-suffering population, you may feel worse this year than you did, say, a decade ago. It’s not all in your head: Allergy seasons are becoming longer and more intense in many areas of the country due to warming temperatures that cause plants to produce pollen earlier in the spring season and keep ragweed around longer in the fall, the Environmental Protection Agency explains. It’s also possible for allergy symptoms to worsen as you age, says Margaret Kuder, M.D., an allergist at the Cleveland Clinic; one reason is immune system changes.

“A lot of times, if people have pollen allergies, it’s not something that starts later in life. Usually, it’s been around in some form throughout most of adulthood and even childhood, and then sometimes, it can get worse as we get into adulthood,” Kuder says.

However, there are a number of things you can do to get some relief this spring. Here are six tips recommended by allergists:

1. Get a nasal spray — and start using it right away.

Kuder says her go-to is an intranasal spray for allergy symptom relief (including eye symptoms), which you can get over the counter. “They work right at the source of where you’re having symptoms, and you don’t have to have that whole body exposure you can have with pills,” she says.

She typically starts patients with an intranasal steroid spray, like fluticasone (Flonase) or triamcinolone (Nasacort), which are low-dose and help to reduce the inflammation from allergies. “And then if the nasal steroids are not giving full relief, a lot of times, we’ll add on intranasal antihistamine spray,” she adds, such as azelastine (Astelin or Astepro).

The trick is to start the steroid sprays early in the season, says J. Allen Meadows, M.D., an allergist at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama, and past president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. “They take about 10 days to start working and a month or so to have an actual effect,” he says. “So you’ve got to be faithful and use those every day, but they’re quite effective and really not very expensive at all.”

2. Take an allergy pill.

Don’t have time to wait for the sprays to start working and need relief fast? Over-the-counter oral medications take about an hour to kick in, though Meadows says they are less effective than the sprays. Examples of over-the-counter antihistamines for allergies include loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra). Meadows adds that you can usually find the best deals on these medications at wholesale clubs.

If you opt for an antihistamine pill, make sure you’re getting a non-sedating one. First-generation antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can have a sedating effect and can also make it harder to urinate. Second-generation antihistamines, like the allergy pills listed above, are less likely to cause drowsiness and other side effects, Kuder says.

Some people reach for decongestants like pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) during allergy season to help relieve stuffiness. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor before taking a decongestant since the medication can worsen the condition.

What’s causing my symptoms?

Pollen is the biggest driver of what doctors call allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis — your runny nose and itchy, watery eyes, Kuder says. Tree pollen levels start to rise in the early spring — birch, cedar, cottonwood and pine are big allergy triggers, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology — and then grass pollen picks up a little later in the season.

In the fall, ragweed is often to blame, Meadows adds. Mold can also contribute to symptoms in the spring and fall in some areas. And let’s not forget that pets and pests (especially cockroaches) can trigger allergies, Meadows says.

3. Consider allergy shots.

It takes a commitment, but injections tailored to your specific allergies “get to the root of the problem” by changing your immune system, Meadows says.

“This is a hugely effective treatment,” Kuder adds, and can lead to lasting immunity for some people.

“A lot of people with allergies think their immune system is wrecked,” Meadows says. But really, “your immune system is in hyperdrive. This is actually, in a targeted way, downregulating your immune system and making a change on a long-term basis.”

When considering this option, be prepared to report for regular shots over an extended period of time — about once a month for three to five years, the Cleveland Clinic says. And Meadows flags that some patients and providers can run into roadblocks from insurance plans that make it more difficult to access the treatment.

4. Get a diagnosis.

While nearly 30 percent of older adults endure seasonal allergies, Kuder says people typically do not see their doctors for a diagnosis. Your doctor can conduct an allergy test to pinpoint what is causing your symptoms and help you figure out the best way to treat them. “The benefit of having formal testing sometimes is underplayed,” Kuder says.

5. Pay attention to pollen counts.

Check pollen counts daily just like you check the weather, Kuder says, and adjust your plans when necessary. “There are lots of apps on the phone and different websites, and on really high pollen count days, maybe avoid doing an all-day hike or something like that,” she says. The Mayo Clinic notes that the best time to go outside is right after it rains, since rainfall helps to clear the pollen from the air.

6. Rinse and repeat.

When you do spend time outside, be sure to rinse your eyes and face to remove any residual pollen from sensitive areas, Kuder says. Also, keep your windows closed and wash your hair in the evening to get the pollen out after a day outside, Meadows adds. “Because you’re sleeping with it. You’re right there on top of the pillow, and you’re inhaling it all night long,” he says.

Kruder says some people use saline solutions to rinse their nasal passages to clear allergens and help ease symptoms. If you do this, just be sure to use distilled or sterile water, which you can find in stores, or boiled tap water. Using water from the faucet can introduce germs that the CDC says can “pose a serious risk to your health if they are in the water you use to rinse your sinuses or nasal passages.”

Is it allergies? Or something else?

The peak of cold and flu season is behind us, but common bugs that can cause runny nose and sneezing are still circulating and may be to blame for your springtime misery. How do you know if your illness is allergies or something else?

Meadows says allergy symptoms typically occur at the same time every year. And while allergens can cause a runny nose and teary eyes, the discharge tends to be clear. Respiratory viruses, on the other hand, tend to trigger snot that is more yellow or green.

Seasonal allergy symptoms are often called hay fever, but you don’t actually spike a fever with them, as you would with flu and COVID-19, Meadows adds. Aches and pains? That often points to something other than seasonal allergies.

Over-the-counter flu and COVID tests can tell you in a matter of minutes if influenza or the coronavirus are to blame. Doctors say keeping a few of these on hand is important for older adults, who are more likely to experience serious illness with an infection. Knowing the cause of your illness can help you get faster access to treatments that can help keep you out of the hospital.

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