When the Weather Cools Down and Your Allergies Flare Up
Common Fall Allergies
So all the blooms and life of spring and summer are beginning to fade but your allergy symptoms are back with a vengeance. Although the triggers are different, fall can be just as problematic for allergy sufferers as spring or summer. While tree pollen dominates during the spring and grass pollen during the summer—fall has three allergy culprits that can be particularly troublesome.
1. Ragweed
Ragweed pollen is probably the most infamous of allergy culprits. 75 percent of spring allergy sufferers are also allergic to ragweed. And even though a single plant lives only one season, it can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains. If you think you’re in the clear because it doesn’t grow where you live, think again: ragweed pollen can travel for hundreds of miles on the wind.1
2. Mold
Mold thrives in damp indoor and outdoor environments. Think leaf piles, rotten logs, basements, and bathrooms. Unlike pollen, mold doesn’t die with the first frost; instead, it stops growing and lays dormant until the weather warms. Symptoms of mold allergies are similar to that of other allergies and include runny nose, congestion, and itchy, watery eyes.2
3. Dust mites
Dust mites are common indoor allergens that live and multiply easily in warm, humid places. During the summer months they tend to take up residence in heating ducts. So when you turn up the heat this fall, be sure to first do a thorough fall cleaning to avoid stirring dust mites into the air.1
Sources:
- Fall Allergies. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015, from http://www.edisonnj.org/town_hall/administrative_departments/health_department/docs/Fall_Allergies.PDF
- Mold Allergy. (n.d.). Retrieved August 27, 2015, from http://asthmaandallergies.org/asthma-allergies/mold-allergy/