What to know
- Allergy season begins in March and ends in June, with April and May being peak season
- Dr. Iris Gorfinkel recommends behavioural changes before turning to medication, such as wearing a mask when outside, buying a HEPA filter, and changing clothes when coming back inside.
- For over-the-counter medication, she suggests saline sprays, antihistamine eye drops, and topical creams.
Winter is slowly loosening its grip in Toronto, bringing warmer weather, sunnier skies, and blooming flowers. But spring also brings the return of seasonal allergies like itchy eyes and runny noses.
Tree pollen, one of the worst offenders for spring allergies, generally runs from mid-to-late March to mid-June, with April and May being peak season. Grass pollen peaks in the summer, and weed pollen season can stretch on until late fall.
To help people get ahead of allergy season, Now Toronto spoke with Dr. Iris Gorfinkel about the best ways to manage symptoms.
First line of defense
Despite the abundance of over-the-counter antihistamine medications, Gorfinkel says allergy pills like Reactine and Claritin aren’t what people should turn to right away.
She recommends people suffering from an unknown allergy to seek a referral for an allergist and book an allergy test to get a proper diagnosis because “if we can identify an allergy, then the first line of therapy is always avoidance of that allergy.”
For solutions that don’t involve making a doctor’s appointment, Gorfinkel suggests wearing an N95 mask when going outside, keeping windows closed, and buying a HEPA filter air purifier for your apartment or home. Another tip she has is changing into clean clothes when arriving home to avoid transferring the unwanted pollen onto bedsheets and furniture.
“It’s worthwhile to actually change your clothing because the pollen can get into your clothes. So it’s a good idea to just take them off when you get home, throw them into the laundry, and switch into something else so that way we’re not constantly breathing in [allergens],” Gorfinkel explains.
Second line of defense
If behavioural changes aren’t effective enough to stop the sniffles and sneezing, then it’s time to explore over-the-counter medicated and non-medicated options.
Gorfinkel says a saline spray can work wonders to clear clogged sinuses, especially for people who don’t want medication. For itchy or watery eyes, she recommends Olapatadine eye drops, commonly sold under the Pataday brand.
“Antihistamine eye drops can actually help quite a lot, even if it’s just one drop once a day,” she explains.
It’s also crucial to keep from rubbing the eyes, as your hands will constantly introduce dust and germs into them, which can cause an infection.
Topical antihistamine anti-itch creams or ointments will help skin allergies like rashes and hives.
If all behavioural, environmental, and over the counter solutions fail, then Gorfinkel says it’s a conversation between you and your doctor.
