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If you feel like your seasonal allergies are getting worse every year, it’s not just you. Warming from climate change is making the pollen season longer, and more people are going to the doctor each year looking for relief, according to a research review published last year.
Luckily, there are ways to keep the pollen from taking over your life. NPR asked doctors for tips to help you manage your spring allergies before they manage you.
🚪 Keep the outdoors outdoors
Keep your doors and windows closed. Pollen can be carried in on just about any surface, so take your shoes off when you get home and change clothes, suggests Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist and clinical immunologist and author of the new book All About Allergies. Rubin also recommends taking a shower or a bath before bed to rinse pollen from your skin and hair.
If you have a pet who spends time outside, wipe the animal off before they come inside, says Rubin. It’s also worth giving pets more frequent baths to remove pollen, says Dr. Neelima Tummala, an ENT physician at New York University.
😷 Keep your nose clean
First, look at when pollen counts are really high and try to avoid being outdoors during those times of day, advises Tummala.
Wearing a face mask like we did during the COVID pandemic can be very helpful when it comes to keeping out pollen and mold, says Rubin. He points to research showing that health care workers during the pandemic reported reduced allergy symptoms when they were wearing masks.
💊 Know your meds, and how long to use them
Different allergy medications treat different symptoms. Here are a few common ones, and what to know about how to use them.
Oral antihistamines. If you’re experiencing itchy eyes, a runny nose, or sneezing, an oral antihistamine like Zyrtec, Claritin, or Allegra should help, Rubin says
Steroid nasal sprays. If you've got congestion or postnasal drip, that’s where nasal sprays come in. Examples of common steroid sprays are Flonase, Nasacort and Nasonex. Steroids can cause problems over time, so check in with your doctor about how long you’re using one.
Nasal decongestant spray. If you’re really stuffed up and need instant relief, you may want to try a nasal decongestant spray like Afrin or Vicks Sinex, Rubin says. But Rubin cautions against using them for more than 3 to 5 days at a time, because after you stop, you can develop a rebound nasal congestion that gets progressively worse.
👃 Nasal spray the right way
You’re probably doing it wrong. “A lot of people just naturally go snort, spray, snort. What that does is it just shoots the medicine to the back of your throat where you taste it. And if you taste it, you waste it,” Rubin says.
He demonstrated how to use nasal spray properly in a viral TikTok video.
“I tell people ‘nose to toes.’ So you look down and then you place the nozzle up, but then you tilt it slightly towards the ear on the same side as your nostril. And after you spray on each side, you look forward and breathe through your mouth. Breathe normally, maybe a slight inhalation through your nose, but you never snort it,” Rubin advises.
Read the full story for more allergy advice.
Plus: The closest thing to a cure for allergies |
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Was that a yawn? A data brief published this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that more than 30% of U.S. adults surveyed in 2024 are getting less than the recommended minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night. Just over half of adults surveyed said they wake up feeling well-rested most of the time, as NPR’s Pien Huang reports.
The reasons so many Americans are under-slept vary. Some respondents said they have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Others work multiple jobs or shifts that limit their rest.
Screentime is also cutting into sleep time, says Dr. James Rowley, a pulmonologist and program director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center. “Many patients tell me they go to bed with their cellphone, laptop or tablet. Patients tell me they see one YouTube video and before they know it's an hour later,” he says.
Good sleep is a crucial component of overall health. If you’re chasing that well-rested feeling and want more high quality sleep, NPR has some science-based tips to try:
If you’re not getting enough sleep at night
Make up for that missing sleep at other times. “If you're somebody who needs seven hours of sleep a night, then you really need 49 hours a week," Dr. Chris Winter, a sleep specialist in Charlottesville, Va., told NPR. Mid-day naps and sleeping in on weekends can help make up for temporary sleep deficits.
If you stay up too late and get amped up
Start a nightly wind-down ritual that includes a cool, dim environment and activities that calm you, NPR’s Life Kit recommends. Try taking a shower or bath before bed. Keeping your room on the colder side at bed time – around 68 degrees – lowers your body temperature and sends an internal signal that it’s time for sleep.
If you lay awake, with a racing mind
The gold standard for calming your “sleep anxiety” is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, during which patients typically meet with a therapist weekly for 6 to 8 weeks. You can try some of the techniques on your own – like scheduling “worry time” that’s separate from bedtime. It can help your brain relax when your head hits the pillow, Life Kit reports.
Better sleep tonight starts in the morning
Science shows that good sleep is tied to your daytime habits. Here’s how to adjust them to boost your circadian rhythms: Get a dose of morning sunlight, which serves as your body’s natural wake-up call. Move your body during the day so you’re physically tired. And give up the afternoon coffee to promote deep, restorative sleep.
For more sleep knowledge, sign up for Life Kit’s special newsletter, Guide to Better Sleep, and get advice sent straight to your inbox.
And: Want fewer morning aches? You might need to change the way you sleep |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online.
All our best,
Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors |
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