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You know the symptoms: headaches and congestion, red, itchy eyes, a nose that runs like a faucet even though you don’t have a cold.
They’re all familiar feelings of seasonal allergies, which are striking Canadians across much of the country as the weather warms up. And thanks to a variety of factors, including ongoing climate change, this pesky annual annoyance is also getting worse, with longer and stronger allergy seasons becoming the new norm.
“Certainly, allergy season has started,” said Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, an associate professor in the division of allergy, immunology and dermatology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
“We’re starting to see patients coming due to symptoms of hay fever and asthma flares and eczema flares, coinciding with the higher levels of pollen.”
Thankfully, treatments are keeping pace, giving allergy sufferers more options to keep their symptoms at bay — if you know the right questions to ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Canadians across the country say their allergies are getting worse. New data shows pollen levels in many cities have gone up over the last decade and many experts believe climate change could be to blame.
What’s making allergy season worse?
Scientists have been raising alarms for years that allergy seasons in Canada are getting worse. The main culprit? Climate change.
“We’re seeing the allergy seasons becoming longer and more severe. The pollen counts are much higher,” said Dr. Gordon Sussman, a Toronto-based allergist and clinical immunologist.
North America has endured higher pollen counts for more than a decade, and some researchers say pollution and shifts in carbon dioxide levels may be impacting plant growth. Another new study, published in January, also points the finger at light pollution, suggesting constant artificial lighting in some urban centres could be contributing to longer pollen seasons.
“But the major determinant is the climate, and the fact that it warms earlier,” said Sussman. “So we’re seeing seasons begin earlier and go on later.”
And it’s not just in Canada. One study on seasonal allergies in the mainland United States found the pollen seasons of many plants started an average of three days earlier in the 2000s than in the 1990s, while the annual total of daily airborne pollen also increased by nearly 50 per cent.
Other research looking at more than a dozen cities around the world, including Winnipeg and Saskatoon, found more than 70 per cent of the locations studied showed increases in annual pollen rates over a period of several decades — highlighting an “important link” between rising temperatures and public health.
Which regions are hardest hit by seasonal allergies?
This spring, seasonal allergy sufferers in the B.C. cities of Vancouver and Victoria could face a major spike in symptoms as tree pollen fills the air, according to a new report from Aerobiology Research Laboratories, which operates more than 30 allergen monitoring stations across the country.
“The warmer West Coast climate is accelerating the release of highly allergenic pollen types such as birch and oak,” said Daniel Coates, the company’s director.
That region has faced elevated levels since late January, but the rest of the country is now catching up, with most regions entering the early stages of tree-pollen season.
Unfortunately, three decades of Aerobiology data shows the West Coast is a hot spot for allergies, with both major B.C. cities consistently ranked among the most challenging allergy environments.
“When we analyze season length, peak pollen intensity and the number of days with high or very high counts, Vancouver and Victoria stand out,” Coates said. “Their long, overlapping pollen seasons create a perfect storm for people with tree‑pollen allergies.”
This year’s top five allergy hot spots are mostly in Ontario, however, including Barrie, Kingston, and Hamilton, alongside Victoria, the company’s latest report notes. Windsor is ranked the worst.
“One of the main reasons why is [Ontario gets] hit with all three seasons,” Coates said. “So we have a really bad tree season. We get a pretty good grass season, but we also get weed season.”
What are the best ways to ease the symptoms?
Wherever you live, managing seasonal allergies can now mean a mix of prevention strategies, traditional medications and other emerging treatments.
It’s smart to start with simple avoidance measures, recommends Ben-Shoshan, from the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Those protections can include closing the windows during the night, not drying clothes outside to avoid pollen contamination and wearing sunglasses anytime you’re outdoors.
For mild seasonal allergies, most patients rely on over-the-counter products such as antihistamines — specifically modern options that don’t cause drowsiness — alongside various nasal sprays and eye drops.
“All of these can help reduce the burden of symptoms, but they won’t modify the allergy itself,” noted Ben-Shoshan. “The only treatment that modifies the allergy itself is what we call desensitization. In this strategy, we introduce small amounts of the allergen to the body, so over time the immune system adapts and reacts less.”
Dr. Davidicus Wong, a family doctor in Burnaby, explains how you can manage your allergies as the snow melts and spring gets into full swing.
Next-generation desensitization treatments can include sublingual — under the tongue — immunotherapy tablets, which help the body build long-term tolerance to allergens such as grass and ragweed. (Those meds are starting to replace older immunotherapy injections and can cost upwards of $200 a month.)
“The big advantage of that is you could do it at home,” explained Dr. Amin Kanani, an associate professor in the division of allergy and immunology at the University of British Columbia. “You don’t have to keep going into the physician’s office for the injections.”
Recent studies show this form of immunotherapy is also effective in children, he said. “So now we’ve been able to offer this medication to children to try to treat allergies early in life and therefore give them a more long-term benefit.”
In severe cases, pricey, targeted biologic drugs can also be an option. Typically given intravenously or by injection, these therapies are meant to block specific antibodies or immune system responses that can cause allergic reactions.
One other thing to keep in mind? You can’t properly tackle allergies until you know what you’re actually allergic to.
Multiple doctors who spoke to CBC News say Canadians suffering from allergy symptoms should consider getting tested by an allergist to figure out their triggers — and to rule out other serious, underlying health conditions that might be mimicking seasonal allergy symptoms.
