With snow melting and the first buds of spring emerging, many Canadians are eager to shake off the winter blues. But for those with seasonal allergies, the return of warmer weather may also mean the start of sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses.
The first day of spring is Thursday, March 20, and this season often brings melting snow that releases mould spores, along with budding trees that unleash pollen, triggering seasonal allergies.
“Allergy season is creeping up, pollen count is going up and people are starting to display their yearly symptoms,” Dr. Birinder Narang, a family physician, recently told Global News Morning BC.
Since allergy season overlaps with the tail end of cold and flu season, he said it can be tough to tell whether it’s allergies or a virus causing the symptoms.
Common symptoms of seasonal allergies include sneezing, an itchy nose and throat, nasal congestion, a runny nose, coughing and watery, itchy and reddened eyes.
“Sometimes it can be pretty difficult to tell if it’s a virus, like a cold or allergies…. A cough can be from a cold but if someone has allergies or asthma that could be from that,” Narang said. “Stuffy nose or runny nose could be either, feeling run down or tired could be either.”
Normally, with allergies, you shouldn’t get a sore throat, and itchy eyes are not typically a symptom of a cold — unless it is conjunctivitis, he added.
And if you’re suffering from allergies this season, you’re not alone — about one in five Canadians struggle with respiratory allergies like hay fever, according to Asthma Canada.
Allergy seasons usually follow a pretty predictable pattern in Canada: tree pollen rules in the spring, grass takes over in the summer and ragweed is the big culprit in the fall.
In Canada, the main tree pollen offenders are birch, alder, oak, maple and cedar. These trees release huge amounts of pollen during their blooming seasons, which can trigger allergies for those who suffer from them, explained Daniel Coates, director of Aerobiology Research Laboratories.
“Cedar is not highly allergic, but poplar and alder are moderately allergic … and birch is the bigger one,” he said. “Pollen is a very personal thing, so some people will react at low levels, where others react only at high levels, and some will react to alder but not birch.”
Although pollen season has already started in some parts of Canada, he said it doesn’t peak until mid- to late April and into May. The later-blooming trees, like pine, tend to release pollen toward the end of May.
And it’s not just pollen triggering seasonal allergies, he said. The snow melt can also do it.
“The snow melt will trigger snow mould, it’ll trigger spores,” Coates said.
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“You see a lot of that in British Columbia. You see a lot of that in high-forested areas. So just outside of towns where there is more forest, you’ll see higher spore levels. These are outdoor mushrooms and outdoor moulds,” he added.
While mould spores are a concern as the snow melts, pollen season is also ramping up. Here’s a look at the pollen count across Canada so far.
Pollen has been in the air for about a month and a half in B.C., but Coates said the season started a bit slower this year because of the cooler weather in January.
“Around February [pollen] started picking up, mainly with cedar and alder. We’re seeing high to very high levels of cedar in the Vancouver, Victoria area, but not so much in the rest of British Columbia,” he said.
For tree pollen, he said there’s more poplar and some elm in the air, while hazelnut season is pretty much over. But cedar pollen is still really high, and alder is sitting at moderate to high levels.
As for the rest of B.C., it usually follows the Prairies, he added, so pollen season there will likely start in a few weeks.
The Prairies are running a bit behind B.C. when it comes to pollen season, Coates said.
Some areas have seen a little tree dust, but not much since it thrives in warmer weather.
As temperatures rise, things will start to ramp up, but overall, he said the region is still about two to three weeks away from peak pollen season.
“When you get into Ontario and Quebec, not southern Ontario, but more northern Ontario and Quebec, we did see a little bit of pollen,” Coates said.
“Like, in Ottawa, we did see some pollen this weekend, a little bit of maple … but nothing to alarm allergy sufferers.”
While temperatures are already starting to cool down, they’ll continue to fluctuate over the next few weeks, he said.
Because of this, there may be some pollen in the air, but it will likely be another couple of weeks before allergy season really ramps up in Ontario.
Southern Ontario is a different story, Coates added.
The region is seeing pollen at low levels with maple, cedar, poplar and elm being the culprits.
“We’re seeing it more consistent at lower levels, maybe a little bit of moderate. And we predict that we’ll continue to see that,” he said.
Usually, the East Coast sees pollen season kick off in a few weeks, but Coates mentioned that some pollen showed up over the weekend because of the warmer weather.
That said, allergy sufferers don’t need to worry — it’ll really start ramping up in early April like it always does.
While Coates said this year’s allergy season may be “average,” that doesn’t mean allergy sufferers won’t struggle. He said that over the past years, pollen seasons have been getting worse due to climate change, as pollen thrives in warm weather.
“When you get the warm weather, you get the pollen. And nowadays, now that we have longer seasons of warm weather, you’re seeing more pollen distributed over a longer period of time and sometimes in higher concentrations as well,” he said.
“We’ve actively seen over the last 25 years a dramatic increase in pollen across Canada.“
With allergy season lasting longer and pollen levels on the rise, managing symptoms is more important than ever.
If it’s an allergy, the first step is identifying the trigger and doing your best to avoid it, whether it’s pollen, cat dander, dust, or pollen from specific trees.
You can get testing to pinpoint the cause, Narang said.
The next step is to relieve your symptoms.
Sinus rinses can help clear out mucus — neti pots work, but squeeze bottles are even more effective, Narang said.
“Then you might need your windows and doors closed as much as possible, and a HEPA filter if needed,” he said.
When it comes to allergy medication, antihistamines are commonly used to relieve symptoms like sneezing, itching and a runny nose.
However, Narang said it’s important to choose non-sedating antihistamines, especially if you need to stay alert during the day. Decongestants can also provide relief by reducing nasal congestion, but they should only be used for a short period — no more than three days — to avoid rebound congestion.
In some cases, he said, doctors may recommend nasal corticosteroids or allergy shots for long-term management.
