Spring shouldn’t be something you dread. A little planning now can change how the whole season feels.
If you’re an Australian woman who seems to reach for the tissues more often than the men around you, it isn’t your imagination.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey in 2022 found that 25 per cent of women reported hay fever or allergic rhinitis, compared with 23 per cent of men. Look a little closer and the gap grows. A large study of more than 156,000 adults in New South Wales found women were diagnosed with asthma or hay fever at nearly a third higher rate than men, 26 per cent versus 19 per cent.
It’s part of a bigger national picture. Allergic rhinitis has climbed steadily in this country, from 16 per cent of the population in 2001 to 24 per cent in 2022. That’s almost one in four of us. Longer pollen seasons linked to our changing climate are thought to be part of the reason.
Nobody knows exactly why women are affected more often, although hormones are believed to play a leading role. The shift tends to begin around puberty and stay with women well into adulthood.
Whether you’re a woman who feels it more, or a man who certainly isn’t off the hook, the same rule applies to all of us. Allergy season is far easier to manage when you get in front of it instead of chasing it. Here are five practical ways to do exactly that.
1. Start your medication before you need it
The most common mistake is waiting until your eyes are streaming before reaching for the antihistamines.
Many allergy medicines work by blocking histamine receptors before they’re flooded, so starting two to four weeks ahead of your usual trouble season gives them a genuine head start. If spring hay fever catches you every September, don’t wait for that first sneeze in October. Mark a date in late August on the calendar and begin then.
2. Learn your local pollen calendar
Sydney’s grass pollen season doesn’t match Melbourne’s. Perth’s wattle season and Canberra’s famously fierce spring are different beasts again.
Rather than relying on the old family wisdom that “spring is bad,” check the daily pollen forecast for your own city. Several Australian universities and health bodies now publish them, including services covering Melbourne, Canberra and other major centres. Knowing that tomorrow will be a heavy pollen day means you can plan your outdoor time, and your medication, around it.
3. Rethink your evening routine, not just your morning one
Pollen clings to your hair and clothes all day, then comes home with you.
A quick shower and a change of clothes before bed, rather than climbing under the covers in pollen dusted daywear, can make a real difference to overnight symptoms and to how well you sleep. It sounds almost too simple, yet allergists point to it again and again as one of the most overlooked tips there is.
4. Keep the windows closed when pollen is high, even when it’s tempting
That gorgeous, still, sunny morning is often exactly when pollen counts peak.
On those days, running the air conditioner or a fan will keep the worst of it outside where it belongs. If you love fresh air, open up after rain instead, once the pollen has been washed out of the air.
5. Don’t wait for symptoms to talk to a pharmacist or doctor
If the products on the pharmacy shelf aren’t doing the job, or your symptoms are starting earlier in the year than they used to, it’s worth a proper conversation with your pharmacist or GP. There may be stronger prescription options available, or a referral to an allergy specialist through an ASCIA listed clinic.
This is especially worth doing if you’re a woman who has noticed your symptoms intensifying in recent years. As the research shows, that’s a genuinely common experience, not something you simply have to push through.
Allergy rates in Australia have nearly doubled in two decades. But a little preparation goes a long way, and it can turn spring back into a season you look forward to rather than one you brace for.
