Help Sleep Guide During The Allergy Season

Allergy season. There is nothing you can do to avoid it. If you are someone who has serious allergy symptoms, this time of year can be very difficult can make even the simplest of activities seem nearly impossible. While there are allergy medications that can help lessen the severity of your allergy symptoms, there is nothing you can do to completely prevent allergies from making your life miserable.

While many times treatments and medications can help make daily life more manageable—as anyone with allergies knows, it doesn’t necessarily make sleeping any better. It can be so hard to fall asleep and stay asleep when you have allergies. The sneezing, itchy eyes, stuffed nose and sore throat that can accompany allergy season can make it so hard to get comfortable and breathe while you sleep. While there is nothing you can do to prevent allergy season from coming around every year—there are a few things that you can do to help you sleep better during allergy season. Here are nine ways that you can start sleeping better during this difficult time of year.

1. Keep Your Indoor Air Clean

While most allergy sufferers think of things like pollen and outdoor air as being the problem during allergy season—it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to your indoor air as well. It is important to work on keeping your indoor air clean. This is the air that you are breathing in at night while you sleep and every time you open the door or come in from outside you can be bringing in pollen or allergens from the outdoors into your home and into the air you are breathing in.

There are a number of ways that you can work on keeping your indoor air clean. First, you should make sure that you are replacing the air filters in your home more often than suggested. Keeping your air filters clean, means keeping your air clean.

You should also consider using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your home (specifically in your bedroom). This will help purifying the air and remove unwanted dust or elements from the outdoors including tree pollen seasons from clogging up your air space.  Finally, make sure that you are not sleeping with your windows open. Also, take the time to make sure your windows and doors are properly sealed and that outside air isn’t creeping in.

2. Crank Up the Dehumidifier

A dehumidifier is a great addition to any home. A dehumidifier can help pull out extra moisture in the air that can hold in allergens and irritants. Extra moisture in the air also typically means extra bacteria which can make allergy symptoms worse. The more moisture in the air, the easier it is for mildew, mold, bacteria and dust-mites to grow. Keep your dehumidifier running at all times during allergy season, and work to keep your humidity between 30-50%. However, don’t let it drop below 30%. 

If the air in your bedroom is too dry it can actually make some of those irritating allergy symptoms like itchy eyes, dry eyes, coughs and sore throats seem worse—and keep you up at night. Keep your moisture in the sweet spot and you can start enjoying better sleep.

3. Keep Your Sheets Squeaky Clean

Make sure to clean your sheets and pillowcases more often than you normally are. You sleep on your sheets every night, but what many people don’t realize is that sheets are very absorbent and they can hold in all types of irritants like tree pollen season, dander and other debris. If there are molecules on your skin from being outside, they can burrow into your sheets and stay there. This means you may be breathing in those allergens that irritate you when you are outside… all night long. Even when you are in your own bed.

There is not much you can do about accidentally bringing these allergens in. However, if you make sure that you are washing your sheets and pillowcases more often, you can get rid of these unwanted irritants. In addition to washing your sheets more often, you should also consider specific allergy-resistant detergents. These extra steps can help make your sheets as clean and comfortable as possible so you can enjoy a healthy sleep environment.

4. Consider Anti-Allergy Bedding

If you want to sleep better at night during allergy season—cleaning your sheets is important, but you should also make sure that you are choosing the right sheets to begin with. There are many hypoallergenic sheets, pillowcases and other types of bedding out there. These sheets are made with organic and safe materials that are naturally resistant to holding in allergies.

There has been more and more research on the different ways companies can use these hypoallergenic materials, meaning anti-allergy bedding is even more common and easy to come by than ever before. There are plenty of hypoallergenic options out there that can really help you enjoy a comfortable sleep environment every night.  When it comes to your pillows and comforters—make sure to avoid real feather products or wools. These are known to carry more allergens, and are difficult to launder, which means most people don’t keep them as clean as they should.

5. Time to Place The Family Pet on the Floor

This may be one of the most difficult suggestions on the list—but it is one that can really help anyone with allergies. You may not think that you are necessarily allergic to your pet—but pet hair and dander can actually make other allergic reactions even more serious and irritate your symptoms even more.

Your pets (especially if they spend time outdoors) may also be accidentally bringing in allergies, pollen and other irritants from the outdoors into your home. While regular baths can help with this, the best thing you can do is to make sure that your pet isn’t sleeping in the bed rather in their dog bed. This will give you some separation from the dander and irritants they are bringing in while you are trying to sleep. While you may love snuggling with your pet, you will likely be surprised by how much better your allergy symptoms are when they aren’t snuggling up next to you.

6. Shower At Night Instead Of the Morning

If you are currently someone who showers in the morning with their eco-friendly shampoo and conditioner, consider switching up your shower routine. If you decided to shower at night instead, it can really help you with your allergy symptoms especially during tree pollen season. When you shower at night, you can shower off all of the pollen and allergens that may be on your skin and in your hair from the day and from being outside in the world. 

Shower all of these irritants off and get them off your skin and out of your hair, so you don’t have to be around these irritating elements while you are trying to sleep. The cleaner you can be before bed, the better—otherwise you may be spending your night breathing in the allergies that you have been trying to avoid all day.

7. Avoid Alcohol At Night

If you tend to drink alcohol at night, you may notice that drinking alcohol only makes your allergy symptoms worse. There are a few reasons why this may happen. First, alcohol can disrupt your sleep and cause you to wake up in the middle of the night—and you don’t need anything else keeping you up during allergy season.

Also, alcohol can cause stuffy noses in some people and make coughing and sneezing more uncomfortable and more sensitive, which can wake you up and keep you up at night. If you want to breathe easier, drink a glass of water before bed instead of a glass of wine—it may really help.

8. Know When It’s Time for a New Mattress or Pillows

Many people don’t realize that their issues with allergies may due to their pillows or mattresses. If you haven’t replaced your pillow or mattress in some time, then it may be time for you to replace your mattress and your pillows. 

Your mattress and your pillow are both very absorbent and are made with materials that can hold in mold, bacteria, dander and other allergens. These things may be living in your mattress and making your allergy symptoms worse. So, if you have tried all of these approaches to lessening your allergy symptoms and still aren’t finding success, then consider getting a new pillow or mattress. As you shop for a new organic mattress, make sure to look for one that is made out of organic materials and one that is naturally hypoallergenic—meaning it can help you in the long term with your allergy issues.

Get The Sleep You Deserve All Allergy Season Long

While allergy season and tree pollen season can make sleeping very difficult, it doesn’t mean there aren’t things that you can do to lessen the severity of your reactions to these allergens. Taking small steps to keep your home and your bedding clean and avoiding other stimulants that can make symptoms worse, can go a long way in helping you get better sleep and helping you stay more comfortable while you rest. Keep these tips in mind and they can help you get the sleep you deserve all allergy season long.

Lisa Czachowski is a professional social blogger and has worked on several online publications including Citrus Sleep. Lisa is an experienced content writer and copyeditor. You will find many of her works throughout CitrusSleep.com that cover a wide array of subjects including sustainability, natural, sleep products, health, fashion and many more. She is passionate about what providing as much information as possible on products you bring in your home and what we wear.

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