Springtime hay fever and asthma: how to manage seasonal allergies

View Transcript

Woman suffering from spring allergy, blowing nose with a tissue in the park

What are the common symptoms of hay fever and asthma? Credit: Milshot/Getty Images

Australia Explained

View Podcast Series

Follow and Subscribe

Download the SBS Audio appAvailable on iOS and Android

Springtime in Australia brings warmth, blossoms, and longer days—but also the peak of pollen season. For millions of Australians, this means the onset of hay fever and allergy-induced asthma.

Key Points

Hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) occurs when the immune system reacts to pollen, particularly from grasses, irritating the nose and eyes.
Asthma can be triggered when fragments of pollen enter the lungs, leading to coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing.
One in four Australians experience hay fever, while about 10 per cent live with asthma—making respiratory allergies the nation’s most common allergic condition.
GPs and pharmacists can provide advice on treatments and medications to relieve and prevent symptoms.

What are seasonal allergies?
What are the common symptoms of hay fever and asthma?
How can you manage seasonal allergies?
What is immunoherapy?
What medical treatments are available for hay fever and asthma?
Can the weather affect allergies?
How can you prepare a management plan for seasonal allergies?

What are seasonal allergies?

The arrival of spring means grasses, trees, and plants release pollen into the air. For those sensitive to pollen, this triggers immune responses that lead to hay fever or asthma.

Respiratory and allergy physician Adjunct Associate Professor Joy Lee, Co-Chair of the Respiratory Allergy Stream at the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, explains:

“Grass pollen is a major cause of allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, and seasonal allergic asthma. Together, these are known as respiratory allergies. About a quarter of the Australian population are affected by hay fever and about 10 per cent by asthma. The two conditions often coexist, so if you have one, you have a higher risk of having the other.”

In south-eastern states like Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory, introduced ryegrass is a leading cause of hay fever, with pollen seasons running from September to January, peaking in November.

“In other parts of Australia, like Queensland for example, there may be more tropical grasses and they may have later pollen seasons through summer to February and March,” Professor Lee says.

Dr Duncan Mackinnon, Micaela Diaz, Professor Joy Lee.

What are the common symptoms of hay fever and asthma?

Typical hay fever symptoms include:

Sneezing and a runny nose
Itchy, watery eyes
Blocked sinuses and headaches
Fatigue

If pollen particles reach the lungs, asthma symptoms can occur:

Persistent coughing
Wheezing
Shortness of breath
Chest tightness

Brisbane resident Micaela Diaz describes the impact:

“The symptoms are quite chronic. They can actually leave me housebound and range from really itchy skin and hives, to sneezing and coughing, and a lot of sinus symptoms, blocked nose, itchy watering eyes, which kind of makes you look like a bit of a zombie sometimes.”

A mother and son are sitting together in a living room. She is helping him take his puffer because he suffers from asthma. Credit: FatCamera/Getty Images

How can you manage seasonal allergies?

For many, springtime allergies can feel overwhelming. But with preparation, symptoms can be managed.

Micaela shares her strategies: “When we’re coming towards spring, it’s making sure I have the right medications on deck… and little things like changing when or where I open my windows depending on the wind. Washing clothes inside or taking sheets to a laundromat to dry instead of hanging them out. It’s all about minimising that risk.”

What medical treatments are available for hay fever and asthma?

GP Dr Duncan Mackinnon from regional NSW says respiratory allergies make up a quarter of his clinic’s workload during spring and summer.

“Most of this is treatment with over-the-counter medications. The important thing is teaching people to manage their conditions themselves.”

Dr Mackinnon lists some of the treatment options available, which include:

Antihistamines (tablets or sprays) for quick relief of hay fever
Decongestants (short-term use only) to ease blocked noses
Ventolin inhalers for asthma relief
Preventative corticosteroids (nasal sprays or inhalers) to reduce inflammation—best started before peak season.

There are a variety of diagnostic tests and treatments available for allergies, depending on the severity of symptoms.

“You can get a referral to see a specialist, like an allergist, or immunologist, where we can do more specific testing, like skin prick testing for example, checking different allergen sensitisation,” Professor Lee says.

What is immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is a treatment that gives you small doses of the allergen causing problems so your immune system can get used to it. As Professor Lee explains: “We give it to people in small doses to try and get the immune system instead of having that overreaction when it's exposed to the allergen, to become what we call desensitised or more used to it.”

Close-up of a car windshield covered in pollen and flower petals, symbolizing the accumulation of allergens during the spring season.

Close-up of a car windshield covered in pollen and flower petals - the accumulation of allergens during the spring season. Source: iStockphoto / Manuel Milan/Getty Images

Can the weather affect allergies?

Yes—pollen counts vary daily and are affected by weather. Forecasts are available online and via mobile apps, rating days as mild, moderate, severe, or extreme.

Thunderstorms can also worsen allergies, leading to thunderstorm asthma.

Dr Mackinnon warns: “It’s a perfect storm—humidity, warmth, season, and wind. It causes a massive release of pollen into the air. For susceptible people, this can be dangerous.”

On high-pollen days or during storms, Dr Mackinnon recommends:

Keeping windows and doors closed
Avoiding outdoor exposure
Wearing sunglasses or a mask if outdoors

How can you prepare a management plan for seasonal allergies?

Preparation is key. Professor Lee advises: “If you have a history of symptoms during this time, it’s worthwhile having a chat to your GP so you can have a plan in place.”

A management plan may include:

Starting preventer medication early
Having reliever treatments ready
Monitoring pollen forecasts daily

Despite her struggles, Micaela stays positive:

“It’s frustrating… but it’s okay—you’re not alone. You can manage it, you can get through it. It just takes time to learn what works for you.”

Helpful resources for allergy sufferers

The information contained in this episode is general and is not specific advice. If you are concerned about hay fever, asthma or allergy symptoms, you should seek medical advice from your doctor or pharmacist for accurate information relevant to your situation. In an emergency, call triple zero (000) immediately.

A beginner’s guide to owning a pet in Australia

How to enjoy Australia’s wilderness areas responsibly

How to respond when encountering wildlife on your property

Subscribe to or follow the Australia Explained podcast for more valuable information and tips about settling into your new life in Australia.

Do you have any questions or topic ideas? Send us an email to australiaexplained@sbs.com.au

Transcript

Presenter 1

SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways across Australia.

Presenter 2

You're listening to Australia Explained, an SBS audio podcast helping you navigate life in Australia.

Maram Ismail

Spring revitalises our plants, flowers and trees, creating stunning landscapes. However, it also signals the start of pollen season in Australia. During this time, grass, plants and trees release pollen into the air, which can trigger allergic reactions in some individuals. You and your family need to learn how to manage these allergies.

Micaela Diaz

It's actually quite anxiety inducing because you never know how bad it's going to be, you never know what the weather's actually gonna throw you. The symptoms are quite chronic, they can actually leave me housebound.

Maram Ismail

This is Australia Explained podcast, and I'm your host, Maram Ismail. Today, we will discuss how to respond to spring allergies and what to be mindful of during this time of year. After a cold, wet winter in southern Australia, spring brings warmer days, clear skies, and blooming plants, along with plenty of pollen. If you get itchy eyes, a runny nose, or constant sneezing, that's hay fever, or seasonal allergic rhinitis, and if pollen reaches your lungs, it can trigger allergy-induced asthma. Together, these conditions are the most common allergic health problems in Australia, and chances are you or someone close to you is affected. Joining us today to explain more is Adjunct Associate Professor Joy Lee, a respiratory and allergy physician and Co-Chair of the Respiratory Allergy Stream at the National Allergy Centre of Excellence.

Professor Joy Lee

Grass pollen is a major cause of allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, and seasonal allergic asthma. So together these are known as respiratory allergies. Respiratory allergy is actually the most common allergic problem in Australia. A quarter of the Australian population are said to be affected by hay fever, and about 10%, nearly like 3 million, will have asthma. And also the two often coexist. So if you have one, you have a high risk of having the other.

Maram Ismail

Pollen from ray grass is one of the main causes of allergic rhinitis or hay fever in Australia, especially in the south-eastern states of Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory, as Professor Lee explains.

Professor Joy Lee

It's an introduced grass, so it tends to be these introduced grasses that are more of an issue rather than native grasses, and that starts pollinating in September, October, peaking in November, with the end of the season coming towards December and January. Other parts of Australia, like Queensland for example, there may be more tropical grasses, and they may have later seasons, so they might go into the summer like January, February, March.

Maram Ismail

If you experience hay fever, it means your immune system, which usually protects you from illness, is overreacting to pollen. This overreaction triggers inflammation in your nose, eyes, or airways, leading to those frustrating allergy symptoms.

Professor Joy Lee

So when it's in contact with the eyes and nose, for example, that triggers the symptoms of hay fever, what we call inflammation, um, which is like the release of different chemicals from cells which cause, things like swelling, itching. If we inhale it lower into our respiratory systems, and then you get inflammation in the airways in the lungs, and then you get your symptoms of asthma.

Maram Ismail

Micaela Diaz lives in Brisbane and has experienced the severe impact of hay fever and other springtime allergies for many years.

Micaela Diaz

It's actually quite anxiety inducing because you never know how bad it's going to be. You never know what the weather's actually going to throw you. The symptoms are quite chronic. They can actually leave me housebound, and they range from really itchy skin and hives to sneezing and coughing and a lot of sinus symptoms, blocked nose, things like that, itchy eyes, and watering eyes as well, which kind of makes you look like a bit of a zombie sometimes.

Maram Ismail

Despite the stress and discomfort that the springtime allergies can cause her, Michaela has become adept at managing her condition.

Micaela Diaz

When we're coming towards that springtime, it's making sure I have the right medications on deck, that I'm taking them at the right time, and that I'm on top of that so that my body is prepared to battle all of those uh fun environmental factors, when I open my windows in my house, or where I open my windows in my house, depending on the wind, or taking sheets to a laundromat to dry instead of hanging them out. It's all about minimising that risk in whatever way works for the individual.

Maram Ismail

Health professionals such as your local general practitioner or pharmacist are the best placed to seek medical advice if you're concerned about hay fever and springtime allergies. Dr Duncan McKinnon works as a GP in regional New South Wales. He says that respiratory complaints like hay fever and allergy induced asthma make up about 25% of his clinic's workload during spring and summer.

Dr Duncan McKinnon

The important thing to do is teach people, give them the information so that they can manage these conditions themselves, and if you teach them how to help themselves, how to avoid it and and what to treat it with, and most of this is treated with over the counter medications, so that they don't need to see or seek health advice all the time. And I think the most important thing with asthma is that if you have a cough, you're wheezing, and you find it difficult to catch your breath, and it's the first time this has happened, you need to seek medical advice.

Maram Ismail

Over the counter medications such as antihistamines and nasal sprays are available from your local pharmacy and can help relieve some of the common symptoms of hay fever. However, Dr Mackinnon highlights that it's important to also consider how to minimise or prevent the onset of symptoms, as well as relieving those that do develop.

Dr Duncan McKinnon

So both for hay fever and asthma, there are relievers and preventers. And the relievers mostly are in the form of an antihistamine or salbutamol for asthma, that's Ventolin, so they just relieve the problem for a short period of time. There are some decongestants that you can get for hay fever, but they shouldn't be used for more than a day or two at a time.

Maram Ismail

In terms of preventative treatments, your GP may sometimes recommend the use of corticosteroid medication to counteract the allergic inflammatory response. Such as intranasal corticosteroids for hay fever or inhaled corticosteroids for allergy-induced asthma.

Dr Duncan McKinnon

The real management of these things is very, very low-dose steroids in a nasal spray or an oral spray that we might choose to use. If you use a steroid, it takes a week to start to work. Because they're very low dose, but you need to start taking it now so that in a week's time you're not suffering from the same problem. In the meantime, if for instance with hay fever, you might use an antihistamine nasal spray, and that can just give you some short-term relief.

Maram Ismail

This advice is echoed by Professor Lee, who explains that there are a variety of diagnostic tests and treatments available for allergies, depending on the severity of symptoms.

Professor Joy Lee

You can get a referral to see a specialist like an allergist, immunologist, where we can do more specific testing like skin prick testing, for example, checking different allergen sensitisations, and we can offer something called immunotherapy, and it's basically extract of the allergen that we think is causing your problems if it's available. And we give it to people in small doses to try and get the immune system instead of having that overreaction when it's exposed to the allergen to become what we call desensitised or more used to it.

Maram Ismail

Professor Lee says that the amount of pollen in the air can change daily. Pollen counts and Forecast resources are available online and via mobile phone apps.

Professor Joy Lee

so they can help predict if it's going to be a very bad pollen day. So often it gets graded like mild, moderate, severe, extreme. So if you know it's going to be an extreme pollen day and you're susceptible to that, probably want to try and make plans to not be outside too much on that day.

Maram Ismail

There are also particular weather events to be aware of during the springtime allergy season. Including the phenomenon of thunderstorm asthma when thunderstorms occur on a high pollen count day, as Dr McKinnon explains.

Dr Duncan McKinnon

So it's a perfect storm, so to speak. Thunderstorm asthma is that perfect match of humidity, warmth, season, and wind, and it causes a massive release of pollen into the air from all of the trees all of the grasses all at once.

Maram Ismail

during these weather events for those people susceptible to allergies and asthma, Dr. McKinnon recommends to close windows and doors, avoid going outdoors, or if you do have to venture outside, consider wearing sunglasses and a face mask.

Dr Duncan McKinnon

In terms of asthma, which can be life threatening, it's really important that the diagnosis is made and that you become familiar with the treatment strategies. If you're finding it difficult to breathe, really difficult to breathe, you call an ambulance, but if you are finding it difficult to breathe, you can go to an urgent care clinic, you can go to your GP, or you can go to your hospital.

Maram Ismail

And Professor Lee says that being prepared for springtime allergies means having a management plan. Thank you for listening to this episode of Australia Explained, written and produced by Phil Tucak and hosted, mixed and sound designed by me, Maram Ismail. Australia Explained managing editor is Roza Germian.

Presenter 2

This was an SBS audio podcast. For more Australia explained stories, visit SBS.com.au/Australiaexplained.

Maram Ismail

Subscribe or follow the Australia Explained podcast for more valuable information and tips about settling into your new life in Australia. Do you have any questions or topic ideas? Send us an email to australiaexplained@sbs.com.au.

END OF TRANSCRIPT