The 1 Thing You Should Do At Night To Make Your Allergies Better

Between coughing, sneezing, watery eyes and a general blah feeling, allergies are an unwelcome and unfortunate side effect of the summer blooms around us. For some people, daily pills or nasal sprays help curtail symptoms, but for others, it can feel impossible to find a concoction that actually works.

If you’re someone who feels like they’ve tried everything but still gets hit with pesky seasonal allergies throughout the year, here’s a suggestion: Experts say a nighttime shower can be the missing ingredient in an allergy treatment routine.

“It helps to wash all of the invisible pollen grains from your body so they can stop causing your allergic reactions,” Ian Budd, a pharmacist at the U.K.-based Chemist 4 U, told HuffPost via email.

“For allergy sufferers, going to sleep with the pollen that has coated the hair, skin and respiratory tract can mean longer exposure to what you are allergic to ― even when you’re no longer outdoors,” said Dr. Monica Kraft, an allergist and immunologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Showering can help remove the pollen and let [mucus] drain.” (It’s well established that the hot steam from a shower can loosen up mucus.)

What’s more, showering can keep your sheets clean by limiting the amount of pollen that you transfer to your bed.

“But on top of that, it’s going to minimize a lot of your nighttime symptoms, too, because a lot of our patients complain of allergy symptoms throughout the night,” said Dr. Mas Takashima, the chair of the department of otolaryngology at Houston Methodist in Texas. That includes alleviating nighttime congestion, which otherwise prevents you from getting the sleep you need.

Additionally, “you should consider washing your hair more regularly