It doesn’t help that experts are expecting an especially tough spring for allergies this year, thanks to a slew of bad storms and a longer growing season. But there are plenty of things you can do to avoid annoying symptoms. Here are a few easy tips for staying one step ahead this spring.

Take meds as soon as you wake up.
The pollen count is highest in the morning, and symptoms will only get worse if you don’t keep ahead of them. If you can, avoid going on walks or heading outside in the early hours of the day, and don’t forget to take an antihistamine like Claritin, Zyrtec or Allegra as soon as you wake up.

Don’t stop at antihistamines.
Nasal sprays and neti pots can also help once symptoms get started, says Reed Erickson, M.D., the medical director of MedExpress. Prescription steroid sprays like Flonase can help reduce inflammation. Neti pots, which you fill with warm water and saline, can help flush out pollen and congestion, while soothing your sinuses.

Keep your windows closed.
You may feel tempted to let in all that fresh springtime air after a long winter. But don’t: you’ll just be letting allergens in, says Kevin Ronneberg, M.D., the associate medical director of Target. Another thing you can do, especially if you have itchy eyes, is skip your contacts or wear sunglasses when you have to venture outside, he adds.

Know your triggers.
“The best way to treat allergies is to avoid them,” says Dr. Ronneberg. While it may feel like you’re allergic to everything sometimes, it can help to know about your specific triggers so you can track them. If you don’t know what you’re allergic to, make an appointment with your doctor to get tested. The ACAAI is also hosting free allergy screenings across the country in May.

Get the App.
WebMD and Accuweather just released a new iPhone app that allows you to get daily weather forecasts and check allergen levels for pollen, trees and dust. Just input your location and it will give a three-day forecast, along with tips and tons of useful info. I tried it and loved that I could learn when pollen counts were high in my area.

Photo by zirconicusso, shutterstock.com

HOW TO USE A NETI POT
I got a small plastic pot at the drugstore, along with the premeasured Sinus Rinse packets by NeilMed (basically a mixture of salt and baking soda, with no preservatives) and followed the directions.

I use tap water filtered in my Brita pitcher, gently warmed in the microwave to a comfy warm temp. About 8 ounces with one packet of rinse, shake gently, then bend slightly sideways over a sink and pour in one nostril (mouth open) as solution flows out the other nostril. Switch about halfway through. Yes, it feels really weird at first, like you’re doing something that nature didn’t intend, but the solution doesn’t burn or sting unless your sinuses are really irritated and inflamed. It takes only a few seconds, and you don’t really feel different when you’re done.

This is an important point I learned the hard way: Be careful about blowing your nose afterward, as that can force water into the ears, which is painful and could lead to infection. You can blow extremely gently without pinching the nostrils or just kind of drip and blot with a tissue.

RESULTS
I started last April as allergy season kicked in, using the neti pot twice a day, but soon switched to just once a day. Four months later, I’d had almost no allergy symptoms at all, except itchy eyes a few days, and some sneezes on really heavy pollen days. No cold or flu-like symptoms, no sinus headaches, no fevers, no infections.

NEW EVIDENCE
As spring bursts into bloom again, I’ve started using the little blue pot again—especially since a new review of studies just came out. While there’s not a large body of evidence either for or against the use of neti pots, the studies do show that saline nasal washes may flush out excessive mucus and infectious material, might strengthen the nose’s own filtration system and could reduce the amount of medications used to treat upper respiratory infections while reducing downtime from illness. And there’s no downside to using them, so that’s good enough for me!

For more allergy relief tips, check out this site from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Tell us in the comments below if you’ve used a neti pot or saline rinse and if it helped you. Cheers to a sniffle- and sneeze-free season!