A change of season doesn’t have to mean a change in how you feel. A bit of planning now makes all the difference.
If you’re a Kiwi woman who finds you’re the one sneezing through the school pickup while the dads seem completely unbothered, there’s real data behind that feeling.
New Zealand research shows a clear pattern that shifts with age. Childhood asthma rates are higher in boys than girls, but by adulthood the pattern flips, and women report more asthma symptoms and flare ups than men. A national population study covering 2010 to 2019 found that exacerbation rates were consistently higher for women than for men, year after year.
New Zealand also has one of the highest rates of asthma symptoms in the world. One in five children and one in eight adults live with the condition. The burden isn’t shared evenly, either. Māori and Pacific peoples are affected far more heavily, with hospitalisation rates more than three times higher than for other New Zealanders.
Nobody knows exactly why the pattern moves from boys in childhood to women in adulthood, though hormones are believed to play a leading role. The switch tends to happen around puberty and stays with women from there.
Whether you’re a woman more likely to feel it as an adult, a parent watching a son struggle with it now, or someone in a whānau that carries more than its share, the same thing holds true for all of us. Allergy and asthma season is far easier to get through when you prepare for it rather than react to 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 the sneezing or wheezing has already started before reaching for antihistamines or a preventer inhaler.
Many allergy medicines work by blocking histamine receptors before they’re flooded, so beginning two to four weeks ahead of your usual trouble season gives them a genuine head start. If you know spring hits you every September or October, don’t wait for the first bad day. Set a reminder for late winter and start then.
2. Learn your local pollen and weather patterns
Auckland’s grass pollen season looks quite different from Christchurch’s. The damp conditions common in many parts of the country can also push up mould spore counts, which is a significant trigger that often gets overlooked.
Rather than assuming spring is always bad, pay attention to your own patterns from year to year and check the pollen and air quality information available for your region. That way you know which days call for extra care.
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 health professionals 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 a fan or an air purifier instead of throwing every window open keeps the worst of it outside where it belongs. If you love the fresh air, wait until after rain, when the pollen has been washed out of it.
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 if a child’s symptoms seem worse than they used to be, it’s worth a proper conversation with your pharmacist or GP. That might mean reviewing asthma medication or arranging a referral for specialist assessment.
This is especially worth raising if you’re a woman who has noticed your symptoms intensifying as an adult, or if you’re in a whānau with a family history of asthma. As the research shows, both are genuinely common experiences, not something you simply have to push through.
New Zealand’s asthma and allergy rates remain among the highest in the world. But a little preparation goes a long way, and it can make the change of seasons feel manageable rather than something to dread.
