Your kids’ noses have been running for two weeks, and now they have lingering coughs. Your eyes stay itchy, and your throat is sore every morning. Allergy season has descended upon the States. Every year in September, the rise in allergens and other asthma triggers causes more asthma attacks that lead to emergency room visits and hospital stays than any other month of the year. In fact, the third week of September is called Peak Week, when most of these asthma-related events occur. Whether you or your child have asthma, or you’re just sick and tired of dealing with your seasonal allergies, there are a lot of steps you can take to reduce the irritants and allergens inside your home. Here’s how you can make it a haven instead of a hot spot, according to the experts.

The September Asthma & Allergy Peak

Allergens can affect all of us in high enough amounts. People with asthma have a severe reaction to allergens that causes their airways to constrict, which is just as dangerous and scary as it sounds. In September, specifically the third week of the month, there are more allergens and irritants around than any other time of year, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Those include:

• High pollen counts, specifically from ragweed
• More mold as leaf litter and outdoor materials begin to fall and decay
• Wildfires and smoke
• Extreme weather, like heat and humidity from end-of-summer thunderstorms, which trigger asthma
• Respiratory infections, like colds, the flu, RSV, and COVID circulating in schools

If you’re curious about what allergens are high right now, visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology’s National Allergy Bureau map. That name is a mouthful, but it’s an interactive map of the U.S. where you can check allergen levels counted by stations near you, with breakdowns on how low or high the levels of pollen are from trees, grass, and weeds.

How to Allergy-Proof Your House

Whether someone in your family has asthma or you’re just hoping to get some relief from seasonal allergies, there are steps you can take to keep irritants out of your home. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends reducing your contact with allergens — check that no outdoor air can leak into your house around doors and windows, for example — and using air filters when you feel the effects of allergens or irritants.

The AAFA seconds this, and says that to keep pollen out of your home, you should:

• Take off your shoes before walking inside
• Change into clean clothes before lounging on furniture or in bed
• Wash your hair nightly
• Wipe down your pets’ fur and paws after they’ve been outside
• Use certified asthma and allergy-friendly filters in your HVAC system during peak pollen months, and change them more frequently

If you want to clean up any pollen that may currently be inside your home, the AAFA recommends wetting a soft cloth with polish or plain water and wiping down all surfaces. This traps allergens on the fabric instead of whisking them up into the air. Wash linens that can be washed, and vacuum those that can’t. If you’re already feeling sneezy and snotty, wear a mask while you clean, and maybe leave the house for a few hours after cleaning until any remaining dust and irritants settle again, says the AAFA.

Families fighting asthma may need to eliminate more sources of irritants from their houses, including indoor plants and even pets. The AAFA has an interactive diagram of a home, and you can hover over each room for a checklist of things you can do to reduce dander, dust mites, mold, and more throughout your house. Hang in there, parents — may you have enough antihistamines to last through this allergy season, and plenty of delicious soup to soothe everyone’s tired bodies in the meantime.