Anyone who’s lived in Houston long enough knows that spring can be a mixed blessing—beautiful blooms on one hand, and, on the other, a seemingly endless parade of sneezing and sore throats.
This year, though, seems to have hit a whole new level of misery.
It almost feels impossible to walk from your door to your car without feeling a prickly irritation in the nose.
For those who suffer from the yearly struggle with pollinating trees, one thing is certain this spring: These allergies are brutal.
While some have been bracing for the worst—stocking up on tissues, nasal sprays, and their trusted over-the-counter meds—not everyone’s nasal passages feel under siege.
But why is that?
Why do some people spend the season sniffling nonstop while others seem totally unbothered, happily breathing in the same pollen-laced air?
The answer, it turns out, lies in a messy combination of immune system development, environmental exposure, and genetics.
According to Dr. Doanh Nguyen, an allergist and immunologist with Texas Allergy Group, it’s not just about where you live now, but also where you’ve been, how your body was trained to handle the world, and even how your gut bacteria were shaped as a child.
“The younger population has more allergy problems because likely our children’s gut microbiomes are not as diverse as the previous generation,” Nguyen says, explaining that less microbial exposure in early life may leave the immune system more prone to reacting to harmless substances like pollen.
Migration plays a role, too, Nguyen points out.
People who move to Houston from tropical areas or places with fewer pollinating trees often develop allergies more quickly and more severely.
It’s like their immune systems weren’t prepared for the botanical onslaught of Houston springtime.
“A Scot or German living in Houston…doesn’t develop systemic inflammation of allergy symptoms as fast as populations who migrated from, say, Cuba, Venezuela, [or] Vietnam,” Nguyen says.
Chidinma Onwuchuluba can relate.
She moved to Houston from Nigeria in 2021 and only recently found herself dealing with allergy symptoms—something she never experienced growing up.
She realized her body was reacting differently in this environment.
She had sneezed a bit last year.
Those sneezes have now grown more frequent and turned into persistent coughing fits.
Her eyes don’t itch, but her throat feels strange and ticklish.
“I thought I was someone who had no allergies,” Onwuchuluba says.
“All of a sudden, I’m in the office and I start sneezing and sneezing.
The person beside me was also going through the same thing.
The sneezing was uncontrollable.
I’ve never had that kind of feeling before.”
One afternoon behind the wheel, Onwuchuluba realized just how disruptive these bouts of sneezing could be.
Her symptoms would flare up in rapid succession, making it tough to remain steady on the road.
She began to see that these allergies weren’t merely annoying; they could be downright hazardous.
That realization prompted her to stash medication in her bag and keep an extra pack of tissues in the glove compartment.
“I could just swerve and hit anybody—I felt like that was really affecting my drive because I was sneezing every two seconds,” Onwuchuluba says.
“I couldn’t control it.
I couldn’t do anything about it.
It affected my quality of life.”
Nguyen insists that early treatment is key.
He warns that waiting for severe symptoms can allow inflammation to travel deeper into the body.
While short-term relief helps, long-term inflammation can build up silently.
“Over-the-counter nasal spray decreases the inflammation locally,” Nguyen says.
“However, when the inflammation starts to progress to the lower airway, those medications don’t work because the load of inflammation is a lot higher.”
Warm herbal teas and honey can also soothe a scratchy throat, but Nguyen points out that these remedies, though comforting, rarely address the inflammatory cells at the root of the problem.
Meanwhile, many people overlook a major source of irritation: the air inside their own homes.
Nguyen says that indoor pollutants, like gas stove emissions and household fragrances, can accumulate when windows stay closed and air conditioning runs constantly.
These invisible irritants can become potent triggers for anyone already on edge from the onslaught of pollen outside.
One stray leak from a stove or an overabundance of scented candles might be enough to tip sensitive airways into a full-blown inflammatory reaction.
“Gas stoves, plug-ins, and burning candles inside the house all contribute to indoor air quality,” he says.
“And [those pollutants] can penetrate very deep inside the lungs.”
Then there’s the issue of how trees are planted.
Many of the species lining Houston’s neighborhoods, parks, and streetscapes are male trees, selected because they don’t drop fruit or seeds.
But male trees produce significantly more pollen.
Add in climate change, and you’ve got a recipe for worsening symptoms.
Shorter, milder winters give pollen-heavy trees multiple opportunities to release allergens during spring.
So, what can we do besides grin and bear it?
Nguyen’s advice is simple: Don’t wait.
See an allergist early, especially if symptoms return every year or begin to feel unmanageable.
Controlling inflammation—not just symptoms—is the ultimate goal, and this is something a professional can help with.
He also encourages people to reevaluate their indoor spaces to eliminate pollutants that could exacerbate symptoms.
Of course, not everyone has the time, resources, or awareness to take all those steps right away.
Onwuchuluba, for instance, hasn’t made any major changes to her routine or home environment yet.
If that’s the case for you, just make sure you’re all stocked up on over-the-counter medications that can give you temporary relief.
And maybe keep those tissues close, too.
image source from：https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2025/04/spring-allergy-season
