Are Your Allergies Getting Worse?

What are allergies?

An allergy is essentially an overreaction of your immune system to a substance that’s normally harmless – like pollen, dust mites, pet dander or mould spores. For someone with allergies, these triggers (known as allergens) spark the release of histamine and other chemicals, causing inflammation and those all-too-familiar symptoms: sneezing, itchy eyes, blocked sinuses and fatigue. But why is your immune system overreacting?

The immune system’s job is to protect you from harmful invaders like viruses, bacteria, and toxins. In a healthy, balanced state, it can tell the difference between a real threat and something that’s harmless. But when the immune system becomes dysregulated – often due to chronic inflammation, gut imbalances, toxin exposure or stress – it can become overly reactive. This hypersensitivity causes it to misidentify harmless substances as dangerous, triggering an exaggerated inflammatory response.

In many cases, the immune system has been ‘primed’ by years of stressors such as poor diet, childhood infections, lack of microbial exposure, or even unresolved trauma. It’s like a smoke alarm that’s been set off too many times and now it goes off at the slightest hint of trouble. This is why allergies aren’t just about the allergen itself – they’re about the state of your immune system.

An allergy is essentially an overreaction of your immune system to a substance that’s normally harmless – like pollen, dust mites, pet dander or mould spores. For someone with allergies, these triggers (known as allergens) spark the release of histamine and other chemicals, causing inflammation and those all-too-familiar symptoms: sneezing, itchy eyes, blocked sinuses and fatigue.

But why is your immune system overreacting?

The immune system’s job is to protect you from harmful invaders like viruses, bacteria, and toxins. In a healthy, balanced state, it can tell the difference between a real threat and something that’s harmless. But when the immune system becomes dysregulated, it can become overly reactive.

This hypersensitivity causes it to misidentify harmless substances as dangerous, triggering an exaggerated inflammatory response. Years of immune suppression, whether from medications, antibiotics, steroid creams, or even repeated use of antihistamines, can worsen the issue.

Even lifestyle habits like using antiperspirants, synthetic cosmetics, air fresheners, Botox and other chemicals can overload the body with toxins and suppress normal detoxification routes. Over time, these stressors trigger the immune system to become more reactive.