Do dog allergies get worse with age
Do a Dogs Allergies Get Worse With Age?
Dog allergies are the result of an immune response to an allergen, such as fleas, food, pollen or chemicals. Allergies may begin to surface after the age of 6 months, but many dogs do not develop symptoms until after 2 years of age. As dogs with allergies get older, symptoms may worsen and the risk of developing additional allergies increases.
Those Annoying Little Pests
Fleas and other insects, such as ticks, mosquitoes, ants, bees and spiders can cause allergic reactions in dogs. Of these insects, fleas are the most common allergen. In dogs with severe flea allergies, a single flea bite is enough to cause a severe itchy reaction. To stop the itching, dogs may pull out hair and bite open wounds in the skin, often leading to secondary bacterial infections. The most commonly affected area is at the base of the tail. Flea allergy dermatitis typically gets worse with age and regular exposure however; some dogs can develop an autoimmune response to the flea saliva and show symptom improvement. Flea prevention is essential to reduce this type of canine allergy.
Something in the Air Just Entered My Nose
Respiratory or inhalant allergies, such as seasonal allergies, occur when an allergen enters the system through the respiratory tract. The most common respiratory allergens are grass, pollen, molds, mildew, ragweed, cedar and house dust mites. Most signs of inhalant allergies surface between 1 and 3 years of age. Because eliminating these allergens is near impossible, symptoms typically continue throughout a dogs life. Dogs with inhalant allergies are more prone to develop additional allergies as they get older.
Full But Feeling a Little Funny
Food allergies are common in dogs and, according to Purina, account for 10 to 15 percent of all dog allergies. Determining which specific food ingredient is the contributing allergen typically involves an elimination diet. Your veterinarian will recommend a diet consisting of one protein and one carbohydrate for eight to 10 weeks, allowing symptoms to clear. Slowly, additional proteins and carbohydrates are added until one food triggers the return of symptoms, indicating the allergen. Diet changes that eliminate the food allergen are necessary. Unfortunately, dogs can develop food allergies at any age. It is also common for a dog with a food allergy to become sensitive to additional food allergens as they get older.
Did You Change Laundry Detergents?
If your dog starts itching severely after you wash his dog bed in a new laundry detergent, it is possible he has a contact allergy to a specific ingredient in the detergent. While the least common allergy found in dogs, contact allergies occur as a result of direct contact with an allergen. Examples include flea collars, pesticides, soap and detergents, wool or other materials. As your dog ages, his skin may become overly sensitive to the allergen and, instead of causing a localized reaction, can spread throughout his body.
Do Allergies Get Worse With Age?
In this day and age, millions of Americans deal with allergies of some sort.
Many people have had them for as long as they can remember. In fact, nearly 19 percent of kids and nearly 26 percent of adults have seasonal allergies. It's not uncommon to develop new allergies as you get older as shown by the almost 7 percent jump in the statistic but do allergies worsen with age?
Dealing with allergy symptoms can be easy one day and challenging the next, but that's not a good indicator of overall severity.
Before we dive into that, let's talk about the kinds of allergies that can develop with age.
What Allergies Can Develop as You Age?
If you develop allergies later in life, its not always allergic rhinitis or what you probably think of when you think of allergies.
Allergies develop when your immune system creates antibodies called immunoglobulin (IgE) in response to certain irritants. If you're exposed to that allergen, your body releases inflammatory chemicals like histamine, causing effects like your blood vessels dilate, your body producing more mucus, and your skin itching.
This leads to allergic reactions, which manifest as familiar allergy symptoms like nasal congestion, a runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes or skin. Essentially, your symptoms are caused by your body's reaction (or overreaction) to allergens.
Common allergies that get more common with age include:
- Seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever
- Food allergies, such as to dairy, peanuts, and shellfish
- Pet allergies, or allergies to pet dander
- Skin allergies, such as to metals in jewelry or chemicals in skincare products
- Drug allergies, such as to antibiotics like penicillin or substances containing iodine [1]
Adult-onset allergies can develop at any time during adulthood, and experts aren't sure why allergies may develop.
Possible triggers for adult-onset allergies can include:
- Having a pet for the first time or after many years
- Moving to a new region with allergens you've never been exposed to
- Exposure to allergens when your immune function is reduced or compromised
Research has shown that adult-onset allergies are becoming more common in older adults or those who are 65 and older. This may be caused by physiological changes to their tissue structure or from changes to their immune function.
So Do Allergies Get Worse with Age?
While allergies can become more common with age, they don't necessarily get worse with age.
The severity of your allergies can fluctuate with age. It could be the opposite as you get older, you can develop a tolerance to some allergens or outgrow them completely. Its also possible to suddenly find yourself allergic to something thats never bothered you before.
However, just because allergies dont necessarily worsen as you age doesnt mean you should ignore them.
As we mentioned earlier, a number of factors can contribute to adult-onset allergies. This can make diagnosing and treating them difficult because their symptoms can be similar to other diseases or health conditions. Most relevant allergy studies are also typically conducted in childhood and do not account for the normal physiological changes that occur as we age. [2]
More research is needed better to understand adult-onset allergies, particularly among older adults. It's also especially important to pay attention to diagnostic tools; while the same diagnostics are used for all ages, it can be more difficult to arrive at a diagnosis for older adults because their physiologies and health needs are so different from the children or younger adults that are typically diagnosed.
No matter when your allergy symptoms have developed, it's important to find ways to prevent them from making you miserable. Thankfully, there are productive ways to do so at any age for any kind of allergy.
5 Easy Ways to Keep New Allergies Under Control
Allergy symptoms are irritating enough if you've been dealing with them all your life, but they can be especially awful if you're dealing with new allergies and symptoms.
1. Decongest with SinuSonic
If nasal congestion is driving you crazy, SinuSonic can help you decongest naturally.
SinuSonic combines gentle pressure and light acoustic soundwaves to clear your sinuses without drugs or messy irrigation. It's normal to need to blow your nose while using the device that's a sign that it's working!
Just a few minutes twice daily is all you need to help keep your airways open with SinuSonic. Long-term use can also help you breathe more efficiently by increasing ciliary motility in your nose and increasing the amount of nitric oxide your sinuses produce as you breathe. Nitric oxide is a natural smooth muscle relaxant with anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and antiviral properties.
You can use SinuSonic alone or in conjunction with your normal allergy treatment. However, avoiding overusing nasal sprays is important because excessive use can worsen your congestion and cause harmful long-term side effects.
2. Allergy-Proof Your Home
If you have indoor allergies like a dust mite allergy, keeping your home clean goes a long way in preventing your allergy symptoms.
Here are a few ways to do that:
- Sweep and vacuum regularly
- Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to help remove allergens from the air
- Dust surfaces like shelves, tables, and screens weekly
- Use your kitchen fan while cooking to vent out smoke, moisture, and cooking fumes
- Prevent mold by wiping up excess moisture around the house
Related: How to Allergy-Proof Your Home
3. Reduce Pet Allergens
We all love our pets, but having a pet allergy can cause a lot of unpleasant side effects when all you want to do is spend time with your furry, feathery, or even scaly friends.
But don't worry; you and your pets can still peacefully coexist even if you're allergic to them. Or, more specifically, their dander, saliva, or even their feces.
In fact, the best ways to keep pet allergies to a minimum are already things youre probably doing with your normal pet care.
- Wash your hands after playing with your pets to remove allergens like dander or saliva
- Clean tanks, cages, or litterboxes weekly, and wear protection like a mask and rubber gloves to reduce further the allergens you're exposed to
- Brush pets often to reduce shedding
- Keep pets off the furniture, including your bed
- Bathe dogs often to reduce shedding and dander
4. Keep an Eye on Pollen Levels
For those with a pollen allergy, their seasonal allergy symptoms are entirely dependent on each day's pollen count.
Monitoring daily pollen levels is the best way to prevent pollen season from driving you crazy.
Sites like Pollen.com keep track of the daily pollen count in your area and provide an allergy forecast for each day. They also list which allergens are in the air that day, such as grass, weed, or tree pollen.
You can also prevent pesky pollen from causing problems by keeping your doors and windows closed on high pollen days and using fans or air conditioning to keep your home cool.
Related: When Does Allergy Season Start? A Month-by-Month Guide to What Makes You Sneeze
5. Avoid Environmental Irritants
Nonallergic rhinitis isn't the same as your seasonal allergies or indoor allergies. However, they share multiple symptoms, including nasal congestion, a runny nose, and sneezing.
To prevent these symptoms, avoiding any environmental irritants that could trigger your symptoms is important. These can include:
- Smoke, including cigarette smoke or wildfire smoke
- Smog
- Chemical fumes, such as paint fumes or those from household cleaners
- Perfume or artificial fragrances
- Strong odors
Allergies: The Age-Old Annoyance
If you're an allergy sufferer, you've probably experienced your symptoms for most of your life. It's not uncommon to develop new allergies as you age, but it doesn't mean that they're getting worse. In fact, it's also possible to develop a tolerance to allergens that used to bother you previously.
However, if you're experiencing new allergy symptoms that you've never dealt with before, especially if you're 65 or older, talk to an allergy specialist. They can conduct a full battery of allergy testing so that you know exactly what's causing your symptoms. Finding the right treatment for what ails you is infinitely easier if you know what the problem is.
Allergy symptoms getting old? Give SinuSonic a try!
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Citations
- Sadick, Barbara. 5 Types of Allergies That Can Become More Common with Age. AARP, 1 Dec. 2022, www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/allergies-as-you-age.html.
- De Martinis, Massimo, et al. Allergy and Aging: An Old/New Emerging Health Issue. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aging and Disease, 1 Apr. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5362176/.
Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
What Are Seasonal Allergies in Dogs?
Dogs can be allergic to various things in the environment, such as pollen from trees and grass. If a dog displays allergy symptoms only during certain seasons, such as spring and fall, a seasonal allergy rather than a year-round allergy is suspected. This means that the dog is allergic to allergens that are in the environment only during certain times of the year.
Dogs with seasonal allergies can be itchy in specific areas, such as their paws, or be itchy all over. They can also have recurring ear infections and skin infections when they are exposed to various environmental allergens at certain times during the year.
Seasonal allergies are different from year-round environmental allergies and food allergies because symptoms are observed only during specific times of the year, depending on what the dog is allergic to and when the specific allergens are prevalent in the environment. In contrast, dogs with year-round allergies will have skin issues all year long.
Most dogs with seasonal allergies have symptoms during the spring (March through May) and fall (September through November), but this can vary based on weather and location.
Types of Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
The following allergens commonly cause seasonal allergies in dogs:
Symptoms of Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
Symptoms will vary depending upon the dog, but may include:
Excessive licking, usually of the paws, but the licking can be anywhere on the body
Saliva staining of the fur where the dog is licking the skin excessively
Chewing/gnawing
Scratching
Hair loss
Redness of the skin
Crusts
Moist skin
Darkening of the skin (black pigmented skin)
Thickening of the skin (elephant skin)
Odor to the skin or ears
Head shaking
Pawing at the ears, eyes, or face
Recurring scooting or licking of the anus due to anal sacs becoming problematic secondary to allergies
Watery eyes
Reverse sneezing
The most common areas of a dogs body that are affected by seasonal allergies are the paws (especially between the digits), limbs, mouth, ears, abdomen, groin, armpits, tail, and around the eyes.
Causes of Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
A dog that suffers from seasonal allergies has an immune system that is hypersensitive to specific allergens in the environment. When the levels of the allergens become high, the dogs immune system becomes triggered, leading to an allergic response and the development of symptoms.
How Veterinarians Diagnose Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
Seasonal allergies are diagnosed based on physical exam findings, symptoms, and a history of having recurring symptoms and infections during the same seasons annually.
Other skin conditions that can cause similar symptoms must also be ruled out, such as skin mites, fleas, or a food allergy, to reach a diagnosis of seasonal allergies. If fleas are found on a dog with symptoms of severe itchiness, redness, and hair loss, then a flea allergy is diagnosed and the dog is started on effective flea and tick prevention and anti-itch medication to see if symptoms resolve.
Treatment of Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
Seasonal allergies are a chronic condition, which means there is no cure. However, there are ways to treat and manage symptoms to keep your dog comfortable, including:
Year-round flea and tick prevention such as NexGard, Simparica, Bravecto, Seresto collar,and K9 Advantix II
Anti-itch medications such as Apoquel, Cytopoint, and prednisone are prescribed to alleviate any current itchiness and to manage the itch during flare-ups. If the itch can be controlled, the dog will remain comfortable and be at less risk for secondary skin infections.
Once the allergy seasons are determined for a dog based on prior history, the anti-itch medication is started one month prior to the start of the allergy season and continued one month past when the allergy season ends.
An omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil) supplement, such as Welactin, Vetoquinol, or Dermaquin, will protect the skin barrier and minimize allergy symptoms.
An omega-3 fatty acid supplement can also help with anal gland issues for dogs that tend to need their anal glands expressed more frequently during allergy season. It takes four to sixweeks for an omega-3 fatty acid supplement to become effective, so it is best for a dog with seasonal allergies to be on this supplement year-round.
Routine ear cleaning can help clear a current ear infection and reduce the frequency of future ear infections. If an ear infection is present, treat the infection and clean the ears based on recommendations from your veterinarian. When there is no infection, clean the dogs ears with a routine ear cleaner, like EpiOtic Advanced, on a routine basis throughout the year (typically every two to threeweeks for maintenance).
Ear medications, such as Mometamax, Posatex, and Tresaderm, are prescribed to treat bacterial and/or yeast infections in a dogs ears. After treatment, make sure to schedule a follow-up appointment with your veterinarian to recheck that the infection has resolved.
Oral medications are often needed when a dog has a skin infection on multiple areas of the body. Antibiotics, such as clindamycin and cephalexin, are prescribed to treat bacterial skin infections, and anti-fungal medication, such as ketoconazole, is prescribed to treat fungal skin infections, such as yeast infections.
Topical therapy can be used to soothe the skin and help with treatment of skin infections. There are many topical therapy options, including anti-bacterial and anti-fungal ointments, shampoos, conditioners, mousses, sprays, and wipes. Ask your veterinarian which topical therapy would work best based on your dogs allergy symptoms and current skin condition.
Immunotherapy for Dogs With Seasonal Allergies
Immunotherapy consists of either allergy shots or allergy oral drops that are formulated based on allergy test results. To determine what environmental allergens a dog is most allergic to based on where the dog lives, a blood test can be performed by your veterinarian using a specific blood test (Heskas Allercept or Nextmunes Pet Allergy Xplorer) to screen a dog for environmental allergies.
In addition to the allergy blood test, a veterinary dermatologist will also perform intradermal testing, which involves injecting small amounts of various environmental allergens into a dogs skin in specific locations. The injection sites are then monitored over a period of time for signs of a skin reaction. If a reaction is seen, then the dog is likely allergic to the allergen that was injected at that site.
It is important to note that the allergy (blood) testing and the intradermal testing are not performed to provide a diagnosis of seasonal allergies. Rather, they are used to aid in creating immunotherapy treatment for a dog that has been diagnosed with seasonal allergies. The goal with immunotherapy is to desensitize a dog to the environmental allergens that trigger the allergy symptoms. Immunotherapy is usually given long-term at a maintenance dose.
It is difficult to limit a dogs exposure to certain allergens. Pollen from trees, grass, or weeds can be tracked into the house easily. Wiping a pups paws when they come inside can sometimes be helpful.
Recovery and Management of Seasonal Allergies in Dogs
Seasonal allergies are not only frustrating for dogs but also for pet parents, because they are not curable. Fortunately, though, with seasonal allergies, symptoms can be managed by knowing what seasons trigger a dogs symptoms and initiating treatment prior to the start of each allergy season. Anti-itch medication should manage the itch throughout each season so that the dog is not scratching, licking, or chewing at the skin, which can lead to secondary skin infections.
Cleaning your dogs ears every two to three weeks year-round with a routine ear cleaner is important to minimize the risk of an ear infection to develop. The ears should also be cleaned after your dog has a bath or partakes in a water activity, such as swimming, to remove any water from within the ear canals. Giving an omega-3 fatty acid supplement daily year-round can provide skin support as well. Management of seasonal allergies is usually lifelong unless a dog is able to move to an area where the allergen that is causing the reaction is no longer present.
Monitor your pet for the following symptoms throughout the year:
Itchiness (scratching, licking, gnawing, chewing)
Head shaking or pawing at the ears or eyes
Any skin lesions (such as redness, crusts, thickened or black pigmented skin)
Odor to the skin or ears
If you see any of these symptoms, schedule a vet appointment as soon as possible. Your dogs skin condition can worsen quickly if allergy symptoms are not controlled. If your dog is licking or chewing, have them wear an e-collar until the appointment to prevent further worsening of the skin. Your veterinarian will prescribe treatment to make your dog more comfortable and treat for any skin or ear infection, if present. Managing a dogs allergy symptoms with therapy and reporting to your veterinarian any skin issues as they arise are the most effective ways to help a dog with seasonal allergies.
WRITTEN BY
Michelle Diener, DVMVeterinarian
I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. I obtained by BS degree in Biology at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2000 and my DVM degree at NCSU in 2006. I have...
