There's nothing fun about allergy season. Even if your allergy medication works well during the day, you could still end up with symptoms that keep you awake all night. Unfortunately, restless nights makes for groggy, unproductive days. Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to help alleviate those nighttime allergy symptoms. Here are four of them for you to put to work right now:

Change Your Bedding

When it comes to nighttime allergy symptoms, the biggest culprit could be your bedding; this is particularly true if you don't have hypoallergenic linens on your bed. Not only that, but if your pillow is more than a few months old, or hasn't been washed in a while, it could be harboring large quantities of allergens. To control your nighttime allergy symptoms, switch to hypoallergenic pillows and sheets, and wash your pillow in hot water at least once a week. If you don't want to wash your pillow once a week, place it in a hypoallergenic pillow cover and wash the cover once a week.

Vacuum Your Bedroom

If you're like most people, you vacuum the main areas of your home on a regular basis, but you might avoid the bedroom areas. Unfortunately, if that's the case, your carpeting could be harboring more allergens than you'd like. To get the allergens out of your carpet fibers so you can sleep easier, vacuum your carpeting at least once a week – more often if your home is particularly dusty, or you have pets. Be sure to use a vacuum with an on-board HEPA filter. To maximum allergy relief, you should give serious consideration to replacing the carpeting in your bedroom with ceramic tile or natural stone flooring.

Clean Your Humidifier

If the air in your home is drying out your nasal passages and you're using a humidifier, that could be the cause of your nighttime allergy symptoms. This is particularly true if you haven't cleaned the humidifier in a while; bacteria and allergens can build up in the water and the filter, making your allergy symptoms much worse. To alleviate the problem, you should clean your humidifier at least once a week, and replace the filter once a month.

Try Saline Drops

If your allergy symptoms are causing nasal congestion, reach for some saline drops. Because saline drops don't contain harsh chemicals or medications, they're safe for you to use on a nightly basis. Place a few drops of saline in each nostril before you go to bed each night. You'll sleep better and breathe easier.

Don't let nighttime allergy symptoms keep you from getting a good night's rest. Use the tips provided here to get those symptoms under control. If they continue to give you trouble, be sure to speak to your allergy specialist as soon as possible.