Summer Allergies
Now we are going to start seeing the grasses start. You’ve seen the grasses get green. You’re going to see grass pollen in the air, and that keeps increasing.
Tree season normally is fairly short except for the oak pollen, which goes on to pollinate into the month of May. But the grasses will now start. And they will peak around the end of May or early June.
And most people aren’t allergic to just one thing you see they tend to be allergic to a variety of different allergens.
What are some symptoms of allergies?
They do come in with itching, they come with rashes they come with hives, kids and adults. The other symptom that patients will come to us with is a cough. The cough that will keep them up at night or the cough that just will not go away it’s not bronchitis it’s not a cold, it’s an allergenic cough.
What steps should you take to avoid symptoms?
Take your medications including an antihistamine. If you’re mowing I would not suggest taking a Benedryll because it could make you drowsy and that could put you at risk, so take a non-sedating antihistamine. Take a nose spray before you mow, even put in some eye drops wear a mask if you can, and that’s what I would do. And then again come inside change your clothes, shower, and stuff like that.
When should you seek professional help?
I think you should try over the counter medications that are inexpensive and easily available. I think you need to be a little cautious about over the counter eye drops, because some of them have a decongestive component, which is ok for three to five days but after that it will give you more redness and more problems. So you need to be careful about that. So either talk to your primary care physician talk to the pharmacist so you don’t do that, you see. There are a couple of nose sprays now available over the market and they are very good you could so you could try those as well. If nothing works and if you’re miserable and it’s affecting your quality of life and you’re throat is itching all the time and you look like you’ve been partying without really having any fun then it’s time to see an allergist. There are other things that they can do.
