Health experts weigh as early allergy season overlaps with end of cold, flu season
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The calendar says winter ends on March 19, but if you talk to someone who has seasonal allergies, they’ll tell you it already feels like spring.
Doctors say an early allergy season is overlapping with the end of cold and flu season.
“I am suffering every single day,” Sasha Collins, an allergy sufferer, said.
The temperature is warm enough to get outside and trees are beginning to bud.
It’s a beautiful time in the Mid-South. But if you talk to allergy sufferers, they have a slightly different take on the weather.
“My symptoms are coughing, a runny nose. I get headaches sometimes,” Collins said.
“We see a lot of people coming in with asthma attacks, and that could be pretty dangerous,” Margaret Wildmann, a respiratory therapist at St. Francis Hospital-Barlett said.
Wildmann said a short, mild winter followed by an early spring means pollen is already starting to circulate.
“We have tree pollen and grass pollen, and weed pollen and then mold spores, you know, we have a lot of humidity here,” she said.
That’s why Wildmann said allergy sufferers should start taking precautions now.
“You want to keep your windows closed, and a good air filter for your house would be good,” she said.
Wildmann recommends checking the pollen forecast before heading outside.
“You can use over-the-counter decongestants, corticosteroid, eye drops, and then you can use a neti pot for your sinuses,” she said.
If you’re going to be outside, protect yourself early on.
Health experts recommend taking an antihistamine the day before to combat your allergies.
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