Worst Allergy Season In Years According To Doctors

A lack of hard freezes over the winter has resulted in an early growing season and this has the allergy season underway.

?Our pollen counts are much higher, about ten times higher, than they were last year and that?s mainly because of warmer weather over the wintertime,? said Dr. Matthew Bowdish of The William Storms Allergy Clinic.

Bowdish said on a typical year pollen begins showing up during mid February, but it does not become problematic until mid March.

?This year we started detecting pollens at the beginning of February and they were actually quite elevated in the middle of February and are even higher now,? said Bowdish.

Bowdish said tree pollen is the main source for allergy problems during the spring. Bowdish said the pollen counter is detecting cottonwood, aspen, juniper, elm, maple and oak pollens.

According to Bowdish, there are several over-the-counter remedies that can help alleviate symptoms such as humidifiers and antihistamines. Bowdish suggests that allergy sufferers do seek professional help to ensure they are getting the correct diagnosis and that they are receiving the right treatment.

When asked if the season would get any better, Bowdish said the intensity of this allergy season is a dependent of the weather.

?If we get a nice wet spring with a lot of rain, then we?ll get a lot of growth of plants and so the season is probably going to be pretty bad. If it is going to be drier that can be difficult especially on windy days, but it might not necessarily release as much pollen,? said Bowdish.