Milk Maid
It’s like everyone has sort of came back to life after winter’s unwelcome and extended stay. The sun is FINALLY shining, the birds are chirping, the grass is starting to get green and the temperatures are on the rise.
These are all welcome signs that spring has finally sprung. But, unfortunately for many people, like myself, those good spring vibes are short-lived. As spring arrives, allergy season tags along.
Achoo! Move over spring. It’s allergy season.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seasonal allergies are quite common. With more than 50 million Americans under their curse, allergies are the sixth-leading cause of chronic illness with an annual cost of $18 billion in the United States alone.
A vast majority of Americans with allergies are allergic to pollen, according to Pollen.com.
Tree pollen, grass pollen, weed pollen, pollen from flowers, you name it and I can sneeze at it. I’m terribly allergic to pretty much everything but the worst for me are ragweed, lilacs and oat straw.
You may be thinking, “farm kids shouldn’t have allergies!” I wish. Even lilac scented candles make me sneeze.
An usually cold and snowy April kept pollen at bay, but now pollen counts are soaring.
Pollen counts, which reflect the number of pollen grains landing on a given area during a specified time, have inched into the moderate to high range across most of Minnesota. The higher the values, the worse it feels for allergy sufferers, with watery eyes, runny noses, coughs and itchy throats. What are some ways to help control allergies?
For me, I take an over the counter allergy pill every night and I religiously use nasal spray.
Some people may need extra help to get through the worst of the season. I’m one of those people and I have an extra medication my doctor prescribed to try to help me.
My dog Pixie sleeps most of the night in my bedroom in her own dog bed.
Despite experts saying “no” to pets in the house during allergy season, to help alleviate my allergies, I have been meticulously washing her bedding and despite her protesting, she’s seeing an increase in bath time.
It’s that or she’s sleeping in the dog house. Experts also recommend showering and washing clothes and bedding regularly or even more than normal to get rid of pollen.
Even though it’s nice outside, if you are an allergy sufferer, don’t open your windows in the house or car.
That just lets the pollen in. Another thing that I do is I track the local pollen counts.
My weather app on my phone lets me know what to expect and what types of pollen are high daily.
Various weather websites and pollen.com also show the pollen counts for any given area. It’s nice spring has finally sprung, but allergy season has just begun.