Physician Health Articles
Sutter Davis Hospital

Spring – beautiful flowers, trees, grass and allergies!
By Ron Brown, M.D.

Spring is fast approaching, which means blue skies, blossoming trees, warmer weather, plenty of green grass and lots of pollen.  Our beautiful spring is a great time to be outdoors, but for those who have a pollen allergy it can be pretty miserable.  It sometimes seems like everyone in Davis has spring allergies, but it's actually around 20 percent of the general population that actually suffer from them.  The tendency to be allergic runs in families and is most prevalent in school-age children up to middle-age adults.  Pollen allergy can mainly manifest as upper respiratory allergy (allergic rhinitis or hay fever) and/or lower respiratory allergy (asthma).  Although pollen allergy is one of the most common medical conditions, almost no one should have to suffer during the spring or should need to avoid outdoor activity.

The kind of pollen that causes allergy is transported by wind, not by bees.  Therefore plants and trees that have flowers to attract bees do not make troublesome pollen.  In the Davis area grass makes the most prevalent and nasty pollen, but we have about a dozen types of trees and several weeds that also are significant pollen producers.  Our pollen season typically starts late February and goes until the fourth of July.  The specific pollens that someone can be allergic to can considerably vary from person to person and the problem can be mild to severe.  Each spring, emergency rooms see a lot of allergy sufferers, especially those with asthma.

Treatment for pollen allergy consists of three basic approaches.  The first is avoidance, although living in a bubble should not be necessary.  Washing clothes and taking a shower after being outside is a good idea, and consider wearing a mask if you’re stuck mowing the lawn.  The second approach is medicine and there are a lot of them.  Over the counter medicines include antihistamines (choose ones that cause less sedation such as Zyrtec or Claritin), antihistamine eye drops and decongestants like Sudafed. 

Prescription medicines include other antihistamines, nasal steroids, nasal antihistamines and other eye drops.  For asthma all medicines are prescription and consist of bronchodilators that open the airway and medicines that decrease airway inflammation.  The third treatment approach to consider, if medicines are not effective, is allergy shots.  These have been proven to help with both allergic rhinitis and asthma, and are now recommended for allergic asthma by the National Institutes of Health. They are the only way to treat the cause of allergy and not just the symptoms.  Shots typically continue for five years and then are stopped with the potential for permanent benefit. 

So, if you don't feel great being outside this spring and over-the-counter medicines aren't helping, see your doctor.  No one should have to suffer during the spring.