It’s chilly in metro Detroit, but doctors note it’s time to start game planning — possibly even kickstarting a medication regimen — in the coming weeks to insure regular seasonal allergy sufferers are protected.
“Now, or the next 1-2 weeks, is a good time to start, before we get exposed to the tree pollen outdoors,” said Beaumont Hospital’s Devang Doshi, MD. “This way we’re already on top of minimizing symptoms from outdoor symptoms.”
The most common over-the-counter medication is an oral pill form of an antihistamine. Nasal sprays or eye drops work for some people, but Dr. Doshi said the key no matter what form of medication you’re taking you should discuss it with your doctor if it’s new, or if they’ve put you on a medication since the last time you discussed your over-the-counter allergy medications — the key is to avoid any bad medical reaction.
When it comes to seasonal allergies there is more than medications to consider.
Dr. Doshi noted that this is a good time of year to consider changing your air filters to ensure they’re capturing pollen as they enter your home.
It’s also worth deciding how you’ll react to high-pollen count days — while it’s tempting to open your doors/windows on nice days, Dr. Doshi said it can allow pollen into your home and cause long-lasting issues. If you, or a loved one, has bad seasonal allergies he recommended changing your clothes or even showering after prolonged exposure to the outdoors on severe pollen days.
The reality is that one in seven Americans are said to have some sort of seasonal allergies — when it gets bad enough a doctor may need to prescribe a intranasal steroid in combination with an antihistamine.
Michigan is notoriously bad for seasonal allergies because of a variety — some may even call it a gauntlet — of nonstop pollen from various sources. Beginning in April tree pollen begins to circulate followed by grass pollen season, late-blooming tree pollen then seasonal molds.
“It goes from one thing, to the next, to the next,” said Dr. Doshi. “If someone is allergic to multiple things they can be setup for a lot of issues while they’re outdoors.”
If you’re a severe allergy sufferer, or someone in your family is, Doshi said it may be worth taking extreme precautions such as showering and changing your clothes after prolonged periods of time outdoors to avoid brining extra pollen into your home.
