It's That Time...

     Good evening, Family and Friends...

     After barely making it through this rough, cold, snowy, winter and part of the spring, now comes the fight with the remaining spring season and the forecasted “rough” allergy season.   Many of us would think that now that we have FINALLY had a few warm days and winter appears, for the most part, to be gone, we should be able to breathe in some nice, fresh air without the chill.  But there are other things sitting on the horizon waiting for ALL the allergy sufferers.  You may have already started to experience the watery eyes, coughing, headaches, problems breathing, runny and stuffy noses, and sneezing, although it is still cold outside.  It doesn’t matter, it’s that time… Time for what???

     All the information that I read and hear says that this TIME will be a “rough”, “miserable”, “the worst”, allergy season we have seen in a long while.    Most of us do not understand how that could be, but just you wait and see.  As a matter of fact, I know some people are already suffering (I live with one of those people).  The simple fact is that because we had such an unusually brutal winter—bone-chilling cold and record-setting snowfall—all the flowers and trees will be late doing their spring-thing.  Once Mother Nature decides to allow us to start having consistent, warm, spring-like weather, all of the trees that need to pollinate will do their pollination in a 'catch up' mode.  According to CNN.com, trees normally tend to pollinate gradually during the months of March and April.  The red cedar, elm, and pine trees start to bloom in early March, followed later by maple, ash, birch, and oak.  April starts the nut trees and the grasses and ragweed starts their process later in spring.  BUT if the typical spring weather is stifled, like it was this year, and the spring season (as we know it) is shortened, then that gradual process will happen in a matter of a few short weeks.  To add insult to injury, the wet, soggy ground-- that can’t seem to dry up due to the weekly snowstorms that we had on the East Coast--is about to get dampened again by the typical spring rain showers.  The ground can get so saturated that mold and mold spores may start to form and most of us know that they affect allergies and asthma. 

     Here are some statistics noted by The Weather Channel:

• Philadelphia, PA --Ranks as the 22^nd worst city for allergies in 2014

• Austin, TX                --Ranks as the 50^th worst city for allergies in 2014

• New York, NY         --Ranks as the 13^th worst city for allergies in 2014

• Louisville, Ky           --Ranked the worst city for allergies in 2014

        The Washington Post had an article that suggested a few things you may want to consider if seasonal allergies are not your friend:

• Avoid outdoor line drying of clothing and bed linens.  Do people still do that?
• Consider exercising indoors on high pollen days
• Confirm with a physician (not your Mama) that you have seasonal allergies
• Start treatment with medications such as nasal antihistamines, steroids, and eyedrops BEFORE the symptoms start
• Talk to your doctor about allergy shots
• Shower and shampoo nightly to rinse pollen from your skin and hair.  That shampooing daily may be an issue for some of us...
• Do not use window fans that blow the outside air into your home.
• Plant allergy friendly greenery like azaleas, begonias, pine, fir, palm, and dogwood trees

     At the end of the day, you have to know your body and your lifestyle so that YOU know  what does and does not work for you.  Hopefully, we will ALL get through this allergy season without too many issues.  I just say, BRING on the WARM weather (notice I said warm, not hot and humid as hell).  SMOOCHES...