Spring allergy season is well underway in Central Oregon.  Each year, beginning in late March and continuing through the month of April, juniper pollen is the main cause of those seasonal allergy symptoms.  With other tree pollens, then grasses pollenating for the remainder of spring and early summer, there can be little relief for many allergy sufferers.  As if that weren’t enough, many allergy sufferers are sensitive to the weeds that pollenate August through the end of October.

The most common seasonal allergy symptoms include nasal itching, sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, and itchy, watery eyes.  Other complications of nasal allergies can include fatigue, poor sleep at night, irritability, missed school or work, worsening asthma, and sinusitis.

There are a few things allergy sufferers can try without a prescription.  Staying indoors and keeping doors and windows shut on those beautiful sunny spring days can reduce exposure to pollen.  Saline nasal sprays and irrigation can help wash away the pollen and the body’s inflammatory signals that cause the symptoms of nasal allergies.  Over-the-counter antihistamines work well for many people suffering from allergy symptoms.  If these don’t work well enough, there are a number of prescription anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine nasal sprays that can really make a big difference.  And then there’s always the option of allergy immunotherapy, or desensitization, that can help, even when nothing else seems to work.

 

 

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