Spring comes early to my house because I live on the Gulf Coast. We get fabulous, breezy mild days with beautiful blue skies while much of the rest of the country suffers through more snow, snow-melt, and later, mud season. The parks are all full of people enjoying the weather, and Spring Breakers will fill our beaches soon. The turn to milder weather also brings my daughter�s toughest time of year�cold and flu season--to a close until next winter. On the other hand, early spring means early pollen. It�s allergy time where I live, a challenging couple of months for asthmatics with outdoor allergen triggers.

If you live in a mild climate, too, you probably experience the first coughs, watery eyes, runny nose, and headache of hayfever in late February or early March. Some asthmatics have a particularly rough time because allergies can trigger bronchial symptoms. In fact, outdoor allergens usually make the top 3 on lists of the most common asthma triggers. Plants pollinate at various times throughout the year, but fall and spring are the most challenging seasons for asthmatics and allergy sufferers.

This time of year, the primary pollinators include trees like beech, birch, elm, hickory, and oak. Grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, Bermuda, timothy, and rye emit quite a bit of pollen in the spring, too.

Living with spring allergies is hard. You can�t avoid going outside, obviously. But even if you could, would you want to? There are ways, however, to minimize your exposure to spring pollen and still enjoy the gorgeous weather. Here are some tips I�ve learned over the years.

1. If you have severe symptoms, use your air conditioner to filter and circulate the air in your home. Don�t open your windows or you will let the pollen inside, where it will settle all over your home. If you simply must have those refreshing spring breezes blowing through your home, keep furniture well dusted and floors mopped and vaccumed.

2. Don�t use your clothesline (if you have one) until your area�s major pollen season is over. Drying clothing and/or bedding in pollen-saturated air is asking for trouble.

3. Shower and wash your hair when you come inside for the evening. This action keeps the pollen from rubbing off you and onto your bed, where it could bother your asthma all night.

4. Restrict your outdoor activity until after 10:00 a.m. Plants release their pollen in the early morning, so that�s when counts are highest and most likely to bother you.

5. Keep your allergy and asthma meds close at hand on windy days. Pollen travels on the wind, so your symptoms may worsen on these days.

6. Keep track of pollen levels in your local newspaper or on one of the sites below.


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"Smile, breathe and go slowly." -Thich Nhat Hanh




This article is not written by a medical professional, and information on this page should never be substituted for your physcian�s advice. If you have any questions about your asthma and/or allergies, you should always contact your physician first.