The snow has thawed and the entire snowstorm feels like a distant memory now that warm weather has returned to the region. It’s a breakneck transition from being snowed in, and some allergy sufferers may find themselves realizing how quick the turnaround can be in unpleasant ways.
Horticulturist Dr. Joe Willis explains that the re-awakening of plant life can trigger adverse reactions for those who deal with allergy problems in ways you may not expect.
“There are a lot of flowers in bloom right now,” Willis says. “However, that’s not the primary problem for allergy sufferers. Primarily it’s things in bloom that you really don’t notice like cedar trees, oaks, and pecans that all bloom in the spring. The pollen that those put out can really make you suffer” explains Dr. Willis.
Pollen is still the primary driver behind those sneezing fits, although the source of suffering being trees rather than flowers and plants might come as a surprise to many. To make things worse, those windy days only make things worse. “Those trees that trigger allergies are wind pollenated, which means they put out TONS of pollen,” Dr. Willis notes. As far as the trees to look out for if you are sensitive to pollen, Willis says spring weather often causes the oaks, pecan, and willow trees to release pollen. Another thing to watch out for is underfoot, according to Dr. Willis. “With the wet weather that we have in the spring, if it warms up fast, we can get lots of mushrooms and other fungi growing. Those spores can be real problems for allergy sufferers,” adds Willis.