Spring Allergy Season Shorter But May Be Worse This Year; Extra Precautions Advised

Allergy sufferers who have been welcoming sneezes, sniffles and watery eyes as a natural part of celebrating spring may be happy to know that allergy season may be shorter this year attributed to a longer winter period. However, experts said that the changing weather patterns could also spell worse symptoms.

According to Medical Daily, a high pollen count is expected this year because of a wet winter and a warm, dry spring. Pollens may have decreased if spring would not be that dry.

The source quotes Dr. John Basso, chief of allergy and immunology at Nyack Hospital in New York in an interview with USA Today. He said, "the prolonged moisture in some regions this winter may have laid the groundwork for a bad season."

This statement is also supported by a statement by Dr. Tanya Laidlaw, director of Translational Research in Allergy at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in a separate interview. In the interview, Laidlaw confirmed that pollen count this year will be higher than the usual in a report by CBS.

"The classic maple, oak and birch that cause many of our spring allergy symptoms will be pollinating later than usual. We'll probably get a few days to a week or so of a shorter season."

"The trees are really primed for a heavy pollen season so we expect that the pollen counts will be as high, if not higher than usual. The days of symptoms might actually be more severe," she added.

With this, experts advised allergy sufferers to take extra precaution so as not to maintain health and overall comfort.

Laidlaw, for example, recommended patients to take anti-allergies one week before the trees start pollinating. She recommended the use of over-the-counter intranasal steroids or an oral antihistamine.

She warned however that patients may not exactly predict when the trees will start pollinating as the pollens are easily carried by the wind.

Dr. Laura Mechanic, chief of allergy at White Plains Hospital in an interview also said that allergy sufferers should take medicine and should not wait for the peak of the pollens distribution to take place.

"It's a really good idea to start early, because if you have your armamentarium on board protecting you, the medication will be a lot more effective and you'll feel better. A lot of people who wait end up suffering longer and on even more medication for a longer period of time."

Dr. Russell Leong, a San Francisco allergist who teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, meanwhile, recommended that allergy sufferers should stay away from allergy carriers, once and for all, a report from SF Gate said.

"We tell people with allergies to avoid pollen. We tell them to not open the windows in their house, to use the air conditioning in their car, to stay inside. But when the weather is so nice, people want to go outside and enjoy it."