Suffering From Allergies? Relief May Be Coming

Mother Nature’s been hard at work this year, producing enough tree, grass and weed pollens to keep your nose, eyes and throat working overtime. But just like families across Michigan, it appears Mother Nature will soon take a summer vacation. Dr. Amrita Ray, DO, otolaryngology (ear, nose & throat) specialist and head and neck surgeon at Henry Ford Health, says the hot, dry weather in late July and August will give us a short reprieve from the sneezing, runny nose, congestion, and itchy, watery eyes that have been plaguing allergy sufferers this year especially. 

“July, historically, calms down a little bit,” said Dr. Ray. “When we start getting into some of that scorching heat, it really eases some of the seasonal allergies. But it will start to flare up again in August and September due to weeds, so we get a month before it gets bad again.” 

That’s it? That’s not a very long vacation, Mother Nature. It also appears she isn’t taking much of a winter vacation, either. 

“Longer, warmer periods of weather are also driving the increase in intense allergies,” Dr. Ray said. “Allergens are coming in heavier, and they have not been dying down as much during the wintertime because the weather has been a lot warmer. And we're probably going to see this trend continue.” 

There’s another reason this year has been so rough on allergy patients. Dr. Ray says it’s a phenomenon known as mast seeding, and this year has appeared much worse than others. 

“You may have noticed those little white, floaty things that have been in the air and coating the ground. That’s cottonwood pollen,” said Dr. Ray. “Although those trees do a release every year, we find that every three to seven years they tend to drop an extra heavy load of those cottonwood pollens, further aggravating allergy sufferers. And because Michigan has four seasons, you get massive dumps of pollen into the air as soon as the weather changes.” 

Dr. Ray says she is seeing a lot of patients coming in with typical seasonal allergy symptoms including congestion, sneezing, runny nose, itchy or sore throats, plus facial pressure -- the whole gamut, and it’s easy to mistake allergies for a cold or sinus infection. 

“Allergies are reactions to something that your body doesn't like,” said Dr. Ray. “We can expect increased inflammation and clear drainage from both sides of your nose. Sinus infections, however, are triggered by bacteria that's stuck inside your sinuses that won't clear out. It will feel like a cold that's not going away with more severe symptoms including fatigue, and potentially fevers. 

“There are different allergens that peak in general during spring, summer and fall,” continued Dr. Ray “Allergies tend to die down during the winter, but during the springtime, trees are pollinating. In the summertime, you get more of the grasses that start to come through, and then fall, more weeds. Different times of the year have different flare ups.” 

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