flying seed from isolated blowball flowers in an idyllic summer meadow, beautiful field of many dandelions in blurred landscape panorama
Spring can mean misery for allergy sufferers
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Scott LaMar
flying seed from isolated blowball flowers in an idyllic summer meadow, beautiful field of many dandelions in blurred landscape panorama
Airdate: May 9th, 2023
Most of us look forward to warmer spring weather. But for those who suffer from allergies, spring can be a time of misery.
Depending on what one is allergic to, allergies could be 24/7, all year round problem, but for those whose allergies flare outdoors, spring can be especially tough.
With us on The Spark Tuesday was Dr. Tim Craig, Director of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Clinical Research at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, “The trees are just starting to transition out. The trees really start early March, continue into April, into May, and then peter out by June. And now the grasses are starting to come in and they’ll be catching up to the trees. While trees never produce so much pollen…and then you’ll see them become a kind of the prominent allergen in the next couple of weeks and into June and into parts of July. That is as long as we continue to have rain.”
Dr. Craig was asked if there’s a cure for allergies,”There are a a group of people, not everybody, who can go on allergy shots and actually lose their allergy. And we see that not infrequently we will test somebody, put him on allergy shots. Maybe five years later, we will discuss, well, should we go off or not, because the allergies are now well controlled and some people stop at year five and continue to do well indefinitely. Well, I guess nobody goes indefinitely but for a long period of time. And so, yes, you can cure the percentage of people that end up with a cure from allergy shots is probably low when you’re talking about ten years. But five years, it’s the majority.”
Dr. Craig said that over-the-counter medications work well in controlling the symptoms of allergies,”All the medications that you get, antihistamines, nasal steroids, topical nasal antihistamines, decongestants, eye drops, they’re all just to control your symptoms. But they work well in most cases. So, you know, medications would kind of suggest based on a type of symptoms. So if you have a lot of nasal congestion, nasal steroids would be the drug of choice. If you have an achiness and sneeze and maybe in a low, sedate and or nonstandard an antihistamine will cause your symptoms to be controlled. And if you have a lot of eye symptoms, then obviously eyedrops would be the drug that you would probably prefer to have, especially in the springtime.”
Craig indicated that if allergies persist even after over-the-counter medications, it may be time to seek out a doctor.
