South Mississippi spring allergy season is here

The official start of spring is still a few days away, but the spring allergy season here in South Mississippi is already in full swing.

Spring is in the air and so is the pollen. Mark Murray M.D. with the Mississippi Asthma and Allergy Clinic said, “Early in Spring, the tree pollens start coming around, so that’s oak and pecan. The yellow pollen that dusts the cars, that’s pine pollen. That comes in the early spring. We’re getting to a point now where we’re in a transition with some of the grasses coming out. We’re really in a rough time of year with a lot of trees still hanging on but some of the early grasses coming out as well.”

Allergy symptoms tend to be less severe in rainy weather with little to no breeze, but in windy conditions the pollen circulates much better, in turn aggravating allergies. “It’s been really dry lately, and with a lot of these winds blowing, that’s really stirring up a lot of these pollens in the air. That can be a major, major problem. Hopefully, the rain will kind of knock some of that down and get it out of the air for a little while. There’s also kind of a phenomenon when right before storms, where there’s this push, almost a wave of pollen that comes before the front, so you actually see an uptick in pollen before the storm actually hits.”

The tree pollen will likely die down in the next month or so. The grass is expected to hold steady throughout the summer months.

Dr. Murray says you can often find some relief with over-the-counter medicines such as antihistamines. If that doesn’t work: “We have allergy shots where basically we just give you what you’re allergic to, to slowly build your tolerance up to these things that you are allergic to. In the end, hopefully in the end, that means less symptoms breaking through and less medications are needed to take care of this.”