America’s Trees of Allergies

Top Tips for Managing Tree Allergies

Millions of Americans suffer from spring allergies. If you’re one of them, take heart; there are steps you can take to minimize your symptoms.

• Keep windows and doors shut, or that lovely spring breeze will carry allergens inside. Once it’s warm indoors, use an air conditioner.

• After being outside, change your clothes – and put the ones you were wearing in the wash.

• Leave shoes outside so you don’t trample in the pollen.

• Don’t hang laundry outside to dry – it will collect pollen.

• Take a shower before bed to remove pollen from your hair and avoid spreading it all over your pillow.

• Avoid outdoor activities in the morning, as trees tend to pollinate before 10 a.m.

• Run errands shortly after a rainfall, when the damp holds pollen on the ground.

• If you have a pet, wipe down its fur, which gets laden with pollen, before it comes inside.

• Check pollen counts in your area at www.aaaai.org’s National Allergy Bureau (which relies on data collected by allergist volunteers across the U.S.). Or see www.pollen.com, a site that ranks pollen on a scale of 0-12 and provides a four-day forecast.

• Don’t just tough it out – ask your doctor about antihistamines and decongestants.

Allergic Living gratefully acknowledges Dr. Richard Weber, vice president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and National Jewish Health, for reviewing this article.