Allergies Keep Doctors Busy
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Central Floridians with allergies are rushing to doctors.
The warmer weather has brought more than green leaves and spring flowers. It has also meant more sneezing, coughing and congestion.
It’s a tough time of year for Ruth Hale.
“As long as it’s loose, and I can cough it up, I’m alright,” Hale said.
“You’re having a flare up like most of the people in Orlando right now,” Dr. Steven Rosenberg said of Hale’s condition.
Orlando and Tampa are among the top five cities in the country when it comes to the allergy-alert scale.
“The sneezing, eyes watering, I actually got sick,” Barb Covington said. “I had a respiratory infection and a sinus infection, so it’s been a mess.”
It’s not exactly good news for the people scrambling to see their doctors.
Oak pollen, pine pollen and grasses are among the top irritants.
“This year, though, it hit me hard,” Covington said
Rosenberg said people often judge the level of their allergy by the amount of yellow pollen they see on their car or on the surfaces of their swimming pools. But he said It’s the pollen we can’t see that gives most people fits.
“Trees are traditionally the worst in Central Florida for people with allergies,” Rosenberg said.
The yellow pollen people can see only causes problems when it falls on somebody. Invisible oak pollen can affect allergy sufferers miles from the tree itself.
For those affected by the pollen, health officials suggest replacing filters inside the home’s air conditioner with heavy-duty, pollen-reducing types.
Rosenberg cautioned people not to rush to the decongestants.
“Decongestants won’t work and will raise blood pressure,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg recommended antihistamines such as Claritin or Zyrtec.
“Stay in when it’s like this,” Hale said.
Health officials said staying in does help. The yard work and gardening may have to wait.
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