Pollen allergy

Pollen is one of the most prevalent triggers of seasonal allergies. They come up at any season of the year, this is why people termed it as “hay fever” while experts dubbed it “seasonal allergic rhinitis” because every season, plants secrete minute pollen grains to fertilize other plants of the same species. Pollen allergens are one of the major causes of type I allergies affecting up to 30 % of the population in developed countries.

Climatic fluctuations affect the period and force of pollen seasons and may collectively with pollution be a factor to increased occurrences of respiratory allergy and asthma. Allergenic grasses, trees, and weeds often offer related habitats and flowering phases conceding medical anamnesis.

There are over hundreds of plant genera that discharge pollen into the air and trigger allergic reactions. The most common ones include birch pollen allergy, oak pollen allergy, grass pollen allergy, ragweed pollen allergy.

Grass Pollen Allergy

A Grass is the key trigger of pollen allergies during the summer period. You react to grass when you breathe in pollen coming from the kind of grass that makes your immune system to strike. It triggers some of the most acute and difficult-to-treat symptoms. Although there are an allergy shot and tablet that can subdue the symptoms of grass pollen allergies. These are some of the grass you might be allergic to Johnson grass, ryegrass, Bermuda grass, sweet vernal grass, Kentucky bluegrass, Timothy grass, orchard grass.

The symptoms are the runny or stuffy nose, itchy throat, mouth, skin, or eyes, puffy eyes, fatigue, headache or sinus pressure, sneezing, teary eyes, hives, and coughing. The best way to treat your grass allergy is to avoid the allergen, which might seem difficult for some people. Follow these simple guides to manage your grass pollen allergy.

Firstly, if you have a slight allergy to grass, you can use an over-the-counter allergy pill to fight the symptoms. If your allergy is more acute or recurrent, then you might want to get the following prescription from your doctor, nasal corticosteroid sprays, prescription antihistamines, immunotherapy shots, prescription decongestants. Keep a close monitor on the pollen count, avoid going out frequently when the pollen count is high, possible. This will require you to always keep a tab on the season. Reduce exposure when you can, avoid being in contact or around the grass that irritates you. Try putting on protective gear to guard your eyes and skin against the grass, you might also lookout to get someone to mow your lawn as you should avoid doing that yourself. Shut your windows in the period of the high pollen count and also when your lawn is being mowed, this will ensure the pollens don’t get into the house. Putting your laundry out to dry is also risky as the pollen can glue to towels, sheets, and clothes. Make sure to change your clothes once you are indoor, that is if you’ve been outside, also try to bath after contact to grass.

Birch Pollen Allergy

Birch pollen is one of the most popular airborne allergens during the spring. As the trees blossom, they discharge tiny grains of pollen that are strewn by the wind. Allergy to birch is often related to allergies to other trees of the same family and particular food allergies such as apple, melon, peach, raw potatoes and hazelnut allergies. A single birch tree can generate up to 5 million pollen grains, with many spreading up to 100 yards from the parent tree.

It has been gathered by scholars that some particular fresh produce can trigger allergic reactions in persons with birch tree pollen allergies.  People with such a condition are termed to have what is called pollen-food allergy syndrome, or oral allergy syndrome. The proteins in the products are akin to the birch pollen that they trigger your immune system as though you inhaled pollen.

The foods that frequently trigger allergic reactions in people with birch pollen allergies are apples, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts, carrots, celery, pears, raw potatoes, and peaches. Symptoms of a pollen-food allergy are itching and swelling around the mouth when you eat these foods. Fortunately, when these foods are cooked, they are less likely to cause any allergic reaction. The best way to prevent these reactions is to avoid the foods that trigger it.

Oak Pollen Allergy

Like birch trees, oak trees send pollen into the air during the spring. While oak pollen is believed to be meekly allergenic compared to the pollen of other trees, oak pollen stays longer in the air.

Spring carries leaves to the oak trees and sends oak pollen into the air, affecting millions of allergy sufferers to reach for the antihistamines and tissue. March, April, and May are the periods where Oak trees usually pollinate, with more pollen emerging in the early hours of the day. During this period, keeping tabs on daily tabs of the pollen count can aid allergy patients to identify when their symptoms might deteriorate.

Oak pollen allergy symptoms are related to other pollen allergies. While most symptoms of oak pollen allergies are mild and self-limiting, in rare cases severe allergic reactions can happen. Some of the Oak pollen allergy reactions are rhinitis, airways constriction, fatigue, and sinus problem.

Rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is also known as Hay fever, is the dub used to define the usual mild but irritating allergic reaction to oak pollen. Hay fever symptoms include watery, swollen and itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose and cough. Sometimes some people experience throat and nose itch, and also nose bleeds. Some allergy patients develop what is known as allergic shiners, this is a dark circle under the eyes. In children what is known as an allergic salute is how they react, this is an upward swipe of the palm to brush the nose.

Treatments for hay fever symptoms include decongestants, antihistamines, and eye drops. Allergy shots can also be administered, this shot is known as Immunotherapy. The shot helps desensitize an allergic person to the substance, which lessens symptoms.

It is advisable to stay indoor with oak pollen count is high, shutting the windows and changing clothes after stay outside when the oak pollen count is high will help lessen the symptoms. You might want to consider using a HEPA air filter inside to eliminate particles from the air.

Fatigue and Sinus Problems

Allergy to oak pollen can also cause headaches, fatigue, or feelings of pain or pressure in the sinuses or lessen the power to taste or smell. In some severe cases, some people experience short-term partial hearing loss.

Airway Constriction

Oak pollen allergies can trigger asthma symptoms in predisposed people. Asthma causes constriction or contraction of the bronchial tubes that convey air into the lungs. Symptoms include tightness or pain in the chest, shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, difficulty sleeping, and rapid heart rate.

Severe asthma attacks can be dangerous if the airways narrow in a way that air has no entry into the lung. Medical evaluation and treatment with bronchodilators and maybe corticosteroids are required for people with asthma from oak pollen allergy, even if it happens only seasonally, these treatments will lessen the bulge in the airways.

Ragweed Pollen Allergy

Ragweed plants are the chief perpetrators of allergies among weed pollens. They’re the most effective between the late spring and fall months. Its wind-driven pollen can move hundreds of miles and live through a mild winter. When you are allergic to ragweed pollen and breathe in air containing the pollen, it triggers rhinitis symptoms.

Ragweed is related to a greater family of plants that can proliferate pollen by the wind. There are Seventeen types of ragweed in North America. These plants can also trigger symptoms in people allergic to them. Members of this plant family include groundsel bush, sage, rabbitbrush, burweed marsh elder, mugwort, and eupatorium. Some family members proliferate their pollen by insects in place of wind. They cause less allergic reactions, although inhaling these plants can cause symptoms.

A larger percentage of people who are allergic to pollen are also allergic to ragweed. There is a tendency of being allergic to more than more types of pollen. Ragweed allergy can be triggered when you consume these foods, watermelon, white potato, banana, cantaloupe, cucumber, honeydew, zucchini, and sunflower seeds.

Currently, there is no cure for ragweed pollen allergy though there are ways to treat and manage it. It is advisable to start treatment in summer, take anti-inflammatory or antihistamine medicines. Also get some over-the-counter medicines, as they have proven to work well to control pollen allergy symptoms over time, they can also aid nose, eye and asthma symptoms. Getting an eye drop can help manage the eye symptom.

Antihistamine and Anti-inflammatory nose spray also come in handy and the side effect is minimal. Getting Leukotriene inhibitors can help by blocking chemicals your body discharges when you have an episode of an allergic reaction. In all, with the appropriate treatment scheme, there should be a significant improvement in your symptoms.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4361229/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17143438

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4829390/

Leave a comment