Spring allergy season underway after warm days in early March
We’re officially only a few days into spring, but allergy season has been underway for a bit longer.
“I know some of my patients were hoping it would be a little later this year because we had such a cold winter, but we are finding the pollen counts have already begun,” said Pam Sherman, a registered nurse at UConn Health.
According to pollen.com, the Allergy Index in Hartford jumped to medium levels on March 9, which is when we hit 70 degrees. That kickstarted the pollen production in parts of southern New England.
“Theoretically, it would seem that once the pollen is out there, we didn’t get another truly deep, deep freeze after that,” Sherman said.
Sherman is referring to our temperatures, as they have fluctuated through March so far. Temperatures in the Hartford area have only cooled to 25 degrees once since then, and that’s not enough to halt the pollination cycle for long.
While early spring temperatures continue to oscillate, Sherman believes that peak allergy season in Connecticut will arrive around or just a little before average.
“Typically mid-April or so, it’s really, really going to ramp up for a lot of people,” Sherman said. “That would be the tree pollen, and then after that going into the summer, we would have the grass pollen from there.”
As pollen production only grows this season, Sherman suggests getting ahead of the symptoms.
“If you have been outside for a long period of time, then might want to take a shower before and rinse off before you go to bed at night so you don’t bring the pollen to bed with you,” Sherman said.
Once grass pollen gets underway later in the spring, Sherman also recommends washing your pets, especially dogs, after they roll around outside.
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