Doctors in New Hampshire say more patients are reporting worse allergy symptoms this year even though the pollen count this summer is roughly the same as last year. An Huynh, an allergist and clinical immunologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, said some people are feeling both tree and grass pollen at the same time.
An Huynh on New Hampshire
Huynh said, "Right now some people are just getting it much worse than other times of the year or their previous years." He added, "We are having that overlap right now as we look into our pollen count and counting pollen is that that's why we're seeing tree and grass pollen."
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is one of roughly 60 stations across the country that measure pollen counts and report data to the National Allergy Bureau. A machine on the roof catches pollen on sticky film, and the pollen is then counted under a microscope.
Tree pollen and grass pollen
Tree pollen is the biggest culprit of allergies right now, while grass pollen counts are low but starting to pick up. Huynh said that overlap can leave some people reacting to more than one pollen source at once, even when the overall counts are not jumping from last year.
Over the last two decades, pollen counts have increased by about 20 to 25%, and Huynh said the allergy season is getting longer as climate change contributes to an extended growing season. He said, "So it is worse. It's not all in your head but just in your sinuses,"
Testing and treatment
Huynh said, "It's important to potentially see an allergy doctor to talk about allergy testing to find – are you specifically allergic to maple tree pollen or birch tree pollen or cottonwood or whatever that may be to help localize your symptoms," He said that steroidal and antihistamine nasal sprays can be some of the first lines of defense, while Afrin, or oxymetazoline nasal sprays, are not recommended by Dartmouth allergists.
He also pointed to non-drowsy medications such as Zyrtec, Allegra, and Xyzal, along with neti pots and saline rinse as non-medicated therapies that can help. Allergen immunotherapy can be used for long-term relief, giving patients an option when seasonal symptoms keep returning.
