Rain a blessing, curse for allergies

Those prone to the sneezing, sniffling, teary-eyed misery of allergies in spring have found recent rain both blessing and curse.

It's a blessing because it washed away the pollen that triggers the symptoms. And it's a curse because it promoted growth of the plants that will one day soon again make the pollen.

If you haven't noticed that allergy season's already under way, you don't have allergies.

"Cottonwood's in full swing, and so are maple and sycamore," said Carol Maw of the Intermountain Allergy and Asthma Clinic. "We've already had a lot of cedar."

Maw said various pollens start to appear about the end of February and some are more misery-inducing than others.

Cedar, for example. "We saw quite a bit of cedar last week. Cottonwood is also quite problematic, and that's been out in force."

Thanks to our very good spate of rain recently, she suspects that "the grass season will be particularly harsh, especially if the wet keeps rolling in as it has. Grass is one pollen that creates an awful lot of misery for a lot of people." Although the grass pollen count is typically lower than that of some of the trees, the symptoms for those who are allergic may be more severe.

She predicts grass allergies will start in about a week, while tree allergies will rage "in full force" for four to six more weeks. "They'll overlap for a good month."

Sniffle.

The rain is also likely to mean that when the weeds kick in later, they'll do so with real power. "They need a lot of rain to get them started, but they don't need much water to keep them going, so it's probably going to be a significant (weed allergy) season, unfortunately," Maw said.

And the pollen and the allergies they create won't all go away until there's snow on the ground, she added.

Dr. Hugh Altamirano of Provo Allergy and Asthma said he's seeing plenty of patients with itchy eyes, a runny nose, lots of sneezing and tightness in the chest. "What we see typically in the spring."

The rain probably delayed things a little because of the low pollen count it leaves behind. "I imagine in the next few days it will come back with a vengeance."

There are common-sense steps allergy sufferers can take to hold their own, staying indoors when practical and keeping windows closed, Altamirano said.