If you have them, you're probably already aware it's allergy season.
Hamilton County Public Health's medical director says they may seem to be worse here than anywhere else. But Dr. Steve Feagins says every year the Allergy Society names the worst cities for allergies and as bad as it seems, Cincinnati isn't even in the top 10.
He says there are lots of theories why allergies are so bad here. “A huge part of it is basically our latitude; we’re both north and south at the same time,” he says. “We’re both Kentucky and Ohio at the same time. So you have a variety of trees that you would see both in the northern climate and the southern climate. We have more opportunities to produce pollen.”
If you know an anti-histamine has helped in the past, he says the best time to start was probably a few weeks ago. Feagins says prevention is better than treatment.
“Better to take that anti-histamine whether that’s a Claritin, a Zyrtec, or an Allegra, daily as you see the pollen counts rising as opposed to waiting until they’re risen and you’re all puffy.”
He also recommends a corticosteroid nasal spray used at bedtime. He says they can dry out the nasal passages, so a nasal saline used before the spray can improve the efficacy.
Feagins says otherwise, the best way to avoid suffering is to avoid pollen. Keep your windows closed, limit time outside if it's dry, and change your clothes if you've spent a lot of time outside.
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