The allergy season is under way, and physicians say students who haven’t yet been affected aren’t out of the polliniferous woods just yet.
With a mild spring season featuring both sun and rain, doctors and nurses agree that a busy tree pollen season could soon be overtaken by an even busier grass pollen season.
Allergies usually hit the hardest in the spring and summer months. But this year, students are showing allergy symptoms earlier than normal.
“We’ve seen more than last year, but not as many as some years,” said Sharon Harbert, a registered nurse at the University Health Center. “It’s fairly early. We’re just getting into the season.”
The deciding factor in the allergy season isn’t just “the weather” in general — it’s particularly the rain, which halts airborne allergens so they cannot take flight and wreak havoc on students’ sinuses, she said.
“It’s unpredictable,” said Dr. John Minor, a local physician at the Allergy & Asthma Center. “If I could predict the weather everyday, I could give you a pretty good estimate of what the pollen season will be like.”
Typically, he said, the tree season lasts from spring break through mid-May. After a short lull, Minor said, the grass season emerges about Memorial Day and lasts until about the Fourth of July.
Students could see a severe grass season if the weather continues its sporadic behavior, Minor said.
While the rain has kept the pollen from spreading thus far, it has also aided in the production of healthy grass crops. With more than 300,000 fields of grass in the Willamette Valley, a lurking dry season could spell trouble for students with hay fever, Minor said.
University junior James VanderZanden received his weekly allergy shot at the health center Friday.
“With the shots, you’re cool,” said the sociology major who got three shots Friday. “You don’t just (wake) up completely miserable.”
The shot treatment, called immunotherapy, works by exposing patients to a small dose of allergens. Patients then become desensitized, with allergic reactions becoming less severe or ending completely.
VanderZanden said he’s had allergies for “years and years,” dating back to his days growing up on a farm in Forest Grove. For the past two years, he’s been getting shots, replacing the over-the-counter medicine he used to take.
He said the over-the-counter medicines are “good at times, but it’s better to build up your body’s immune system. Because if not, you’re just going to be dependent on pills.”
With so many methods to combat seasonal allergies, Minor said that shots are the best solution.
“The only way to really cure it is to go get it desensitized,” Minor said.
Students with allergies can try various antihistamines, such as Clarinex, Allegra and Zyrtec. Minor and Harbert said that over-the-counter drugs work just about as well as physician-prescribed medicine. The major drawback to using nonprescription drugs is drowsiness, while Minor said the biggest side effect of antihistamines “is on your pocketbook.”
Minor also suggested that allergy-prone students try nasal steroids, which, he said, studies have shown to be more effective than antihistamines. And for itchy eyes, Minor suggested over-the-counter eye drops, such as Vasocon-A and Naphcon-A.