DENVER — More people than ever are struggling with seasonal allergies this year because of the amount of pollen in the air in Denver.
“We had a lot of moisture. That moisture feeds plant growth in the spring,” said Dr. Mark Montano, medical director for CareNow Urgent Care Clinics. “Those spring plants, grasses, trees really start to bloom, and they're a little more vigorous in their growth. So that usually means more pollen.”
Montano doesn’t expect this year to be an outlier moving forward due to the changing climate.
“With our warmer winters and wetter winters that we've seen, and summers being a little longer,” said Montano. “I think that we're going to be in a pattern where the allergy season is just going to last a lot longer.”
The most common allergy symptoms are runny nose, itchy throat, cough, watery eyes, and itchy eyes. Those symptoms can often be confused with more serious ailments.
“If you're running fevers, probably not allergies. It's more likely an upper respiratory tract infection,” said Montano. “If the mucus is a little more dark, then it tends to be more likely associated with a common cold or an upper respiratory tract infection.”
Over-the-counter medications are usually the best course of action for dealing with allergies. You should also avoid sleeping with the windows open and take a shower if you’ve been outside all day. If your symptoms are severe, do not be afraid to go to a doctor.
“When the symptoms aren't easily controlled with your remedies at home, one thing we think of is could this be an infection and not allergy,” said Montano. “So, we would definitely want to test for that. But we may have some recommendations that give you a little more benefit rather than just relying on the over-the-counter medicines.”
