Allergy – Allergy Health Issues News & Articles by HealthTree

Photo Credit: aussiegall

Ah summer. Spring pollen is a distant memory and fall is months away with its myriad allergens. But wait, what is this? Summer is a mixture of the two you say? How can this be? It’s the worst of both worlds? That is so depressing, it’s almost like the only time a girl can breathe easy is in the dead of winter. Oh, right. That’s why I love the winter. Before I start romanticizing winter, let’s get back to summer.

Summer Allergens

• Grass pollen
• Mold spores
• Weed pollen

I’m sure those look familiar. Grass pollen is also around in the spring, mold and weeds in the fall. All of these little beauties are responsible for the summer cold. Sound familiar? What you may not realize is that often the ‘summer cold’ is actually an acute allergic reaction. Granted these can sometimes turn into sinus infections, but typically they are simply allergies. This is good (I like silver linings) because they aren’t contagious. This is bad (I’m still a realist) because they make me miserable and I get it every year. With my allergy medications, however, I rarely have acute flare-ups anymore.

I never realized that my headaches, stuffy nose, scratchy throat and ear discomfort could be caused by allergies. It was really hard for me to believe that allergies could be behind all of that misery. I thought for sure I had the worst immune system in the world and, depending on how bad I was feeling, some sort of new plague.

Now I look at summer as the halfway point to happiness. Happiness, of course, being defined as the dead of winter when all living pollinated and moldy things die a horrible death and I can once again breathe easily.

Do summer allergies make you feel icky? What have you done to cheer yourself up and make it through allergy season?