Photo Credit: Tambako the Jaguar

Spring allergies have long been called ‘hay fever’. I rather like that, hay fever sounds so much more miserable than the friendly sounding allergies. Allergies to me never really describe how horrible I feel when I’m in full allergy mode. Sneezing my head off, alternating between a runny nose and a nose so stuffed up I feel like I can’t breathe, itchy throat and mouth, and of course the itchy watery swollen eyes all add up to make me one miserable girl.

In one respect, I’m lucky. I’m not allergic to everything in the spring. Mostly, grasses are my undoing as I’m not allergic to a single tree that I know of. What are the most common spring allergens? I’m so glad you asked!

Spring Allergens

Grass Pollen

• Bermuda grass
• Orchard grass
• Red top grass
• Timothy grass

Tree Pollen

• Birch
• Cypress
• Maple
• Oak
• Walnut

I don’t really like being outside in the spring because of how bad my reaction to grasses can be and you can bet I don’t ever mow the lawn. I can’t even be inside the house when the grass is being cut because some of the sneezy stuff makes its way in and I still end up a mess. When we had a lawn I use to schedule the nice man with the mower to come while I was at work  as early in the morning as possible. Then I would stay out as late as possible to give everything time to settle down. When we moved into our new house my husband and I discussed landscaping. Everyone has a yard, right? Nope! Not us. I had a few native bushes planted and then mulched the area around it, everything else is trees. It is so nice not having to worry about stirring up the grass demons anymore.

What extreme steps have you taken to reduce your exposure to spring allergens?