Unseasonably warm temperatures prompted an early pollen count in the Chicago area.
"We did a count last week just kind of out of curiosity because the weather's been so nice. And patients have been complaining about allergies,” said Dr. Rachna Shah, an allergist who gathers the mold spore and pollen samples through a special machine on the roof of Loyola Medicine’s Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.
The samples taken on Feb. 21 found abnormally high pollen numbers, with moderate pollen levels from trees and low levels of mold.
“That's very unusual for this time of year. Even when we start counting in April, usually tree pollen starts off at very low level,” Shah said.
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If trees or mold are your allergens, you're probably feeling it right now, and unfortunately, a prolonged allergy season may be here to stay.
“The data looking at pollen trends over time has been showing that that the seasons are shifting and becoming longer,” Shah said.
If you don’t have allergies but still feel nasal congestion or stuffiness, you could be suffering from another condition, brought on by the vast temperature swings.
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“The first thing I think is it’s ups and downs that are bothering people, you know, the highs, the lows, highs and lows on any given day, and that is something we call vasomotor rhinitis. And the way we fix it is we often have people use nasal antihistamines for that," said Dr. Baiju Malde, an allergist with Northwestern Medicine.
Dr. Malde said her office is already busy.
“I have a ton of people over and over again lately saying that their main complaint has been a sore throat. And, like, is it post nasal drip? Is it acid reflux or just a cold? And COVID is not gone, is what I keep trying to explain to them. I'm like, if you have a sore throat, please check yourself for COVID,” Malde said.
Dr. Shah said one way to eliminate confusion is to undergo allergy testing and determine what you are allergic to and then pay attention to pollen counts.
“It is possible you may have a cold if you're not tree allergic, or it's just changes in temperature or pressure changes that are causing it. Then those kind of avoidance measures, like keeping windows closed, may not apply to you,” Shah said.
Other tips for seasonal allergy sufferers include showering at night to remove pollen from your hair and body and also wiping off your pet after they spend time outside.
