Forecasted rain over the next several days should provide some relief to area allergy sufferers — respite from a rough couple of weeks caused by airborne pollen.
Pollen levels in the
Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas, like most of the country’s Northeast region, have been extremely high for the past month, according to an interactive tracking system and map monitored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
On a scale of 0 to 12, the Scranton area registered a pollen level of 9.9 Thursday, just before recent rainfall knocked much of the pollen out of the air. The Scranton area came close to hitting the maximum recordable level April 16 when it reached 11.6.
“When you have these beautiful warm days, and windy, the pollen count gets high,” said Joel Laury, M.D., a Scranton-based doctor board certified in allergy, asthma and immunology. “When all that stuff is touching
people’s eyes and nose, they’re miserable.”
May is among the busiest on Laury’s calendar, with patients reporting allergy-induced itchy and watery eyes, stuffy and runny noses, sore throats, sneezing and more.
“It’s like having a bad cold, but it happens every year at the same time,” Laury said.
Generally, tree pollen season runs from March through May, and grass pollen season from May through June. That makes May a particularly bad month pollen-wise, according to Laury.
For those who suffer with allergy symptoms, the affect of the tiny pollen particles can be serious. Studies suggest children with allergies don’t perform as well in school, Laury said, noting that allergy symptoms can cause trouble sleeping. Raymond Khoudary, MD, an allergist with offices in Plains Twp. and Hazleton, also noted that untreated allergies can lead to ailments like sinus and ear infections and bronchitis.
“Avoidance is the critical part of managing environmental allergies,” Khoudary said.
Laury suggested allergy sufferers keep their windows closed and get a professional’s opinion about possible treatments.
“(They should) hope for some rain and they should speak to their doctors,” Laury said. “There are medicines out there that help.”
Khoudary suggested wearing protective glasses that hug your eyes and washing hands frequently after being outside to cut down on pollen exposure.
While Laury said it’s difficult to objectively say one year is worse than another in terms of pollen presence, he doesn’t believe it matters much to those feeling the effects.
“For people suffering this is the worst year ever, because they are miserable now and they don’t care about last year,” Laury said. “Most people get a break usually by July.”
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