Ask a Doctor
Q What’s causing my allergy symptoms to flare in the summer?
A: Many joys encapsulate summer — playing in the woods, swimming, relaxing with friends. Summer experiences shouldn’t include allergy flares, but many people in this region suffer needlessly with their allergies.
Most of us are familiar with pollen allergies that peak in the spring and extend throughout the summer, with grass pollen season continuing to grow in both length and intensity almost every year. Another trigger for summertime allergy symptoms includes molds, which rise throughout
the humid months, reaching their peak before the first frost. Of course, summertime also continues to involve year-round allergies such as cats, dogs and house dust mites.
The first step for improvement of your symptoms is determining which allergens, if any, are playing a major role in your discomfort. Once these are determined, specific avoidance measures can be taken. These recommendations include learning what times of day pollen is most problematic, learning tips to minimize pollen exposure and searching out sources of mold or other indoor allergens such as cats, dust mites or dogs, and limiting their effects on you.
Though we absolutely recommend avoidance at some levels, we would certainly encourage most people to continue their outdoor activities for general health and happiness. If avoidance isn’t completely successful, we would discuss medications including both overthe-counter as well as prescription allergy medications. The conversation would include their pros and cons, as well as any limitations they may have. For many people with significant allergies, being on ongoing medication has unwanted side effects, isn’t completely effective or is simply undesirable. For these people, we may consider allergy shots or immunotherapy.
If your summertime in Chattanooga is marred by the presence of allergies, the first step is to see your allergist to begin gathering a plan to find some relief soon before the summer slips away.