Pollen Season Facts and Tips

Many of us love spring! Longer days and warmer temperatures, but spring also means increasing pollen counts and for some, a rough few months.

I spoke with Dr. Bailee Gilchrist who is an allergist-immunologist at Carolina Asthma and Allergy Center and she says the start of this allergy season has been pretty comparable to the past. “Typically we start to see the tree pollen increase late winter through spring with the time frame usually being February to May.”

While it depends on where you are geographically, here in the south, pollen allergy season usually lasts anywhere from February to November. So there is something pollinating most of the year.

There are different plants that pollinate during different seasons:
– Late winter to spring you have the tree pollen with a few examples being birch, elm, hickory, and maple.
– Spring to early summer you have the grass pollens – Timothy, Bermuda, and Johnson just to name a few.
– Late summer into fall is when you start to see the weed pollen. Ragweed is a very common environmental allergen.

Dr. Gilchrist has some tips on how to limit pollen exposure – for someone that is sensitive or allergic to pollen:

• During the height of the pollen season – try to keep your windows and doors closed as much as possible. Especially during the day.
• As for pets – they are playing outside in the grass and their fur gets covered in pollen.

“It is not very feasible to wash the dog every single time it goes out and comes back in, but try to get in a habit of gently wiping the dog off every time they come inside. It may help reduce some of the pollen coming in the house.”

Our WCCB weather team has updated pollen levels every newscast and on the WCCB Weather App Powered by Coit or you can head to Carolinaasthma.com for more information.