The yellow haze returns: Metro Atlanta residents cope with allergy season
By mid-March, it’s everywhere. Dusting windshields, coating sidewalks and veiling Atlanta’s spring sunshine in a golden haze.
Pollen season is more than a nuisance for clean-car fanatics. For thousands of Atlantans with seasonal allergies, it’s a weekslong siege marked by sinus pressure, itchy eyes and scratchy throats. Last March set a record for metro Atlanta with a pollen count of 14,801.
About 30% of people react to environmental allergens, mainly pollen, said Dr. Timothy Ryan, a specialty lead physician with Wellstar Medical’s ear, nose and throat group, and chair of surgery at Wellstar Douglas Hospital. That reaction is rooted in genetics.
“It is something that lives within us,” Ryan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We know it’s inherent — something in your genetics causes you to respond to the environment.”
The culprits shift with the seasons, he said: trees in the spring, grass in the summer and weeds in the fall.
“That’s why you feel like once it starts, it never ends,” Ryan said.
When symptoms start
Doctors say the annual surge of allergy symptoms is just beginning as trees start releasing pollen and warmer temperatures arrive earlier.
“We are going to start seeing patients very soon,” Ryan said.
After last year’s high pollen counts, some Atlanta-area ear, nose and throat specialists and allergists have been “battening down the hatches,” expecting a larger patient load this year, he said.
The region’s allergy challenges were underscored this week in the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s annual Allergy Capitals report. The ranking compares metro areas based on pollen levels, medication use and access to specialists.
Metro Atlanta ranked 34th and received an overall “worse than average” rating because of higher-than-average grass and weed pollen levels last year, said Hannah Jaffee, the foundation’s research director.
“Atlanta had many days in the ‘high’ and ‘very high’ zones for grass and weed pollen,” she explained.
Why pollen seasons are worsening
Researchers say pollen seasons in metro Atlanta and other cities are becoming longer and more intense, a trend partly linked to climate change.
Climate change is responsible for about half the increase in pollen season length and roughly 8% of the rise in pollen concentrations, Jaffee said.
During pollen season, doctors most commonly see patients with sneezing, watery eyes, nasal drainage, rashes and itching, Ryan said. In some cases, symptoms escalate to breathing problems.
“Georgia is a hotbed for allergies,” he explained. “As allergies worsen, symptoms can progress from the tip of your nose to the bottom of your lungs.”
Over time, unmanaged allergies can lead to more serious problems such as sinus infections, asthma and nasal polyps that require treatment from a specialist, he shared.
Jaffee said poorly controlled allergies can disrupt daily life, contributing to sleep problems, fatigue, mood changes, and reduced physical and professional functioning. They can also take a financial toll. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates pollen-related medical expenses exceed $3 billion annually, with nearly half spent on prescription medications.
How to prepare
According to Jaffee, one of the most effective ways to prepare for allergy season is to start medications about two weeks before symptoms typically begin, giving treatments time to block histamine and other chemicals that trigger reactions.
Here are additional recommendations:
- Check daily pollen counts and limit outdoor activities when levels are high
- Shower before bedtime
- Change clothes after spending time outside
- Replace home air filters regularly
- Keep windows closed on high pollen or poor air quality days
- Remove shoes before entering the house
- Wash hands after being outdoors
- Use an over-the-counter saline spray to rinse pollen from nasal passages
- See a doctor if symptoms last six to eight weeks or if shortness of breath develops
