April Days Something to Sneeze At : Spring Molds, Pollens Bring Tears to Eyes of Allergy Sufferers

And you thought you were looking forward to spring. Ha!

Warm days and pretty flowers might inspire romance, goodwill toward fellow man and woman, and short sleeves, but both have an unpleasant side effect: the onset of allergy season.

As April arrives and temperatures continue to climb, pollen levels are expected to spike to high levels, bringing discomfort to allergy sufferers throughout Ventura County. The proliferation of tree pollen and molds in the air has already sent some residents to the doctor.

“Right now I have two new patients sitting here,” said Thousand Oaks allergist Donald Unger. “They both have allergic shiners, which means they have bags around their eyes, and gapers, which means their mouths are hanging open.”

On the other side of the county, Ventura allergist James Villaveces has been flooded with patients for the last few weeks.

“It is a fairly heavy season,” Villaveces said. “You can tell generally by how early patients start showing up. This year, they were coming in at the beginning of March.”

Doctors point to a series of warm days in early March as the reason for early sprouting--and pollen production--by trees such as alders, birch, pine and eucalyptus. Throw in a few recent rainstorms and mold counts go off the scale.

“The mold count has really been going bonkers,” said Camarillo allergist Lewis Kanter.

The trees most likely to be the source of sneezing and wheezing right now are the area’s much beloved oak trees. The Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic, which does pollen counts once a week, lists oak as the primary culprit in its most recent measurements.

“They shed a lot of pollen,” said oak tree expert George Moore, one of several tree doctors for Thousand Oaks.

Even Moore has been known to get an oak-tree related headache in the spring. But he remains a staunch supporter nonetheless.

“I remember one guy told me he wanted to cut down some oaks because they were bothering his allergies while he was jogging,” Moore said. “Well, pollen bothers me too, but I don’t think that is reason enough to cut down any trees.”

Beyond chopping down trees, doctors have several recommendations for those who suffer from allergies. Joggers may want to wear a mask or change running routes if allergies are bothering them. Keeping windows closed, or installing an air conditioner can help.

Pollen counts are heaviest in the morning, according to Villaveces.

“Between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. is the worst,” he said. “Because overnight the pollen sacks have swollen with moisture, then the sun dries them and they pop, blowing the pollen out.”

To combat that, doctors recommend taking antihistamines at night to prepare for the morning onslaught. They also advise visiting a specialist, just in case some relief can be obtained from shots.

Wishing for rain might provide some relief, since showers knock the pollen out of the air and dilute its head-clogging effects.

“That’ll help for a least a few hours,” said Michael Most, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Unfortunately for people with allergies, Monday’s rain showers are expected to dry up by this morning and the weather outlook is sunny for the rest of the week, Most said.

The outlook for months ahead is typically grim; once the trees have finished doing their thing, the grasses and weeds will kick in, torturing those with hay fever until the fall.

But as one doctor put it, things could be far, far worse.

“The total amount of pollen we have here [at the height of the season] is about equal to what you get in one day in Chicago,” Unger said. “Or try Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the men are men and ragweed is ragweed.”

For more information on allergies, including advice and support groups, call the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America’s toll-free number, (800) 624-0044.