BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The first week of spring has brought with it warmer weather but also an abundance of pollen causing several people within Kern to develop severe spring allergies.
“Bakersfield, as we all know, we are more exposed to pollen than other counties or other cities because we have so many farming and agriculture here.”
Family Physician at Dignity Health Bakersfield Dr. Anila Chadha said we need to be prepared this allergy season because according to a recent study from University of Michigan we are going to have a longer spring due to climate change.
Allergist/Immunologist at Kaiser Permanente Dr. Paula Ardron said to be careful because there are a lot of similarities between covid and allergies.
“Some of the differences some people with COVID, they’ll have fever or body aches they may have a change in taste or sense of smell those are some of the signs they also can have symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea.”
Dr. Chadha said that if you are experiencing intense allergies there are some over the counter medicines that can help.
“Like Zyrtec, Allegra, Claritin. There’s children's Claritin which comes in chewable form, those are safe to take, but you should always ask your primary care or family physician.”
However, she said to be careful with medicines that contain sudafedrin.
“If someone has been taking a medication with sudafedrin for many years they are more prone to get arrhythmias of the heart they are more prone to get increased blood pressure.”
Dr. Chadha said if over the counter drugs are not working, you should make an appointment to see your doctor or an allergist because they may be able to prescribe a more specific medication or even give you an allergy shot.
“The purpose of those shots is to desensitize towards those allergens so that they are no longer allergic to those allergens. Whether its street pollen or grass pollen, so they have to take those shots for a long period of time.”
Dr. Chadha said if you’re more interested in natural remedies honey and local honey to be specific could be a way to introduce pollen from your area into your system.
While Dr. Ardron recommends a more preventative practice stating that flonase or nasacort could be a solution.
“These are medicines that you start just a week or two before your typical season and then that way it can help shrink the membranes, turn off that faucet of the runny nose, block sneezing, or itching, and then you can slide into the spring without having any symptoms at all.”
Additional you can invest in an air purifier, check the air quality daily and don’t go outside if it’s especially bad, wash your clothes after being outside, and wear a mask to prevent pollen from seeping in.
