Allergy season in full swing across Central PA; advice from an expert

If you haven’t noticed it yet, you’re considered one of the lucky ones.
Allergy season is in full swing and people across Central Pennsylvania are suffering from stuffy noses, runny red eyes, and many other symptoms.
And for some people those nagging allergy symptoms could last all the way through October!
Springtime brings beautiful budding flowers, warmer weather, and… symptoms like these:
“I typically wake up in the morning and have a kind of scratchy throat, my sinuses are filled up, and a lot of times my eyes are swollen and red,” says allergy sufferer, Winnie Wright.

For some people, Spring, means not just weeks but months of suffering.

“Trees will bloom now, and then grasses will bloom, and then weeds will bloom,” says Allergy and Asthma Specialist, Dr. Robert Zuckerman.

Allergy and Asthma Specialist, Dr. Robert Zuckerman says allergy season lasts from March until October.

He says a shower is a distinct way to tell if you have a cold, or if it’s allergies.

“When you get into a shower in the morning and you feel absolutely fine then it’s probably allergies because if you have a cold then you are systematically ill and you feel ill all the time,” says Dr. Zuckerman.

Dr. Zuckerman also advises to stay away from over the counter nasal medications, because he says they could do more harm than good.

“Medicines like ‘4way’, Afrin, Neo-Synephrine, are very, very addicting. They work really well for 3 to 5 days and then they stop working well and after two weeks you have to use it every two hours in order to maintain any kind of nasal potency,” says Dr. Zuckerman.

Besides medication, some simple lifestyle changes like avoiding cigarettes and getting enough exercise could make a worlds difference.

“Keep their windows closed, turn on their AC, if they’re going for walks, wash their hair because their hair contains a lot of the pollen and you don’t want to get into bed with that pollen because that’s what you’re allergic to and that will make you sick all night long,” says Dr. Zuckerman.

While the typical allergy symptoms like red eyes and stuffy noses can be very universal, Dr. Zuckerman advises to always get a doctor’s advice before you diagnose yourself.