SAN ANTONIO – Ryan Bermea knew something was off when he got up this morning.
“I started getting itchy eyes,” Bermea said. “I woke up, and I’m like, ‘man, something’s going on. I can only breathe with one nostril.’”
He suspected his seasonal allergies were bothering him. The pollen count was over 16,000 on Monday. He hopes local honey will help him feel better.
Dr. Erika Gonzalez, with South Texas Allergy & Asthma Medical Professionals, tells her patients to begin taking their allergy medication weeks before the peak to ease symptoms before they start.
“The mountain cedar tends to really like to focus on eyes,” she said. “So you’ll see a lot more people with eye symptoms than normal compared to other pollens.”
Expect a stuffy nose, sandpaper-feeling eyes and a cough.
Gonzales advises to avoid going outside, but if you have to, avoid going outside in the morning.
“Avoid the times when the levels are going to be the highest,” she said. “And that’s when the air’s cooler because warm air rises. So, as it rises, the pollens will kind of go up with it. But in the morning, that’s not the time you want to go out and take that run. You want to try to do other times of the day.”
When you return home, she says changing your clothes and washing your face and hair can make a difference, too.