The bad news: It's summertime.

"For summer, it will be grass pollen along with high ozone levels combining for a one-two punch," said Dr. David Khan, associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "In July, cedar elm will appear."

While heat doesn't influence the amount of pollen in the air, it does aid in the formation of ground-level ozone, which, in turn, can exacerbate allergy symptoms.

To cope, Dr. Khan, who also directs the asthma clinic at Parkland Memorial Hospital, offers these tips:

• Limit outdoor exposure during peak times from mid-morning to midday.
• Air-conditioning filters out some allergens. Keeping windows closed lessens the amount of allergens that travel into the home.
• If you're out for long periods during the day, take a shower before bedtime to wash off some of the allergens and prevent them from being transferred to pillows. "Your hair can be like a pollen magnet," warns Dr. Khan.
• Wear a mask while mowing the lawn or doing yard work.
• Take allergy medications before you go outside, so they have time to work into your system.

Choosing the right medications to help control symptoms is important, Dr. Khan said. Antihistamines are the most common medications used for allergies. They can help relieve itching, sneezing and runny noses, but don't generally help with stuffiness. Oral decongestants like pseudoephedrine generally work for stuffy noses.

Topical decongestants nose sprays aren't a good long-term solution because you can become addicted to them, causing nasal passages to swell even more and possibly resulting in other nasal problems as well.

If symptoms aren't subdued or allergies are interfering with your lifestyle or work, it's probably a good time to find an allerg
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Contact: Russell Rian
Russell.Rian@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
13-Jun-2006