My friend in Australia goes camping at Christmas and sits by the fireplace in June. She’s preparing for fall now. But for much of the globe Spring has arrived, complete with lovely blooms, furious storms, and allergies.

The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology offers a number of tips to make life easier for those with pollen and mold allergies. Here are some ideas:

• Avoid outdoor activities in the morning if possible. Pollen counts are higher in the mornings.
• Keep doors and windows of your home and vehicle closed to keep pollen and mold spores outside.
• After outside activity, take a shower, wash your hair, and launder the clothing you wore outside to remove pollen.
• Plan camping trips, walks in the park, etc., during the “off-season” for the pollens you are allergic to. (As a general rule, trees pollinate in spring, and weeds in fall. Grasses pollinate in summer with overlap into late spring and early fall.)
• Enjoy a trip to the beach, desert, or other area with minimal vegetation during seasons of heavy pollen.
• Raking leaves and mowing lawns stirs up pollens and molds. Assign this job to someone else if possible. If you must do the job yourself, wear a mask. One of our sponsors offers a mask designed especially for yardwork or housework. See a complete selection of masks here.
• Don’t hang clothes or bedding outdoors to dry. Pollens and molds can collect on them.
• Ask your physician what medications or treatments are best for you.

For more information, see:
Tips to Remember: Outdoor Allergens, from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

I have asked a lot of doctors and nurses where the best place in the world would be to live if one had allergies. They say no place is better than another.

I do not believe them.

There has got to be some places that are better than other.

Maybe islands?

Could you help me without agreeing with them? — LPJ, Texas

I am from Cleveland, OH where I had hay fever and the occasional sinus infection. In 1998 I moved to the metro Atlanta area. My allergies proved to worsen and I developed asthma. I cannot play outside with my kids and suffer frequent sinusitis that often becomes bronchitis. This weekend my ear drum even ruptured. This is after all kinds of meds and 5 years of allergy shots. I want to move back to Cleveland, Oh to at least be able to play outside with my kids. — BAM, Ohio

According to an Associated Press report on ksl.com - Utah’s Online Source for Local News & Information, “this spring may be a bad one for allergy sufferers.” The March 6, 2006, report says that high Elm pollen counts are already being experienced in Utah, and that high Cedar pollen counts are expected.

We are experiencing high Elm pollen counts here in Arkansas as well. But we’re just sliding past our peak Cedar pollen season, which usually begins in December or January and lasts until February or early March in western Arkansas.

According to the ksl.com report, cedar season won’t begin in the Salt Lake City area for a couple more weeks, and will last till the end of April.

The report also discusses grasses and weeds in the Salt Lake City area and what to expect as far as pollen counts and seasons. Read the entire report by clicking here.

If you are like I am, a chronic suffer of sinusitus, then Albany, New York, is one of last places on earth you should consider as a place to live. Don’t get me wrong, I love everything else about this place, after living here for 20 years. However, I have been literally devestated, overwhelmed and unanchored, by the effect allergies have had and continue to have on my life. I have had major and minor sinus surgery, am now resistant to a list of antibiotics.

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From California to New England, and from Iowa to Texas, allergy season is upon us. Reports are coming in from all but the northern-most states of spring allergies in the air.

MetroWestDailyNews.com reported today that in spite of the “unseasonably cold temperatures for the past 10 days,” record warm January temps in Massachusetts mean allergy season is soon to arrive. The article, which reported January temps of 7 to 9 degrees above average in Boston and Worcester, says, “Low-level tree pollen has already spread across most of the state.”

Of interest to those of us in the south-central area where ragweed season starts in the fall, the article cited above also reports that a warm January “is allowing the ragweed to come out earlier.”

I grew up in Seattle, WA until my late 20’s and then moved to Phoenix, AZ. I was fine for about 5 years here then, developed allergies which seem to only get worse year after year. I have tried everything with little relief. My husband and I are trying to figure out where we can move to provide a better quality of life for me. — Paige, Arizona

CentreDaily.com reports reaction from the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area. Scranton, PA, was recently listed #1 on the Asthma and Allergy Foundation’s “most challenging places to live with asthma” list. (See our February 18 report of the AAFA list.)

According to the CentreDaily article, a Scranton allergy and asthma specialist said, “I wouldn’t move from this area just because you have asthma, but definitely we should be looking for some solutions.”

See the entire article here.