When it comes to allergy season, you may be curious whether the presence of rain will affect your allergies positively or negatively. The answer is, it really does both. We review what this means below.
The Good News
Tree pollen counts are higher when it’s dry out. This is because trees release more pollen when there’s less moisture in the air to weigh the pollen down, causing it to travel more easily. Light rain and humidity can wash pollen from the air. So if you have tree pollen allergies, rain is good news!
The Bad News
If you’re allergic to grass pollen, weed pollen, dust or mold, rain is not so helpful when it comes to your allergies. When it rains, the drops hit the ground and break pollen clumps up into smaller particles, causing them to disperse. This is more likely going to happen during sudden, heavy downpours. In addition, humidity causes dust mite and mold counts to jump way up.
There’s research to back up the claim that heavy rain makes allergies worse. According to one study, “Recent reports have shown that typhoon and heavy rain increase allergic disease locally by the concentration of airborne allergens of pollen, ozone, and fungus, which are causes of allergic disease.”
The study’s authors go on to say, “This study suggests that typhoon and heavy rain increase allergic disease apart from asthma.”
How to Prevent Allergies During Rainfall
Take the following preventative measures during a rainfall:
- Stay indoors. When it’s raining heavily, grass and weed pollen is immediately released into the air, so stay inside to keep away from it.
- Keep your windows closed. This will help keep pollen out of your home and humidity low.
- Run the air conditioning. If your home has air conditioning, running it can help filter out allergens.
- Take allergy medications. If you do start experiencing allergy symptoms, take an antihistamine from Herold’s Pharmacy West Ashley to get them under control.
- Talk about immunotherapy. This long-term approach to allergy treatment will eventually make you symptom-free!
For more information or to schedule an appointment with an allergy expert, call Charleston ENT & Allergy today.