Allergists told where to run from pollen: the situation is aggravated by early warming

It’s getting warmer, nature and people are coming to life, enjoying the sun after a long winter, but you don’t like the white light – and the warmer and sunnier it is, the worse it is for you, although you, too, like all normal people, dreamed of warmth and spring. Those suffering from allergies to flowering have only one plus: with all the symptoms of a cold or flu (running from the eyes and nose, sore throat, headache, weakness, etc.), they always know for sure that it is he who has come – hay fever. And in the next month you will have to live with it, because running away from allergens to the ends of the earth, as some did before, is now beyond the means and strength of many due to prices and sanctions. We found out whether it is possible to replace the too expensive routes of escape from life-poisoning pollen with something.

According to VTsIOM, 26% of Russians suffer from hay fever – an allergy to plant dust. This suffering usually begins in early childhood, so “experienced” allergy sufferers usually know what exactly their body reacts to, when to expect the torment to begin and approximately how long to endure it. But this knowledge does not make it much easier, because weather conditions make their own adjustments every year, and more often in the direction of prolonging the painful period. Of course, there are antihistamines, and those suffering from hay fever have long chosen the most suitable ones for themselves. Allergy sufferers carry out wet cleaning, as doctors recommend, and do not walk in parks and forests during the flowering period. But, by and large, there is still no way to hide or hide from the pollen of the plants among which you live – every allergy sufferer knows this too.

“I have been suffering from alder and birch pollen all my life,” shares 53-year-old Olga from Moscow. – The always wonderful month of May is poisoned for me by a vile feeling. I remember these painful exams at school, then sessions at the university, then the children’s exams – everyone was in good shape, but my eyes and nose were running, and I wanted only one thing – to crawl with my head under the blanket. The children, thank God, were spared this nasty thing, but now my little grandson is suffering in the same way. And the most annoying thing is that I know for sure: it’s enough to drive just 200 km to the south, and everything goes away as if it never happened. But it’s not so easy to do this, and especially now.

And this spring, according to domestic immunologists, the situation is aggravated by early warming: all trees begin to pollinate almost simultaneously, which turns into a “pollen storm”, especially painful for allergy sufferers.

“Usually at the end of April and beginning of May in our middle zone those who react to dust from birch, alder, chestnut, bird cherry and willow suffer – this is the so-called “hay fever of the first wave,” explains allergist Galina Chernysheva. – The second wave will come in June-July, when cereals bloom. The third is pollen from weeds and agricultural crops towards the end of summer and early autumn. But the problem is that climate change has already shifted all these limits. Sometimes birch trees “gather dust” almost until the end of summer, while others start ahead of schedule. The only thing that remains unshakable is the statement that the most pollen is in the first half of the day, from about 6 to 10 am. The wind, even the warmest and most pleasant, only aggravates the condition of allergy sufferers, but rains can bring short-term relief. Antihistamines (allergy medications – author) are now available in modern forms, without drowsy side effects, but still remember that you are on a drug whose function is to suppress certain reactions of the body. Therefore, you should make allowances for this when driving or at a responsible job that requires attention.

Today, immunologists agree: all the good advice to allergy sufferers can only brighten up their condition somewhat, but even the most powerful antiallergic medications cannot get rid of it 100%. The only 100% way to avoid hay fever is to escape from the allergen in principle, in the most literal physical sense of the word. Then, according to doctors, the depressing condition will disappear on its own literally within an hour, which sometimes looks like a miracle.

– Previously, we recommended that allergy sufferers of the first wave (April-May – birch, alder, willow) fly to the southern hemisphere, where it is not spring, but autumn – for example, to Australia, South Africa or Brazil. If you look closer, then to Scandinavia, there is not much birch there. All the desert places are also good – UAE, Israel, Jordan, Egypt. However, in the light of geopolitical events and increased prices, perhaps only the last two countries remain, and even then not everyone can afford to flee there from their native birches. Budget destinations include hiding from the pollen in the mountains of Armenia or the steppes of Mongolia. By the way, mountains and steppes, wherever they are, are a good option for first-wave allergy sufferers.

But a holy place is never empty: domestic allergists thought and “imported” places where you can hide from the bloom of the middle zone. This works in two versions: to the south, where everything has already bloomed – this is Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan. It’s not as expensive as in Sochi, where there’s competition from allergy sufferers for May, and everything has bloomed even earlier than in the main resort of the country. Another option is to run to a place where summer comes later. This is Baikal: in May it is already warm there, but the bloom of the main allergens has not yet begun. The same is with Altai, Sakhalin and Yakutia: it is no longer cold there, the tourist season begins at the end of April, but flowering will not begin until June.

Doctors advise allergy sufferers to do a test to determine what exactly is causing your allergic reaction and check the flowering calendar in the middle zone. And if the “mating games” of these plants make life unbearable, it is better to run away from them. From the end of March to May (depending on the weather), birch, willow, alder, early cherry, apricot, and cherry plum pollinate each other. In May there is also birch, as well as poplar, linden, ash, oak, rowan, bird cherry, and acacia. In June-July, limestone, rump, wormwood, nettle, wheatgrass, chamomile, cornflower, rye, oats, wheat, corn, sunflower. And in August-September, the main allergen for residents of the middle zone is ragweed.