Tree Pollen Allergy Symptoms

Allergies can be really bothersome sometimes. Imagine having a pleasant day while you are on a drive, listening to some good country music. All of a sudden, you feel a slight itchiness in your throat. It starts to get even more intense as you try to ignore it, and you eventually start sneezing badly. Slowly, you realize your beautiful day just turned into a nightmare.

So what went wrong?

Well, you may have been dealing with allergy symptoms, and it’s sometimes very hard to detect why. Several elements around us have the potential to make us hypersensitive. But among these elements, the most common are animal dander, mold, dust mites and some airborne allergens such as pollen. 

In addition to that, certain foods also cause allergies. For instance, peanuts, milk, nuts, and even rice flour. While we have a lot of different types of allergies to discuss, let’s go back to where we started and remember that you were on a drive when you started experiencing some unusual symptoms. There’s a high chance that you inhaled pollen, which began to create problems for you. 

What Causes Tree Pollen Allergies?

The mechanism is very simple to understand!

Basically, when an allergen enters the body, the immune system considers it a harmful intruder.. It generates antibodies to fight off that foreign particle as a response mechanism. Your body starts to experience allergic symptoms in between. Even though scientists are unaware of why the immune system reacts to harmless allergens this way, research suggests it’s primarily because of genetic interference. That’s also a reason why not everyone reacts to allergens the same way. 

Tree pollen allergy, also known as “Hay Fever”, is a seasonal allergy that is more common in spring. During this period, plants release small pollen grains to fertilize the growth of other plants belonging to the same species. These pollen grains float in the air and are carried by the wind, making it easy for them to land in your eyes, nose, and, eventually, into your lungs.

Tree Pollen Allergy Symptoms

Tree pollen allergy symptoms are often divided into three categories:

• Respiratory Symptoms
• Skin Symptoms
• Systematic Symptoms

Let’s discover each symptom step-by-step.

Respiratory Symptoms:

Allergies can negatively impact your lungs if the allergen is inhaled. In the case of pollen allergies, 90% of the time, pollen is inhaled and develops complications. Symptoms often begin with an itchiness in the throat that lasts for a day or two and eventually worsens. Afterward, the person starts to experience rapid sneezing that leads to a runny nose. 

When pollen comes in contact with the eyes, it not only stimulates the tear glands but also develops an itching sensation in the eyes. Unfortunately, the more you rub your eyes, the worse it gets. 

Finally, at the peak of the allergy, a person begins suffering from coughs and wheezing. Coughs are often very intense and rapid as well, but if they are prolonged, you may taste blood in your mouth due to infection. 

Skin Symptoms

In some rare cases, pollen allergies can also display certain symptoms on the skin. This usually happens because of two reasons:

1. Either your skin itself is highly sensitive and does not appreciate direct contact with pollen.
2. You inhale pollen, but the allergy becomes so severe that symptoms also start to appear on your skin.

Skin symptoms include redness, itching, the appearance of raised bumps or welts and swelling. You may also witness bluish skin beneath the eyes. It’s also important to note that skin symptoms can occur in isolation or along with respiratory and systemic symptoms. As discussed above, physicians don’t really know why the human body responds differently, but it may be due to genetic interference. 

Systemic Symptoms

Systemic symptoms are pretty common and occur alongside respiratory or skin symptoms. These include fever, fatigue, headache, and generalized discomfort. 

A person may feel lethargic while suffering from an allergy because the immune system consumes all of the body’s energy to kill the allergen and develop a significant amount of antibodies against it. While the body’s metabolism and other functions slow down, the immune system focuses entirely on removing the allergen, causing you to feel feverish and weak. 

How to Prevent Pollen Allergy?

If you start to feel tree pollen allergy symptoms, it is best to get it diagnosed first before starting medications. However, natural remedies and some preventive measures can effectively do the trick and help you recover from this discomfort relatively quickly. Some of them include:

• Inhaling steam
• Using a mask when going outside
• Wash your hands more frequently
• Brush your clothes to remove pollen
• Use an air purifier at home
• Try not to hang laundry outside
• Avoid mowing your lawn for a few days
• Keep your windows closed mostly
• Restrict your pets to indoors only since pets can be pollen carriers as well

Conclusion

Allergens, in general, are pretty harmless themselves, but how our body treats the allergens often creates problems for us. Sometimes, allergies can be prolonged, depending on how we tend to treat them. Just by following a few preventive measures and diagnosing your issue at the earliest, you can assist your immune system in speeding up the process.