CLEVELAND — Are you sniffling, sneezing and rubbing your itchy, red eyes? You're not alone.
Allergy sufferers are really suffering right now. Dr. Sandra Hong, an allergist and immunologist with the Cleveland Clinic, says the tree pollen count is very high Thursday, and unfortunately, it's expected to get worse over the next couple of days.
Good morning #CLE! Here are today's #pollen counts.
— Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (@AcademyMedCLE) May 20, 2021
Tree - 284 - High
Grass - 4 - Low
Weed - 0 - Absent
Ragweed - 0 -Absent
Mold - 3887 - Low
If you're hurting right now, close the windows and use the A/C if you can.
“If you have a window air conditioning unit, I typically ask families and patients to make sure that they hit that recirculate button so that it's not just bringing in and all that tree pollen from outside and making you miserable in your sleep,” Hong said. Use the same recirculate option in your car too.
Make sure to grab a shower after spending time outside to rinse off any pollen that may be on your body, change those pollen-covered clothes often, and keep them out of your bedroom.
News 5 Chief Meteorologist Mark Johnson says you can blame the weather for the allergy-inducing tree pollen. The cold our area experienced in the first half of May suppressed tree growth, holding back the trees that would normally release their pollen in early May. Now with the summer heat, those trees are releasing their pollen along with trees that normally release theirs around this time, leading to a super-bloom of pollen, and a super-aggravation for anyone with tree pollen allergies.
