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10/14/13 blog post

ah-choo - fall allergies have arrived!

By: Shalini Forbis, MD

A recent report was released about the worst cities for fall allergies this year. Yup! Dayton made the top 10 (although we have moved down from sixth to eighth). If you are an allergy sufferer, or have a child who has seasonal allergies, you probably knew this already. The top offenders for this time of year in Dayton, according to the report are: ragweed, amaranth, goosefoot, marsh elder and sage.

This year is predicted to be especially bad for fall allergy sufferers for a number of reasons. With the temperatures being higher than expected for this time of year, the season will be longer than usual. There are also expected to be more high winds, which spread pollen around. Outdoor molds may also be bad due to the weather.

What can you do about it? Don’t suffer in silence!

  1. There are many medication options these days. If your child is not on any allergy medications, please talk to your child’s doctor. If your child is on medications, taking them regularly and is still having a lot of allergy symptoms – talk to the doctor! Different medications work better for different people. It may be time to try something different or add something to help when symptoms get bad. Medications come in many forms including pills, liquids, nose sprays and eye drops.
  2. Consider keeping the windows closed and running the air conditioner, if you can. This way, at least the fall pollen is kept to a lower level inside.
  3. Have your child take a shower and change clothes after spending time outside.
  4. If you are not sure what is causing your child’s allergy symptoms, consider having him/her tested. Then you can track pollen counts and know what pollens are in the air to help you anticipate your child’s symptoms.

Also, if you are not sure if your child has fall allergies and this is the first year you remember the sniffling during the fall, it may be a cold. Have your child evaluated by his/her doctor and diagnosed before you start giving them allergy medication.

Your fall allergies will improve when the temperatures drop and we get our first frost!

Here’s a link to the report: http://allergycapitals.com/downloads/AAFA_Fall_Allergy_Capitals.pdf

Dr. Forbis a pediatrician in the Children’s Health Clinic at Dayton Children’s and a mother to two girls. As part of the “Dr. Mom Sqaud,” Dr. Forbis blogs about her experiences as both as doctor and a mom and hopes to share insight to other parents on issues related to both parenting and kids health. Learn more about Dr. Forbis.