Spring Allergy Symptoms: Sore Throat & Coughing?

Climate change seems to have brought on the spring allergy season about two weeks earlier than expected.
The 2010 Spring Florida allergy season is turning out to be one of the worst in years. Experts believe that this year is especially bad in the Southeast, owing to an uncharacteristically cold winter. Allergies normally are associated with a sore throat and coughing.

On a gorgeous spring day, most people feel happy and excited to get outside and enjoy beautiful weather. I feel awful right now, my throat is sore and I can't stop coughing.

Even though the tree pollen season has started a couple of weeks ago, pollen counts have reached a point where nearly everyone with a tree pollen allergy is probably feeling it.

What can I do to feel better, heal my sore throat and stop the coughing?

If you have allergies try to avoid going outside in the morning, keep your windows closed, and talk to your pharmacist about over-the-counter remedies. Coughing and a sore throat can get a bit annoying.

Common allergy symptoms, ranging from mild to severe, include nasal congestion and increased drainage, which can produce complications such as sinus headaches, sinus infection, sore throat and fatigue. Other symptoms can include loss of sleep due to nasal congestion.

The sneezing, sniffling, coughing and itching of allergy season are normally awful. But this year, allergy symptoms are stronger, as statistics show that across the country pollen levels are reaching record highs.

Tips to treat allergy symptoms

1. Make sure to check your local weather forecast. Go to sites such as pollen.com to see how bad it will be in your area on a given day.

2. Try to plan any outdoor activities around days when pollen counts are low, and try to avoid going out on days when it is extremely high.

3. Make sure to change your A/C filter regularly. Pollen can accumulate quickly on these filters and it is important to keep the air in your home clean.

The three main strategies for dealing with seasonal allergies include avoidance, prescription drugs, and OTC medicines.

Your immune system functions to protect you, but in some cases it works too good and you end up with allergies.

When an allergen comes in contact with the body, it causes the immune system to develop an allergic reaction in persons who are allergic to it. When you inappropriately react to allergens that are normally harmless to other people, you are having an allergic reaction and can be referred to as allergic or atopic. Therefore, people who are prone to allergies are said to be allergic or "atopic."

Those symptoms include watery, itchy eyes, runny or stuffy nose and sneezing. If someone has allergic asthma, they could be experiencing coughing, wheezing or other asthma symptoms, Fasano said. Though everyone who has tree pollen allergies will experience similar symptoms, individuals with those allergies can vary in their level of susceptibility.

A factor this season for the increase of allergies in people has been the apparent increase in carbon dioxide whose independent research over the past 15 years has shown a significant increase in local CO2 levels, from 320 to 385.

Such an increase can be attributed (or not, depending on your beliefs), to global warming.