Allergies? Don't Blame the Fragrant Flowers

Close to Spectacular

It's Springtime in the northern hemisphere, so many of us are sneezing again. Although the daffodils are blooming in Minnesota and the cherry blossom festival is underway in Washington DC, these beautiful flowers are not the cause of your hay fever acting up again. Plants and trees with flowers don't generate much airbourne pollen.

It's the trees, grasses, and weeds without flowers which are tickling your nose, or congesting your sinuses. They are spreading billions of very small pollen granules into the wind. The trees and plants with flowers, on the other hand, are attracting insects as their method of cross-pollenation. Some people have associated flowers with allergic rhinitis, but their reactions were more likely due to the molds growing in the flower pots, in the water, or on the dead leaves.

Springtime is indeed a time for allergic misery for many people, but instead of refusing flowers from your lover, get out the antihistamines, sinus rinse, and nose sprays. Use them before you are likely to be exposed, because they are much better at preventing inflammation in your nose than treating it after the allergens have already done the damage.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Is It Allergies?
• WebMD Video: The Truth About Allergies

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