Spring is in full swing and has many in southern Alberta heading outside after a long winter. But springtime allergies will also have plenty of people stuffed up and sneezing. “Usually, the worst time is about now. It’s usually around mid-April that it’s starting to really pick up, and we’re starting to see high levels for certain pollen types,” said Daniel Coates, research director at Aerobiology. Southern Alberta and much of Canada could be in for a particularly bad allergy season. A drawn-out winter stopped many early-season pollinators from blooming until recently. Now, they’re blooming at the same time as lots of other vegetation. “And it delayed a lot of what we call the early pollinators, such as maple, alder, cedar. And we saw those come out later. Sort of mid-April when they usually come out late March or even mid-March. And now we’re seeing those in the air, but they’re colliding with the pollen types that we see at this time of year,” said Coates. Pharmacists have noticed an uptick in people coming in asking about allergy medication. There haven’t been significantly more people coming in so far this year, but pharmacists know that can change. “We have been saying almost like the last two or three weeks have been seeing many people come to the pharmacy, especially asking for medication to help with allergies,” said Mihir Patel, pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe. The best advice if you’re an allergy sufferer is to avoid going outside on high-pollen days. But if you must, be sure to shower after coming and wear additional eye protection if possible. “Take your allergy medications, especially during the first two or three weeks of the spring and fall, because during that time the allergens are really at the peak,” said Patel.
