CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 24 (UPI) -- Allergies this time of year are often wrongfully blamed on pine tree pollen, a U.S. allergy specialist says.
"People attribute their allergies to pine pollen because it's visible, but it's actually too large to cause allergies," Dr. Maya Jerath of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine says in a statement. "It's the other trees blooming at the same time like maple, oak and birch.
"If you know which pollen you're sensitive to, you can minimize your time outside during the season it is in the air and keep your windows closed," Jerath says.
Although folks with multiple allergies may experience symptoms longer, most people suffer only for a couple of weeks, while the tree they're sensitive to is in bloom. In the case of short-lived allergies lasting only two or three weeks a year, it's fine to treat them symptomatically, Jerath says.
"But if the medicine is not sufficient to keep you from suffering, or if you cannot tolerate the medicine, it's time to go to the doctor," she says.
