South-central Pennsylvania pollen levels | National map

BE EXTREME. IT JUST HELPS TO CHALLENGE THE BODY IN DIFFERENT WAYS. FIVE ON YOUR HEALTH TONIGHT IT IS THE SEASON FOR SNEEZING. LET’S LOOK AT THE POLLEN FORECAST. THE LEVELS ARE VERY HIGH IN THE RED RIGHT THROUGH MOTHER’S DAY. HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS IS A DOCTOR WHO WE APPRECIATE BEING HERE. HI DOCTOR SOKOL. GREAT TO SEE YOU. HELLO. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. CAN I JUST TELL YOU ANECDOTALLY, AND THIS IS TRUE, I SAT AT A STOPLIGHT IN NEWTON TODAY, AND EVERYONE AROUND IN THE CARS WERE SNEEZING THEIR HEADS OFF JUST IN THE CAR. I SNEEZED NEXT TO YOU. IT WAS ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. IT WAS ALMOST CALAMITOUS. ALL RIGHT, CHRIS. QUESTION ONE ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN OUTSIDE KNOWS THAT SPRING IS IN THE AIR, BUT SO IS THE TREE POLLEN. SO WHY DOES IT CAUSE A PROBLEM FOR SO MANY PEOPLE? WELL, YOU KNOW, 1 IN 4 OF US HAVE SEASONAL ALLERGIES, AND TREE POLLENS ARE SUCH A PROBLEM AROUND NEW ENGLAND. WE’RE REALLY JUST LOADED WITH TREES AROUND HERE. AND THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT ONE AFTER ANOTHER ARE RELEASING THEIR POLLEN ALL ON TOP OF EACH OTHER. SO IT ALL ADDS UP TO A LOT OF ALLERGIES. LET’S TALK ABOUT OTHER TRIGGERS. ACTUALLY, BEFORE WE DO THAT, I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION. SO LAST NIGHT DUKE AND I WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT OUR ALLERGIES. THEY WERE, THEY WERE, WE WERE AND MIKE WANKUM. I SAID, OH, I NEED TO TAKE AN ALLERGY PILL. A MIKE WANKUM SAID, CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY. YOU CAN’T JUST TAKE AN ALLERGY PILL AND IT GOES AWAY. SO HOLD RIGHT THERE, JEFF ON THAT TELEPROMPTER, IF YOU WILL. IS THAT TRUE? IS MIKE WANKUM TRUE? IS HE IS HE TELLING THE TRUTH? I’M SORRY TO TELL YOU, BUT HE’S HE’S TELLING THE TRUTH HERE. OKAY. CONSISTENCY IS KEY. AND USUALLY OUR FAVORITE TREATMENT ARE THE NASAL SPRAYS, THINGS LIKE THE STEROID NASAL SPRAYS. BUT EVEN THOSE OVER-THE-COUNTER ANTIHISTAMINES, IT’S HARD TO PUT THE PAUSE TO PUT THE HORSE BACK IN THE BARN. ONCE YOU HAVE THOSE SYMPTOMS. SO YOU REALLY NEED TO BE CONSISTENT ABOUT IT. PROOF POSITIVE THAT HE IS MR. WIZARD. HE IS MR. WIZARD. OKAY. THANK YOU DOCTOR. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THE TRIGGERS. YOU KNOW, GRASS, POLLEN, RAGWEED. IS ANY ONE WORSE THAN THE OTHER OR DO THEY ALL CAUSE THE SAME SYMPTOMS? IT’S REALLY JUST ABOUT WHAT YOU HAPPEN TO BE ALLERGIC TO. SO RIGHT NOW, IN THE SPRING, IT’S THE TREES. BUT IN MAY, WE’RE ALREADY STARTING TO SEE A LITTLE BIT OF GRASS POLLEN SNEAK IN. SO MAY MIGHT BE THE WORST BECAUSE WE’VE GOT ALL THIS TREE POLLEN AND GRASS POLLEN AT THE SAME TIME. AND GRASS WILL HANG AROUND WITH US UNTIL ABOUT AUGUST WHEN A LOT OF WEEDS, ESPECIALLY RAGWEED, TAKES OVER UNTIL THAT FIRST FROST. SO YOU JUST SAID NASAL SPRAYS. THAT’S YOUR NUMBER ONE. IT’S NOT A CURE, BUT IT DOES HELP LIMIT THE SYMPTOMS. CORRECT? IT’S NOT A CURE, BUT IT REALLY HELPS WITH THE SYMPTOMS FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. AND IT MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE OVER-THE-COUNTER TREATMENTS THAT WE HAVE. YOU ARE EXCELLENT.

South-central Pennsylvania is seeing elevated pollen levels as allergy season intensifies, and our interactive national map shows how conditions compare across the country.Video above: Why is tree pollen such a trigger for allergies?PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

South-central Pennsylvania is seeing elevated pollen levels as allergy season intensifies, and our interactive national map shows how conditions compare across the country.

Video above: Why is tree pollen such a trigger for allergies?