TEXAS \u2014 Itchy eyes, sore throat, sneezing. All of these symptoms can make it seem as though you have a cold or the flu. Instead, more than likely you\u2019re suffering from cedar fever.<\/p>\n
The symptoms can be so severe that some choose to change the way they live during the cedar fever season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darrell McAnelly, an Austin resident, is struggling this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably the worst season I\u2019ve had that I can remember,\u201d said McAnelly.<\/p>\n
McAnelly is like many Texans this time of year. He rated his pain level on a scale of 1 to 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably a 9 or a 10, depending on the day. There\u2019s been a lot of wind this week and I literally have said I\u2019m not going outside,\u201d said McAnelly.<\/p>\n
Mountain cedar trees, also known as juniper trees, tend to pollinate from December through February.<\/p>\n
McAnelly has tried to stay indoors for much of the duration. He even quit a hobby near and dear to him and his family\u2019s hearts, because it was outdoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to have a sailboat. Going out in this in a sailboat\u2026no. If it\u2019s outdoors, it\u2019s cut out completely,\u201d said McAnelly.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s tried everything\u2014eye\u00a0drops, nasal sprays, you name it, he\u2019s tried it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a company come out and clean all my air ducts,\u201d said McAnelly.<\/p>\n
McAnelly said he has resorted to wearing a mask like he did during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I can still breathe through it, the allergens probably have a harder time getting to my sinuses that way,\u201d McAnelly said.<\/p>\n
Spectrum News meteorologist Megan Campbell broke down the science behind it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we talk about the definition of cedar fever, we really have to talk about the density of how many cedar trees are in the hill country and have now closed in on the I-35 corridor. Back 100 years ago, it was more like the Savannah. You would have one here or there. Due to overpopulation and not as many burns, naturally or controlled, they really have taken over and their pollen spreads like a wildfire,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s estimated there are about seven cedar trees for each person in Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sheer volume of it is what really takes over. It takes over our immune systems, and we can\u2019t handle it. Over the last 150 years, due to suppressions, they\u2019ve colonized in the area,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n
Campbell offered some remedies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few things. Keep those windows and doors shut. Take a shower before bed. Also, limit your time outdoors and change those air filters,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n
If all else fails, McAnelly had another idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to say, \u2018hey, let\u2019s go down to the ski country for a month, or the Caribbean,\u2019 but we won\u2019t do that,\u201d said McAnelly.<\/p>\n
Instead, he will wait for mountain cedar season to end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEXAS \u2014 Itchy eyes, sore throat, sneezing. All of these symptoms can make it seem as though you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2271,2160,132,1570,102,138,584,6716,223,82,27,29,28,1569,2053,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-138495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-app-health","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-ctv","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-el-paso","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-lauren-kendrick","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-san-antonio","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-texas-headlines","20":"tag-texas-news","21":"tag-texas-what-you-need-to-know","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}