Prepare Yourself For Allergy Season

Experts say the South is having one of the worst pollen seasons that they have had in years.

The problem, said Dr. Gillian Shepherd, spokesperson for the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, is that the winter was unusually warm and there was a lot of rain — ideal conditions for pollen production.

"For example, the poor folks in Atlanta over this last week have had pollen counts of 6,000," she told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "That means in every cubic meter of air there are 6,000 grains of tree pollen. As you're walking through just this space of air, that's what's hitting your eyes. That's what's hitting your nose."

Dr. Shepherd, who is also a clinical associate professor at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, said about 25 percent of the population will be affected by allergies this spring. Symptoms include sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, and an itchy nose, mouth, throat, eyes or ears. Besides pollen, animal dander, mold and dust mites can also cause these symptoms.

People with these symptoms have what is commonly called hay fever. The proper medical term is allergic rhinitis and Dr. Shepherd said hay fever is actually a misnomer.

"It's not caused by hay," she said. "This time of year, it's caused by tree pollen. And also you never get fever with this."

For people with allergic rhinitis, Dr. Shepherd said stay indoors, exercise early or late in the day when the pollen count is lower and wear large glasses outdoors.

"If there's 6,000 grains of pollen per cubic meter outside, you want to avoid contact," she said. "Tree poll season is notorious for causing itchy eyes. Keep the filters on in your air conditioning units. If you go outside and there's that much pollen around, it's going to get stuck in your hair, think about washing your hair before you go to bet at night. If you've got a pet, wash the pet, otherwise, you may as well be outside rolling in the pollen yourself."

For more information on how to deal with allergic rhinitis, visit the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology's Web Site.