The yellow peril

[jinman]

If you are familiar with the phrase, this is probably not what you think it is. I'm talking about pollen. We live in the middle of oak woods, and the oak trees are in full bloom. That means everything that is outside is covered in a yellow haze of pollen. I rinsed my car off on Sunday afternoon and it was already coated in yellow by Monday morning. Our new decks and deck furniture have a golden yellow dusty layer and everything in the house is starting to also have a yellow tinge. Uncontrolled fits of sneezing are expected several times per day. Boy! I'll be glad when this oak bloom is over.

 

[brin]

Jim - We live in the middle of the piney woods of Georgia and we have yellow pine pollen everywhere there is a where....and yes snezzing fits is exactly right.

 

[Mousefield]

Past several weeks it's been the Alder tree pollen that has had me with runny nose and itchy eyes. Have to take pills for 2-3 weeks to help keep me going. The worst is over now, glad to not have lawn furniture covered with the yellow stuff.

 

[CurlyDave]

Uncontrolled fits of sneezing are expected several times per day. Boy! I'll be glad when this oak bloom is over.

Look up "neti pot" and try one. They are inexpensive and really work.

Sold in US drug stores as Sinucleanse they allow you to rinse your nasal passages with a mild saline solution.

I have been using one for 3 or 4 years and the relief is great. Sneezing is greatly reduced, and no more sinus headaches.

I know the idea seems weird to most people, but the relief is hard to deny.

 

[jayste]

Jim, not to mention all of those fuzzy, dingle berry, Blackjack thingy-ma-bobbers that put off a lot of that pollen!:laughing: If I've got 'em I know you've got 'em! We share the same type of woods around our homes.:thumbsup:

 

[charlz]

I know the idea seems weird to most people, but the relief is hard to deny.

:thumbsup: I've been using one the last few years. Simple, cheap and works well. For those times when you can feel 'stuff' or pressure in your sinuses its awesome to be able to get some relief. Bought mine at Walgreen's for $10 or so on sale. Looks like they are on sale again, at least online, not sure about in the stores:

Neti Pot | Walgreens

 

[charlz]

Jim - We live in the middle of the piney woods of Georgia and we have yellow pine pollen everywhere there is a where....and yes snezzing fits is exactly right.

I don't know what kind of pine trees they had when I lived in Vegas but they lined the streets near where I lived. The pollen would be drifted in the gutters like snow! :confused2: I never had problems with allergies until I lived there.

 

[bp fick]

Living where I do, in the Oak and Pine forest of the north, (think East Texas, but at the 45th parallel) that special treat awaits us in about a month. It is tough. I agree.

 

[brin]

I don't know what kind of pine trees they had when I lived in Vegas but they lined the streets near where I lived. The pollen would be drifted in the gutters like snow! :confused2: I never had problems with allergies until I lived there.

Charlz, It is the same with our Pine Trees here ..it is like yellow snow it actually blows in clouds and you have to use your windshield wipers sometimes when it's real bad if you are in the car. We can not leave any windows open in the house and the screened porch stays covered in the pollen..This will last at least a month..I know what you mean.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

We are in the middle of it right now near Houston. It's awful, I have blown the stuff off the driveway twice today, we have all those little things that fall off the trees, I end up raking up piles of them.

Luckily daughter has been desensitized to this stuff for the last year or so. She gets 3 shots a month then we just take Zyrtec year around also so we are good to go. But its really bad here north of Houston.

 

[MarkV]

It is hitting us heavy here in NW Georgia. Atlanta news said the count was over 57 hundred yesterday and anything over 120 is considered extreme. What kills me are my contact lenses. I just about can't mow the lawn this time of year.

MarkV

 

[forgeblast]

mother earth news just had an article on pollen/allergies, it was very good. Had some herbal treatmernts that were as effective as some drugs just no tiredness.
Netti pot gets a big A+ here, works great.

 

[jinman]

Uncontrolled fits of sneezing are expected several times per day. Boy! I'll be glad when this oak bloom is over.

Look up "neti pot" and try one. They are inexpensive and really work.

Sold in US drug stores as Sinucleanse they allow you to rinse your nasal passages with a mild saline solution.
.

I'll have to give that a try, Dave. Thanks! I've been pretty happy with Zicam too. Their allery relief is a cotton swab that applies a compound just inside the nostrils. I'm not sure what it does, but it also gives relief from sneezing.

 

[dmccarty]

The pollen peak hit us this week.

I drive across a major lake to/fro work. Monday their was a slight wind from the south and the current in the lake flows north to south. At a causeway bridge the pollen had formed a puddle 30-50 feet across and was slowly spinning....

In the afternoon you could see long stretches of yellow/green pollen in the water. I wanted to get a picture of it but it was not safe to stop because of the traffic.

The cars are covered with pollen. Getting into the parking lot you could see the tire tracks from the cars. Walking into the building left little puffs of pollen with each step...

We have been in a heat spell for the last few days which is good since we had to turn on the AC. We would have to have closed up the windows because of the pollen. It is supposed to rain over the next two days so that should clear this stuff away.

I will not mow until after the pollen is dropped and the rain washed it away. In the past I did not and the sinus mess I don't want to deal with again. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

I'll have to give that a try, Dave. Thanks! I've been pretty happy with Zicam too. Their allery relief is a cotton swab that applies a compound just inside the nostrils. I'm not sure what it does, but it also gives relief from sneezing.

My doctor recommended the Neilmed Sinus Rinse and I see the same company makes the neti pot as well. I've not tried the neti pot but think I'd rather stay with the one with the squeeze bottle and premixed packets instead of the ceramic pot and having to mix in salt.

 

[CurlyDave]

The Sinucleanse is actually a plastic pot, and it had the packets of salt also. You just mix it with warm water.

Now being a Chemical Engineer by training, I figured out how much salt and how much baking soda and do it from scratch, but that is certainly not necessary.

Any way you do it, rinsing out your nose with mild saline is very good for allergies.

 

[/pine]

Take a look at the Masters on television this weekend...the water hazards look like something out of a science fiction movie...they are so loaded with pollen

 

[Pilot]

On a trip to Glacier Park, we stopped at a lake and the entire shoreline on one side looked like someone had dropped thousands of gallons of yellow paint into the water. 35 years ago, but I seem to remember it stretched about 200 feet from shore. It was all lodgepole pine pollen, blown to one side by the wind.

 

[dave1949]

I used to air commute from Portland, ME to LaGuardia, NYC. I could see a 'pollen slick' on the ocean parallel to the ME coast during white pine pollen season. Hard to guess the size, but it had to be several hundred yards wide and 10-15 miles long. That's a lot of pollen Fortunately, it doesn't bother me.
Dave.

 

[sksmsllc]

The cars are covered with pollen. Getting into the parking lot you could see the tire tracks from the cars. Walking into the building left little puffs of pollen with each step... Later,
Dan[/QUOTE]

Do'nt bother washing your car. It's a battle you can't win. North MS is covered with the stuff Pine and Oak. I made the mistake of mowing my yard yesterday -- eyes red and shut -- not even extra dose of claritin cleared them up.