ODESSA, Texas — Have you been sneezing more? How about suffering from a runny nose or watery eyes? Well, you're not alone.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, in late summer, about 15% of Americans will have symptoms from an allergy to ragweed pollen.
Miguel Wolbert, allergist with West Texas Allergy, told NewsWest 9 ragweed season is at its peak in mid-September. That is why ragweed is everywhere.
"All it takes is a little crack in the pavement or in the cement for a little ragweed pore to fall into there and then it starts to grow," said Wolbert. "It doesn't have to be in an open field away from everything. We see it in the streets, we see it in the backyards, and we see it in the alleys."
Wolbert said that one plant can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains. That especially becomes an issue here in our region.
"These are very microscopic, very very tiny pollens that become airborne," said Wolbert. "When we have so much wind and breeze around this community, these pollen pores travel through the air and we breathe them in, and that leads the symptoms, or they get on our skin, leading to these skin reactions."
Wolbert emphasized the importance of keeping an eye on the symptoms, especially as we navigate through a pandemic.
"Allergy has been classically known as hay fever, where you feel very cruddy, and you may have low subjective fevers," said Wolbert. "When you start to get higher fevers or you don't have a past history of allergy, then it becomes much more likely that it could be from a secondary cause, like infection."
Wolbert said allergies are temporary, but he knows how frustrating they can be.
"We can't become desensitized because there is a seasonality to these things," said Wolbert. "So we are miserable one spring and then the next spring we are going to be miserable again."
Wolbert suggests for people who suffer from ragweed allergies to stay away from the allergen as much as possible. He also suggests allergy medicine or immunotherapy like allergy injections.