Pollen on the rise in the Borderland

It’s the middle of allergy season here in the Borderland and this year it hit earlier and harder than usual.

“The season tends to hit a little bit sooner and harder and I think that just has to do with the warmer temperatures. We had a really warm winter so things tend to pollinate a lot earlier,” says Crystal Fuller, a family nurse practitioner at the Texan Sinus and Allergy Center.

The recent wind events have made it even worse for allergy sufferers, and local allergy clinics have been slammed with patients in recent weeks.

“We’ve probably seen maybe triple the amount of patients that we typically see, so we’re very busy,” says Fuller.

The culprit for many allergy sufferers here in El Paso is the mulberry tree. While they have been banned in the city of El Paso and there aren’t many mulberry trees left, they do produce a lot of pollen per tree.

Fortunately, there are some ways to keep the symptoms down beyond traditional allergy medicine.

“There’s also nasal sprays like Flonase, Nasacort that are topical steroids just to help with some of the congestion, keeping your doors, windows closed, dusting, vacuuming…” says Fuller.

For El Paso’s extended allergy forecast, click here.