What’s Making You Sneeze? Common Spring Allergy Triggers

Do you find that you stock up on tissues in the spring, when most people are putting them away because cold and flu season is ending? You are not alone – many people suffer from spring allergies, but it can be a little hard to know just what is making you sneeze.

Determining the source of your spring allergies and how it works can help you seek appropriate treatment, and also help you better manage your allergies. Here is a list of common spring allergy triggers and how they work, so you can determine what’s making you sneeze.

1. Tree and Shrub Pollen

When most people think of pollen, they think of flowers – and flowers are a source of pollen, but they are often sneaky. Most of the flowers that cause allergies are not necessarily the showy garden flowers you may be thinking of. They are usually disguised as weeds, trees, and grasses.

Many people overlook trees and shrubs as a source of pollen allergies. Some common trees and shrubs that can make you sneeze include the following.

Evergreen trees:
* Cypress
* Cedar
* White pine

Evergreen shrubs:
* Juniper
* Box elder

Deciduous trees:
* Ash
* Cottonwood
* Alder
* Aspen
* Elm
* Maple (various types)
* Willow (various types)
* Oak (various types)
* Birch

Notice that evergreens are on the list. While they are green all year round, they are not as active during the winter, and the sap is not running. They can produce spring-like allergies during the winter, though, when people bring live Christmas trees indoors.

The deciduous trees put out leaves and flowers in the spring, and their pollen becomes airborne. Also, both evergreen and deciduous trees can be a source of airborne mold, another spring allergy trigger.

2. Grass

Yes, grass can trigger allergies, too. Another term for spring allergies is “hay fever.” Hay is a grass! Generally, closely-cut grass is not the allergy trigger that long, unmown grass is; short grass does not produce flowers. But vacant lots, farms, and neglected lawns mean that uncut grass is all over. Ornamental grasses, too, or any grass that is allowed to grow and produce flowers and seeds can induce allergies.

Here are some of the more common types of grass that can incite allergic responses in the spring.

* Fescue
* Bermuda
* Orchard
* Timothy (a type of hay if allowed to grow tall)
* Rye
* Kentucky bluegrass

3. Weeds

Often, weeds are grasses gone wild, and many of them are the same species as noted above. Other weeds that can cause spring allergies include:

* Stinging nettle
* Ragweed (usually worse in the fall)
* Brambles/wild blackberry and raspberry
* Various (there are so many weeds that cause spring allergies that there’s no room to list them all!)

As you learn about your spring allergies and what’s making you sneeze, check your local pollen count. Watch your local weather and/or news channel, and find out how much and what type of pollen is prevalent at any given time. It does vary day by day and week by week.