Tulsa came in as the 26th “most challenging place to live with spring allergies,” worse than last year’s rank of 33rd. Oklahoma City was ranked 22nd this year. Several factors have made this season particularly tough for allergy sufferers in the Tulsa area, said Dr. Christopher Gifford, an allergist at the Warren Clinic. “It has been a highly symptomatic allergy season as far as history is concerned,” he said. According to the foundation, Tulsa has a worse-than-average pollen count but is average in the amount of people taking allergy medicine and the number of allergists per capita. That gives the city an overall classification as worse than average. Gifford said the heavy snowstorms earlier this year delayed the blooming of trees in the area, pushing them to emerge at the same time. This has increased the tree pollen count. It has also been windier than normal this season, increasing the spread and exposure of allergens. Add to that the smoke and particulate matter from drought-fueled wildfires, and northeastern Oklahoma has a recipe for bad allergies, he said. “The counts have been quite high, and patients have been more symptomatic,” he said. Tulsa had a very high concentration of tree pollen Monday, and the wind gusted to 38 mph, weather records show. Gifford recommended allergy sufferers keep the windows of their cars and homes closed and avoid going outside whenever possible. Those who do have to go outside should consider wearing a mask, particularly when mowing the lawn or doing other outdoor work. Multiple medicines are available to treat allergy symptoms, and several that were recently available only by prescription can now be purchased over the counter, he said.
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