Pollen creating a mess for most

James and Isaac Bird wash off a pollen covered vehicle at Promise Car Wash, located beside Kieth's Automotive near downtown Russellville. | Nathan Strickland/FCT

Mother Nature must have issued an “Emancipation Pollenation” whenever springtime was established because pollen seems to be covering just about everything around this time every year.

Outside stairwells, patio furniture, lakes and automobiles are among several things that are unable to escape the tiny egg-shaped powdery grains released from flowering plants, which are carried by the wind or insects, and serve to cross-pollinate other plants of the same type for reproductive purposes.

According to weather.com, pollen counts have reached very high levels 9 out of 13 days this April and continue to stay persistent through the rest of the month.

Reports show Franklin County in the red for very high pollen activity and specify oak trees to be the number one contributor in the pollen explosion.

Weather.com Meteorologist Tim Ballisty said the reason behind the sudden burst of pollen is due to the extended winter climate.

“The extended cold winter in many parts of the U.S. during the month of March kept trees from pollinating during their usual time,” he said. “When April began, a large ridge of high pressure dominated the eastern 2/3 of the country and temperatures soared to record-breaking levels and, instead of a staggered, gradual process of pollination, the sudden burst of record warmth triggered an absolute explosion of pollen from trees and plants of every variety.”

The extreme pollen counts has continuously sent people to local retailers, clearing the shelves of that “sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest” medicines.

Dr. Yves Morissette, ear, nose and throat specialist and owner of The Morissette Clinic in Russellville, said the people who are most in danger are the ones who suffer from allergic asthma. He believes those people should pay close attention to their symptoms and be careful during this time of year.

Morissette said there are two types of allergies in the springtime, grass and trees, and it just so happens that the tree allergies are in full force right now.

“Once all the trees have pollinated then symptoms should stabilize, but after that happens some people will still have to worry about the grass allergy,” he said.

Morissette said the pollen that affects people is not the yellow pollen, but another type of pollen that is not visible to the naked eye.

“It isn’t the yellow pollen that affects people because it is to heavy,” he said. “It’s the light pollen that maple, oak and hickory tree distribute to the air and flies into the nose.”

Morissette suggests people should opt for over-the-counter antihistamines before seeing a physician, but warns men who are over the age of 50 to ask for the more modern antihistamines versus the older generic ones because of the increased risk of urinary retention and complications.

“If a person is unable to suppress their symptoms with over-the-counter medication in a couple of days then they should see a physician to either get a steroid shot or a better antihistamine,” he said. “This will help suppress symptoms of irritation during this allergy season.”

Promise Car Wash, located on Lawrence Street near Downtown Russellville and proudly owned and operated by Priscilla Graham, has been hand-washing and waxing several cars covered in pollen for many weeks now and don’t expect the pollen to go away anytime soon.

Wash-hand at Promise Car Wash Frank Graham said some customers are just going to wait it out.

“Me and my customers have been talking about it and they have been trying to hold off getting their vehicle cleaned for a little while longer,” he said. “I got regular customers mostly and we work together to figure out the best time to get a wash. I tell them it is fine with me if they want to wait, just bring it down or we will come get the car when the customer gets ready.”

Graham said the pollen has really had an impact on his business because lots of people will use the machine car washes.

“We do a lot of detail work at our car wash,” he said. “We like to clean the car inside and out so people can get their money’s worth. As far as the pollen goes, It hasn’t helped business because with pollen being the way it is, people will choose to insert some money into those mechanical car washes, let it spray off the pollen and head back home. Pollen isn’t that hard to spray off so people choose that route cause it is quicker.”