Austin's oak pollen hits highest levels in 3 years

AUSTIN, Texas — If you have a runny nose, itchy eyes or you’re sneezing a lot, Austin’s most abundant trees are to blame. Oak pollen isn’t just coloring the city a yellowish-green, it’s also coating people’s eyes and noses. To make a bad situation worse, allergy counts show oak pollen levels haven’t been this high in three years.

“I feel it. I definitely feel it,” said Lisa Leon, an Austin mom.

A trip to Alliance Children’s Garden in Butler Park became an endurance test on Wednesday to see how long she could hold up against a windblown pollen attack.

“Just even driving here, leaving my house, my throat was kind of stuffy,” said Leon. “My eyes are losing it. My eyes are dry. I have eyedrops, but it’s rough right now.”

Austin’s most famous tree is part of the problem. Treaty Oak is a live oak, one of 17 varieties of oaks that are ready to make spring a sneezy, itchy season.

“There are many different kinds of trees in Austin, but there are so many oaks that they are responsible for almost all of the springtime allergy misery,” said Austin allergist Dr. Bill Howland.

Dr. Howland says the same pollen that’s sticking to car windshields and turning everything yellowish-green is flying up noses, into eyes, and even down into lungs.

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“It’s going to be a super tough season from now on, especially if we keep having this dry windy weather,” said Dr. Howland.

The highest levels of oak pollen are generally right now, during the first week of April. For most people, it’s easy to find over-the-counter relief.

“Once a day you could do a nose spray, eyedrop and take a pill and significantly lessen your allergy symptoms,” said Dr. Howland.

The allergist recommends Flonase nasal spray, Pataday eye drops, and Allegra to get quick relief. Daily defensive measures are needed this spring because of the unusually high pollen counts.

“It’s a lot worse this year,” said Leon.

The Austin mom has some good advice to help reduce symptoms. If Leon is outside for a long time, she often takes a shower and changes clothes when she gets home to get rid of the pollen.