Fall Allergy Season Could Last Even Longer in Michigan

What's making Michiganders sneeze right now?

Remember one of the things we love most about living in Michigan is experiencing all four season? Well, it's hard to enjoy every season when they each bring about their own special mix of pollen and irritants.

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Seriously, it's not just spring and fall allergies we have to worry about here in the Mitten, did you know there's such a thing as summer and winter allergies? It turns out there's an allergen for every season here in Pure Michigan. Lucky us.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nearly 60 million people in the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies each year. Typically, fall allergy season in the Midwest coincides with back to school time while many consider August 15 to be start of fall ragweed season.

So, what exactly is causing us to be so miserable right not? Well, we've got a couple things going against us. See, there's that luck again.

Fall in Michigan means harvest season. Haven't you ever heard of "hay fever"? Blanchard Valley Health Systems explains,

 The term “hay fever” is often used to describe these symptoms and is derived from the “illness” that farmers used to obtain when harvesting hay in the fall. With the discovery of pollen allergies, it was recognized that fall symptoms were due to ragweed pollen rather than due to hay exposure.

In addition to ragweed decaying leaves on the ground lead to increase mold spores which thrive on ground and get blown up into the air. Certain activities like hiking or even raking leaves will certainly aggravate your fall allergies.

Are We Done Yet?

Unfortunately experts believe fall allergy season is only getting longer here in Michigan. Dr. Erica Ridley, an allergy specialist for Henry Ford Health tells Bridge Michigan,

With climate change and air pollution...we've actually been seeing pollen season start earlier than usual and last even longer than it usually does...Usually it'll last until mid October, but with the constantly warming of the weather and then the more rainy conditions that we've seen we can see it last until mid-November even