Allergies to pollen can worsen asthma and trigger breathing difficulties. Sometimes, an allergy seems mysterious because the symptoms don’t seem definitively connected with any plant. An allergist with an asthma clinic in Petal, MS, tests patients to determine which type of pollen is causing the problem. The patients may be allergic to pollen from certain weeds, grasses, or trees.
About Juniper
For some individuals in Mississippi, juniper pollen is the culprit. Juniper can be planted and grown successfully anywhere in the United States, and it also grows wild in the form of small trees. These trees have short evergreen needles and, for part of the year, blueberries. Testing to confirm sensitivity to juniper can be done at an asthma clinic in Petal, MS.
Chemical Composition Factors
Most people who deal with hay fever symptoms are allergic to more than one kind of pollen. However, juniper often causes seasonal allergy symptoms in individuals who are not allergic to anything else. The chemical composition of this pollen accounts for this. Because juniper pollen is so small and light, it is easily carried by the wind. It also is easily breathed into the respiratory tract.
This pollen can travel more than 100 miles, explaining why many hay fever sufferers have no idea that they are allergic to juniper. There may be no juniper trees anywhere in their neighborhood or in places where they usually spend time outdoors. Yet when an allergist with Asthma & Allergy Clinic of Hattiesburg PLLC performs a skin-prick test, juniper may turn out to be the problem.
