Sniffly? Columbia’s ‘famously hot’ summer may be affecting your allergies

Sniffling? Wheezing? Itchy-eyed? Congested?

This time of year isn’t typically a harsh season for allergy symptoms in the Columbia area, but a number of people are apparently suffering more than they’re used to.

Midsummer, much like the dead of winter, tends to be a relatively quiet time for allergies. But this season’s abnormally hot temperatures may be playing a role in worsening some allergies and causing allergy-like symptoms for those who don’t normally deal with them.

It’s not just allergens in the air that could be affecting your symptoms, but the air itself.

The heat is causing symptoms to flare up for Janice Broome’s 7-year-old grandson, D’Ondre, she said. His allergies are set off by animals and most anything outside, she said, with runny eyes, nighttime wheezing and hives. Allergy shots have been helping him for about a month, but the hot summer isn’t doing him any favors.

And for her 18-year-old daughter, Tyra, warm temperatures have been wreaking havoc on her eczema, Broome said.

Some, but not all, local allergists say they’re seeing more patients this summer than they have in past summers.

Dr. Jonathan Black, of Carolina Allergy and Asthma Consultants and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, said his clinic has been unusually busy this summer. He noted that this has been a hot, dry season compared to more rainy summers the past two years.

Columbia has seen temperatures reaching or topping 100 degrees since the official start of summer, quite a departure from its average highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s for this time of year. Though Columbia’s air quality ratings have ranged from good to moderate in June and July, hot, humid conditions still could exacerbate some allergies and cause other allergy-like symptoms, Black said.

Sudden temperature changes, such as moving from a cold house or office to the hot outdoors, can cause non-allergic nasal congestion and runny nose.

The summer weather could be affecting your symptoms in other ways, too:

Plus, when hot temperatures encourage you to spend less time outdoors, you could notice more symptoms set off by indoor allergies such as dust mites and pet dander.

But, said another local allergist, maybe your allergy symptoms aren’t allergy symptoms at all.

“It might be, at work, people are passing around a virus. That can also mimic allergy symptoms,” said Dr. David Amrol of University Special Clinics and an associate professor of clinical internal medicine at the USC School of Medicine.

Amrol said his clinic has been busy this season, though not necessarily busier than any other summer.

Local mold and pollen counts for the past week, at least, have been very low to moderate, according to regional counts by the American Acadamy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology and The Weather Channel.