NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK (WENY) — If you deal with seasonal allergies and feel like they're getting worse every year, you're not alone. Doctors say there are a number of outside factors that are cause allergy symptoms to be more intense.

If you have seasonal allergies and it seems like they're getting worse it's not in your head. Dr. William Reisacher, Otolaryngologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, says it all comes down to climate change.

"We're seeing our warm seasons expanding. It's going further into the wintertime on both ends. That extends the amount of time you can be exposed to pollen."

Around this time of year, Dr. Reisacher says pollen levels spike.

"In the springtime, we see high levels of tree pollen, but we also see rises in mold spores as well, particularly when the snow starts melting in early spring.

Health experts say some irritants are not only in the air around you but right beneath your feet.

"Then in summer, it's all about the grass pollen, the grass is looking beautiful in the mid-summer, June and July, that's when it pollinates," Reisacher said.

As pretty as the leaves are in the fall, doctors say the mold from a wet leaf can bring on a lot of unwanted symptoms.

"Molds come back for their revenge at the end of the fall because all the leaves fall on the ground and, guess what, they get moldy. They release a lot of
mold spores," Dr. Reisacher.

Many allergy-related symptoms that are brought on by mold and pollen are similar to COVID-19.

"There is an overlap in symptoms, like nasal congestion, runny nose, postnasal drip, coughing even. It is very confusing, although it is important to differentiate some of the key ways to tell those conditions apart," Reisacher said.
 
A fever is one of the most common symptoms of Coronavirus. Health experts say that's not usually the case with allergies.

"If you have a high fever, that's not very typical. Also, another thing that's very typical of allergies is itching, itching and sneezing. That doesn't happen often with Coronavirus," Reisacher said.

According to Dr. Reisacher, there are ways to get rid of sensitivities brought on by allergies.

"There are also ways to desensitize the body with something called immunotherapy. It has been found to prevent those further sensitivities later on."

Through the help of immunotherapy, Dr. Reisacher says people can have some of their allergy-related symptoms alleviated for 20 to 30 years.

"It really involves exposing your body's immune system to the things it's sensitive to on a regular basis. Traditionally that is done with an injection that
is done in a doctor's office. Now there newer are ways to do that at home, using things like liquid drops or toothpaste, that can be used to expose your body to the same things that are in allergy shots," Reisacher said.

Since many of these irritants are in the air, Dr. Reisacher recommends closing those windows before you go to bed, keeping the pollen out between 5 and 10 a.m. when the pollen count is the highest.