The latest survey by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America lists the 'most challenging places to life' with fall and winter allergies, and guess who's near the top of the list?
That's right, San Antonio is 16th worst when it comes to fall and winter sinus misery, and allergist Sunny Kallmer with Texan Allergy in Stone Oak says you can blame the Ashe Juniper tree, better known as the Hill Country Cedar, which is causing all of our misery.
"We have a unique pollinator called the Cedar Tree, and it is the worst pollinating plant in the world," she said. "Lucky us, that gives us a really bad winter season."
Dallas ranks 23rd on the really bad fall and winter allergy list, and McAllen, in the Rio Grande Valley, is number three.
Kallmer says to find out a big reason why our falls are winters are so bad, just check out the temperatures in the seventies on February 1.
"We tend to not get a lot of cold, and ice, and snow, and that makes for a heavy pollen season all year." She says more and more patients are taking newly approved allergy drops and shots, which essentially tell your body not to freak out due to the cedar pollen, which it thinks is a foreign substance that endangers your system.
You can wrap yourself in plastic like bubble boy and breathe through a filter, or you can leave for Denver or Daytona Beach, which are the two cities least affected by winter allergies.
"We have year round pollen season here in Texas, so we are going to hit the top rankings for the worst allergy problems in the country.
Jackson Mississippi has the worst winter pollen issues, followed by Memphis.