Allergy and Dust

When the pollen count hits as high as it is in my city, I honestly think there are two kinds of reactions to it. The first, is a dust reaction. The second, allergy. They're linked.

Simply put, there is a massive amount of pollen dust in the air and it causes a physical reaction. I woke up this morning , having left my window open at night - with the taste of dogwood pollen in my mouth. I cough out yellow dust. The pollen covers my car, coating it in a manner of seconds.

People can and should have a reaction to this. There's nothing wrong with that. Your eyes will water and your throat will feel scratchy. Suppose you were up in the attic, and someone picked up an old book next to you, and blew the dust off into your face? Would it be odd, if you coughed, in response. No. It's a reaction to the foreign particle that lodged into your throat and nose in quantity. You are throwing it out of your body - that's the cough reaction, and it's pretty straightforward.

Allergic reaction is different. It's the basic cough reaction taken into overdrive. I honestly believe that the allergic reaction is caused by people who either subconsciously or with a slight genetic tendency - actively engage their own body's defense systems against the outside agent and convince it that it is a harmful agent. The body then goes into immune defense and attempts to pull the material through inflammation and hard reaction.

But the actual element is benign - pollen is annoying. Look at it with a scanning electron microscope, and yes, it looks like a world war II undersea mine floating around in your nose - but it is nothing more or less than plant matter; by and large edible. The worst thing you can do is confuse the allergic reaction to the dust reaction.

Keep a stiff upper lip.