SAN ANTONIO – Recent local wildfires have sent air quality on a roller coaster ride, leaving residents searching for ways to protect themselves from the fluctuating conditions.
Days like Saturday, during the height of the Crabapple Fire in Gillespie County, north of Fredericksburg, there was a trifecta: Smoke, dust and oak pollen were all a problem.
“I get really bad allergies. Then when the wind changes, it makes me lose my voice,” said San Antonio resident Rubyanna Arambula.
Sixto Aleman, Arambula’s coworker, is one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have a lot of allergy issues — but he said he isn’t immune from smoke or dust.
“The dust that’s coming from the wind and everything like that, yeah, of course it bothers my eyes,” Aleman said.
Arambula said it becomes hard to breathe, and his lymph nodes become swollen.
Even people without typical allergies had a hard time on the days when local wildfires hurled smoke in the air.
Smoke from the Crabapple Fire went as far as College Station on Saturday, and extreme winds could be seen blowing in plumes of dust from the west.
>> TIMELINE: What we know about Gillespie County’s Crabapple Fire
“Last week we had a lot of people with what we would call ‘acute asthma,’” said allergy expert Dr. Dennis Dilley, who runs Dilley Allergy and Asthma Specialists. “They had sudden severe asthma attacks that they had not had before.”
Dilley said his team received a lot of sick calls during that time.
“We had a lot of people saying, ‘Hey, I need my inhaler. I ran out of my albuterol solution,’” Dilley said.
He knows his patients with serious oak pollen allergies are being hit extra hard when other air quality issues enter the picture.
“Oak is a tough allergen because it affects everything — itchy skin, eczema, eyes get puffy and swollen, asthma triggers,” Dilley said. “I’ve even seen people have to go to the emergency room because their eyes swell shut from the oak.”
Dilley teaches his patients that everyone reacts to pollens differently, meaning the way they take medication should be different too.
People with runny noses and watery eyes will benefit from an over-the-counter antihistamine pill.
However, for people who have inflammation from pollen causing a sinus headache or a stuffed-up nose, those pills won’t work well, and a nasal spray may be needed.
“As far as parents and kids are concerned, the amount of medicine in each spray across the board is generally the same as it is for a child,” Dilley said. “So, let’s say you buy the children’s version of a nasal steroid like Flonase. The amount of medicine per spray is exactly the same as in the adult bottle. So, buy the adult model, save yourself a few bucks, and just go with one spray for them instead of two.”
Dilley encourages anyone with severe issues, like asthma, to carry their inhalers with them at all times.
Unfortunately, when it comes to smoke or dust, Dilley said allergy medication won’t help much.
“There you do nasal rinses, you know, plenty of hydration. Stay inside those days,” Dilley said.
He said to shed clothes when entering the house and wash off to not track pollen, dust or smoke through the house.
For people with eye issues, Dilley said to wash eyes with fresh water upon returning home.
“Getting that cold water, clean all the pollen out. Then use your eye drops,” he said.
As for the people who know they have a hard time with oak pollen, Dilley warned not to wait until the pollen gets bad.
“As soon as the leaves start falling, then the pollen will come in and it’ll hit — and it’s fast,” Dilley said.
He said the pollen starts to really come out around spring break time and is the worst in late March. It dies down in mid-April.
“Allergies I think of more on the preventive side,” he said. “By the time they start medicine, when it’s already hit hard, it’s very hard to get them under control.”
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