KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The dogwoods are blooming and the dandelions are flowering. All in all -- it's a perfect day to be outside.
But in this spring air, something terrible is floating.
It's pollen season in East Tennessee and Wednesday it was really bad.
"This one little flower will put out four or five thousand grains of pollen a day," Allergist Dr. Bob Overholt said.
While the amount we've been sneezing can give us a good idea, it's up to Janet Hill and Lisa Livingston in Dr. Bob's office to tell us how much is actually in the air.
They collect about a four-hour sample on tiny rods from a mechanism outside the office and then literally count every grain under a microscope.
But you don't need a microscope to know it's bad.
"You can’t differentiate on the car exactly which one it is. But beware. If it’s on your car, it’s big time in the air," Dr. Bob said.
And rain in the forecast only helps temporarily.
"The rain will wash the pollen out of the air, but as soon as the rain stops, these little flowers are still there," he said.
If it seems like the pollen is getting worse every year, it might be. Dr. Bob says climate change is causing the season to get longer and the count to get higher.
And the allergists have more bad news: Even when this tree pollen goes away in mid-May, that's when the grass pollen really starts to kick in.
Guess we just can't catch a break.
