What to Do If You Start to Feel COVID-19 Symptoms

Local Doctor Shares Advice As Allergy Season Ramps Up In Oklahoma

Dr. Humble said people are experiencing allergy symptoms because maple, alder, and birch trees are blooming. He said tree pollen is generally the first seasonal allergen of the year that can trigger symptoms.

Thursday, February 22nd 2024, 5:41 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. -

Allergy season has started across Green Country and people are starting to feel the effects.

Dr. Brandon Humble with the Allergy Clinic of Tulsa said the sneezing, itchy eyes, and coughing is only going to get worse.

Dr. Humble said people are experiencing allergy symptoms because maple, alder, and birch trees are blooming.

He said tree pollen is generally the first seasonal allergen of the year that can trigger symptoms.

An FDA report questioned whether phenylephrine, a popular ingredient in many popular over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, is effective.

Dr. Humble said phenylephrine works better as a nose spray than a pill.

"Saline sinus rinses or nasal rinses are safe, effective, and appropriate for nearly everyone when congestion is a problem. These things can be used to relief whenever symptoms are happening. So, that's certainly a starting point that's safe for most people," Dr. Humble said.

He said several other medications can bring you relief, but everyone's bodies have different reactions. It's best to check with your doctor about what works for you.

"Most next ordered treatments are going to depend on the things that person is allergic to, and of course the things that they have in their medical history before we start picking out a medication. Those things will depend on what a person has going on medically already, to determine which medicines in that medicine aisle are safe," Dr. Humble said.

He said to start your allergy medicines before you actually need them.

Dr. Humble also recommends taking a shower and changing clothes before bed to increase allergy relief.

New ENT Practice Opens In Waco Months After Ascension Providence Clinic Closes

College Station-based Texas ENT & Allergy has opened a clinic near Waco's Ascension Providence Hospital, months after the hospital system closed its own hearing center as well as its ear, nose and throat clinic in the same complex.

Dr. Andrew de Jong will head the new clinic in the Six West Medical Center, 601 W. Highway 6, Suite 106, which will provide ENT services, audiology, and allergy and sleep medicine to children and adults.

Dr. Andrew de Jong will head the new Texas ENT & Allergy Clinic in Waco.

Rod Aydelotte, Tribune-Herald

"Our goal is to be in the community, raising our kids and treating patients," de Jong said. "First we want to get the outpatient clinic up and running and providing a full range of services. Then we'll seek hospital privileges with Ascension Providence and look toward adding inpatient procedures as well."

Ascension Providence announced in early September that it had closed its hearing center and would close the ENT clinic by Oct. 31. That appeared to leave Waco with only one ENT provider, at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest.

People are also reading…

Later in September, former Ascension Providence otolaryngologist Bradford Holland set up practice with Coryell Health in Waco and Gatesville.

Also last year, Ascension Providence closed its Lacy Lakeview family medicine clinic and the DePaul Center, its inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services center.

Texas ENT & Allergy will bring another ENT option to the city, accepting most major insurance plans including Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Medicare and United Healthcare.

"We will be on the same plans as the hospital," de Jong said in a Monday text message. "We are currently credentialing for the (Ascension Providence) hospital employee insurance. We are also in-network for … some of the Scott & White plans."

De Jong and his partners founded their practice in College Station around 20 years ago. They have expanded to Bellville, Brenham, Giddings, Huntsville and now Waco.

"The Waco community shares a lot of the same values that we do in practice and that we try to put forward in the communities that we serve: honesty, hard work and compassion," de Jong said. "We are so blessed to be able provide our full range of ear, nose, throat, allergy and sleep medicine services in Waco."

That full range includes treating all ages from newborn to adult. The practice offers treatment for sinuses, allergies, hearing, audiology, cochlear implants, sleep medicine, head and neck as well as thyroid.

De Jong is joined by ENT physicians Ron Kuppersmith, Kellous Price, Jose Ting and Michael McMahon, who serve communities across Central Texas. Among its wide array of services, the practice provides extensive audiology services, including hearing testing, hearing aids, bone-anchored devices, and cochlear implants and more.

De Jong said the allergies his practice treats are mostly the inhaled allergies.

"We can test for food allergies as well as inhaled ones, but we'll treat the inhaled allergies ourselves and refer patients to others for food allergies," de Jong said.

His practice does blood and skin testing for allergens from sources such as trees, grasses, weeds, molds and animal dander.

"Sometimes the treatment involves medication and sometimes it will involve a lifestyle change," de Jong said.

For medication, his practice provides both injections and sublingual immunotherapy drops.

Its outpatient procedures include balloon sinuplasty, performed primarily in the clinic, as well as other outpatient procedures for tonsils and ear tubes. As the practice gains privileges with Ascension Providence Hospital, it will begin to add the sinuplasty along with other procedures in an operating room.

"We met with Ascension and they have been very helpful, but we are not Ascension employees," de Jong said.

He said the practice is renting the audiology booth from Ascension Providence's former clinic.

The new clinic is open 8 a.M. To 5 p.M. Mondays and Tuesdays.

Here is a list of four everyday plants that could be contributing to your awful dose of hay fever this summer.

Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

Christopher De Los Santos Follow Christopher De Los Santos

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Please log in to use this feature Log In

Mild Winter Leading To Early Allergy Season

MADISON (WKOW) -- Experts say allergy season could be in full effect as early as next week, due to warmer temperatures likely to be the highest recorded during winter in Wisconsin.

Mild weather, along with lack of precipitation and windy days are what Dr. Mark Moss, an allergist at UW Health, says is causing the early release of pollen. 

"Normally I recommend that people have their medicines for treatment of allergy ready to go by about St. Patrick's Day, about the middle of March," Moss said. "This year during clinic visits, I've been recommending people have their medications on hand now."

Moss says the pollen counter has been placed on top of the UW Hospital Thursday to track upcoming pollen counts. He says the most prevalent pollen he's seeing right now is tree pollen, specifically from willow, maple and cedar trees. This is only the second time ever that the pollen counter has been used in February.

Olivia Crabtree and her dog, Kenai, enjoy being outside at the Prairie Moraine County Park in Verona, but she says her allergies have already been starting to flare up. 

"Especially with how much of a roller coaster it's been, I've been stuffy in the morning and it's been awful, but it's exciting that it's early spring," Crabtree said.

She says certain parts of the dog park are hard to walk up with allergies, but says she will always power through for Kenai.

Moss says, besides taking allergy medicine to prepare for this season, limiting time outside will lower the risk of being exposed to pollen allergens. He understands this won't necessarily be the case. 

"In Wisconsin, we can't wait to get outdoors," Moss said. 

He recommends starting on allergy medicine now, for nasal, eye, and asthma-related symptoms. 

---