Tri-State Residents Dealing With Plenty Of Pollen & Aggravating Allergies

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- It seems like it's everywhere. That yellow-green film of fine pollen particles dusting the landscape is aggravating allergy symptoms across the Tri-State Area. Experts said the problem is worse than usual this year.

It hardly seems like the time to be shutting up the house, but for allergy sufferers, that may be precisely the ticket for surviving this pollen-coated spring.

"My nose, my throat, my ears. Everything it's so bad," Rose Mary Cardioli of White Plains told CBS 2's Lou Young.

Readings at the Louis Calder Environmental Center in Armonk indicated tree pollen levels roughly double what is normally expected at this time of year and the results are predictable.

"I can't see, I can't breath, my nose is stuffy and watery eyes," Demetrios Fantas said. "Without Benadryl, I cannot survive."

It's ironic that during this beautiful spring weather, people continue to be victimized by the long, cold winter that just passed. Cold for so long, so late that the trees -- instead of coming on-line one at a time --bloomed all at once and buried the area in pollen.

For some, it's more than a minor irritant.

"I cough, I sneeze and I get congestion in my lungs, my chest because I'm asthmatic," Jane White said.

Doctors advised lots of washing this time of year -- including your body, hair and pets even if they already seem clean.

"People often think that it's the visible pollen they can see on their cars, but most of the pollen that causes true allergic symptoms are invible pollen. So it can be all over your hair and you don't realize it and all over your body and you don't realize it," Dr. Subhandra Siegel of Westchester Medical Center said.

Doctors say for best results, people should take their allergy medication an hour before heading out the door.

SOUND -OFF: How Are You Dealing With Your Allergies This Spring? Share Your Thoughts In The Comments Section...