Sniffing out remedies for ‘cedar fever’

Person-sneezing-allergies-2

If you started the new year with congestion and watery eyes, you’re not alone. Mountain cedar allergy season is in full sneeze and will get worse during the next few weeks. The affliction is often called “cedar fever” and can indeed make you sick.

But don’t despair, says John Fling, MD, allergist and Pediatrics Professor at UNT Health Science Center. You can try several remedies.

First, the culprit: Ashe juniper, a small tree native to Central Texas and nicknamed mountain cedar, pollinates at this time of year. North Texas’ friendly southerly breezes bring the pollen our way.

Here are Dr. Fling’s recommendations for avoiding or alleviating the itchy eyes, sneezing and congestion:

  • Use a topical nasal steroid spray beginning several weeks before exposure, and continue through February.
  • Use antihistamines as needed.
  • Use allergy eye drops as needed.

To see a UNT Health provider, called 817-735-DOCS (3627).

Recent News

Abe Clark
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Abe Clark honored with international research award

Abbot “Abe” Clark, PhD, FARVO, FAAO, regents professor of pharmacology and neuroscience in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, has received the International Society for Eye Research 2024 Ernst H. Bárány Prize.   The awar...
Processed With Lensa With Pt12 Filter
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Steven Romero receives American Physiological Society award for excellence in research

Dr. Steven Romero, associate professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was named the 2024 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer by the American Physiological Society. The lectureship is awarded to ...
Screenshot 2024 03 28 At 8.50.12 am
  • Our People
|Mar 28, 2024

Physical therapy student lands prestigious role in national organization

When Jonathan Hansen was an undergraduate intern at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, he encountered a man who had just suffered a stroke. The patient’s right side was completely paralyzed. Hansen, now a first-year student in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Wort...
Jackie In Dc
  • Our People
|Mar 27, 2024

Personalized Health and Well-Being student repays generosity through advocacy

In 2019, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth student Jacqueline Green said she felt hopeless. She became pregnant while experiencing hard financial times, and she didn’t have insurance. Compounding her stress was terrible grief. Her mother-in-law suddenly passed away,...