APPLETON, WI - The Kagen Allergy Clinic identified tree pollen in the air this morning fourteen days earlier than normal, making today Northeast Wisconsin’s first biological day of spring. These are the highest ever tree pollen levels reported as of March 8th for our area.

Typically spring tree pollination occurs in late March, but the tree pollination period began early this year.

Cedar, maple, box elder, and cottonwood pollens are in the air today across Wisconsin. Many people with ragweed allergy will also experience sneezing, nasal congestion and itchy eyes this week because cedar tree pollen allergens look like ragweed.

“We have been monitoring the air in Wisconsin for a quarter century, and this is the second earliest tree pollination we have experienced. If you are allergic to cedar, maple, elm or cottonwood tree pollen, there’s something in the air to make you sneeze, cough and wheeze,” Allergy and Asthma Specialist Dr. Steve Kagen reported this morning.

Thirty percent of Americans develop allergies to tree, grass or weed pollens. Symptoms of allergy include sneezing, nasal congestion, itchy eyes, and sinus headaches, which is referred to as hay fever. Asthma is an allergic reaction in the lungs, which induces coughing and wheezing.

“It is impossible to avoid tree pollen; that’s why it’s important to take your medications as prescribed by your physician”, Dr. Kagen said. The standard of care for allergy and asthma sufferers includes being skin tested by Board Certified Allergy, Asthma and Immunology specialists to determine the exact cause of one’s symptoms.

“For many patients allergen immunotherapy, or allergy injections, is the most effective treatment available to control allergy symptoms and prevent the progression of a person’s allergic disease,” Kagen concluded.

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Dr. Steve Kagen is a former Member of Congress 2006 – 2010 and now runs Allergy and Asthma Clinics in Appleton, Oshkosh, Green Bay, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Visit his web site at kagenallergy.com