It is the middle of spring, and that mean allergies will be flaring up right now. Tissue will be flying off the shelves of the supermarkets and even faster flying into the trash cans closest to the person using the tissue’s runny nose.

This year pollen the amount of pollen in the air seems to have gotten greater and Skyline is a campus surrounded by local flora that drop pollen all over, much to the dismay of sufferers of Hay Fever.

“They kind of use hay fever as a general term for allergies,” said Lisa Marlowe R.N., one of the nurses working at Skyline’s health center.

The scientific name for hay fever, is Allergic Rhinitis and can come from all manner of things indoors and out. Ironically hay doesn’t cause an allergic reaction and it isn’t a fever.

When the body comes into contact with things like pollen, mold, dust, or air pollutants such as tobacco, the body produces antibodies, known as histamine, which causes irritation, and swelling to sensitive areas such as the eyes, nose and sinuses.

Allergies typically have symptoms of stuffy/ runny nose with clear mucus, throat irritation. If there it is a skin allergy there can be itchiness, a rash, or blistering skin.

Skyline is fortunate to have a health center that can aid those who need to combat allergies. The health center has medication and information for anyone who is sick, including those who suffer from allergies.

“We provide Benadryl and Sudafed, and all sorts of anti-inflammatory medication,” Marlowe said.

Marlowe also says they provide information in a variety of forms from including books and pamphlets. They provide books that are purely medical, but they if requested they also can provide books that use a holistic approach to medicine.

People may not be aware that the health center provides allergy medication and treatment, because Marlowe says she rarely deals with allergy symptoms.

“In my experience it has been more about colds and the flu, not so much allergies,” Marlowe said.

Marlowe encourages people to come to the health center if they need to. Whether it is about allergies or some other sickness or even just to gather information.

“One of our roles here is to do education,” Marlowe said.