Wind that Brings a Tear to Your Eye: Tropical Pollen
Tara A. Spears
There are so many things to enjoy when visiting tropical Mexico. Have you ever wondered why there are so many types of eye drops prominently displayed right next to the five racks of stomach medicine? Living in a warm, frost-free climate means that what are ‘seasonal allergies’ NOTB are a year round occurrence in western Mexico. Fortunately, the majority of people don’t have pollen allergies; for those that do experience the swollen, itchy, watery eyes when exposed to pollen, keep the over the counter eye drops with you. Sitting on the beach letting the clean ocean air will help!
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 300 million people worldwide are affected by asthma and millions more from allergic eyes and rhinitis. Mexico’s Ministry of Health records that an average of 15 working days per year per patient can be lost on average, depending on the severity of the cases due to the prevalence of pollen producing plants.
Originally I started to identify the specific grasses, plants and trees that are irritants but there are literally hundreds of species! I went to the local eye doctor, Opti-Duran on Bahia de Guayamas street No 6 in La Penita, for recommended eye drops and tips. Dr. Duran suggests using the drops three times a day during the dry season to ease discomfort. Any hike through the jungle or near wild vegetation is going to expose you to pollen so it doesn’t matter if you can name the plants.
Ragweed is one of the top seasonal-allergy sources in North America and Mexico. Climate change has lengthened its pollen season by 27 days since 1995. Most trees and grasses have finished pollinating by late summer, but ragweed is just getting started. Ragweed releases pollen at dawn, with airborne levels often spiking from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m., depending on wind and dew. (Dry, windy days are worst.)
Pecan trees like this one make more than just sturdy timber and nutritious nuts. They’re also major sources of allergenic pollen, and they aren’t alone: At least 11 other hickory trees also cause severe pollinosis, including the bitter-nut, mockernut and shellbark hickories. The Artemisia genus contains an army of allergenic plants, most of which are called wormwood, sagebrush or mugwort.
According to Pollen Library, they may be the top overall source of pollinosis after ragweed and grasses. Nettle (urtica dioica), stramonium (dature stramonium) is an aggressive irritating wild plant and the La tuera (citrullus colocynthis) are abundant in Nayarit. Even those beautiful exotic palm trees can bring on the tears when flowering. At least that one is easy to avoid!
Those delicious tropical fruits that we all enjoy have annoying blooms: mango, papaya, yuka, jackfruit, and more will turn an allergy sufferer’s eyes red and watery. There is some pollen producing plant blooming every week, all year long. It will take a while for your eyes to react to the pollens so it won’t ruin your vacation. It’s easy to be prepared and have allergy eye drops handy.
It’s great that in Jaltemba Bay the breeze generally comes from the west, from over the ocean making it comfortable to hang out at the beach. If your eyes become itchy, resist rubbing with your hands and splash on eye drops. No need to rush drinking that cold margarita!