As the seasons turn from winter to spring, so does the severity of outdoor student-athlete allergies. Countless high school athletes face their allergies head-on with various treatment methods and strategies in order to best prepare them for their sport.
Before becoming a DVHS mens volleyball player, senior Matthew Kong participated in a variety of outdoor sports, such as baseball, as a kid. Unfortunately, severe allergies to grass and pollen limited his overall participation in the sport.
“One of the first sports I played was Little League baseball. Each game, to counteract my allergies, I had to stuff my pockets with tissues,” Kong recalled. “I was sneezing a lot while playing, so I had difficulty focusing on the game.”
Similarly, senior Christopher Song participates in archery, a sport dictated by outdoor targets, and struggles with frequent allergy episodes throughout the duration of practice. Some sources of his symptoms include the dust that flies through the air while outdoors and the grass that populates the playing field.
“Daily life kinda sucks every day during practice. When the dust is blowing around at the ranges, I just start sneezing everywhere,” Song explained.
Oftentimes asthma, a chronic lung condition, is worsened by severe outdoor allergies. This results in shortness of breath, reduced lung capacity and even wheezing. Even when indoors, Kong noticed his allergies resulting in asthma, affecting him especially during his freshman year.
“During my freshman year when I played basketball, I started to have trouble breathing, so I would use an inhaler before practice,” Kong stated. “Eventually I was able to adapt my lungs to the everyday work and move past my allergies.”
In order to prevent Song’s and Kong’s allergies from spreading further throughout their athletic seasons, each of them have their own strategies that help them perform without restrictions.
“One of my methods is just to bring a ton of tissues combined with daily use of Claritin and Allegra,” Song said.
“My method is to just take allergy meds everyday and just know when my allergies are affecting me,” Kong noted.
Another thing that helps student athletes at Dougherty is the artificial turf in the athletic stadium. The athletic stadium playing surface for sports such as lacrosse, soccer, football and more, removes pollen and weeds, common factors for spring allergies. This ultimately mitigates pollen allergy symptoms, which improves athletic performance during high-endurance sports.
Another common method of eliminating allergies includes a medical procedure called immunotherapy. These procedures utilize either shots or tablets that desensitize the immune system to various allergens such as pollen, grass, ragweed and more. According to a 2024 article titled “What is the Success Rate of Allergy Immunotherapy?” by medical clinic Piniella Asthma and Allergy, patients have a 80-90% success rate over a three year span of consistently receiving the treatment.
While the immunotherapy doesn’t eliminate allergens, it offers a path for allergy symptoms that become less severe over time, leading to a more comfortable experience while playing sports.
“Allergies just suck. Your whole day might be dealing with one runny nose, and as an athlete, I just have to move past them,” Song remarked.
