We are just a few days past the official start of fall and experts are predicting this to be a bad season for allergy sufferers.

Thanks to a optimum growing season and lingering summer warmth, ragweed is flourishing in our region, sending its pollen everywhere. And we haven't gotten much rain to wash it all away.

Boardman allergist, Dr. Asif Khan says he's been getting a lot of call from patients looking for relief.
In addition to medication, he says there's some steps you can take for the inside of your home.

"You can try to mitigate it by shutting your windows. If you do have AC, turn your AC on. If you have air filters in your rooms or home turn them on and help reduce the amount of exposure you get," said Dr. Khan.

And believe it or not, your pets could be making it worse for you.

"They'll run outside and collect all kinds of pollen on their hair and those pollen granules will just shake right off in the house. Some people have a desire to sleep with their pets and now you have 24/7 exposure and you'll never get relief," added Dr. Khan.

Allergies usually bring runny noses, watery eyes and sneezing. The medicines usually help with those symptoms but you have to start them early in the pollen season.

It could be a while before people get relief from these fall pollens since temps are expected to be even warmer next week. We need a hard frost or a freeze to put an end to the pollen for the year.