口罩浑身都是宝啊。lol. 大家多戴口罩，花粉过敏也没了，流感也没了。美国医疗系统得省多少钱啊。
But those who suffer from severe pollen allergies say they plan to keep their noses and mouths secured, at least for now. For them, it makes time outside more bearable and keeps symptoms like sneezing and getting watery eyes or an itchy throat at bay, something they learned last spring when mask mandates took hold.
“I found that masks really help,” said Pratik Mahajan, 25, a software engineer from Somerville. “I might remove it in places in which pollen doesn’t affect me, but outside I think I’ll mostly keep it on. It makes it less severe.”
Allston resident Daniel Kitchener, 34, said he also noticed his seasonal allergy symptoms were less intense when he had his face covered.
“Yes, it would be great breathing in fresh, non-sweaty air,” he said of the perspiration his mask causes in warmer weather. “But at the same time, it’s better for my comfort and health during pollen season.”
Dr. Caroline Sokol, an allergist at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said using masks can “absolutely” help people with severe allergies, something she heard a lot from patients last year when tree pollen was at its peak and face coverings were a constant.
“Now, as we’re taking off our masks, we’re not getting that filtration of large pollen grains,” she said. “If we can reduce inhaling them, then we can do a little bit better.”