With allergy season getting longer, some patients turn to balloon sinuplasty procedure for relief

Allergy season seems to sticking around much longer than it used to.

Experts explain what's causing an uptick in allergies and what doctors, and their patients, are doing about it.

Clear sinuses are a must for entertainer and former Lawrence Welk singer Tanya Roberts. But ever since L.A.'s destructive wildfires in January, she's been suffering nonstop.

"I had a constant runny nose. I would have horrible headaches. When a wind would come, we'd get all these little ashes," she said.

But it's not just the wildfires here in Los Angeles. Studies show the allergy season is getting longer and longer, starting 40 days earlier than it did in the 1990s.

"We're seeing a huge increase in the number of allergy patients. And I think it's a combination of things so we're getting a little bit more rain causing a little bit more pollen," said Ear, Nose and Throat specialist Dr. Marc Kerner with Dignity Health Northridge Hospital.

He said annually Southern Californians are seeing about ten more high pollen count days than we did 30 years ago.

"The amount of people we're seeing now with sinus problems, upper airway allergy asthmatic exacerbations," Kerner said.

Roberts tried everything including nasal sprays, antihistamines and decongestants.

"And when we sort hit the end of the line and we're not getting enough relief. Then we'll go to the next level which is a procedure to actually enlarge those sinus openings and reshape them," she said.

Roberts underwent a procedure called balloon sinuplasty.

"Everything is done through the nose, we have micro instrumentation whether it's a balloon in combination with a micro instrument.. It's like a shaver device," said Kerner.

"I think it went in here and it went to the side and Varoom! It opened the gates and everything started coming down," Roberts said.

Complications are rare, but can include nasal obstruction, numbness, and minor bleeding. Patients usually return to their normal activities a day or two after the procedure. Roberts said the results just keep getting better.

"And what a difference. I can breathe," she said.