Living in Costa Rica Retirement Relocation Tours.

Allergies in the Tropics

Costa Rica has excellent specialists who have many years treating people with allergies

Anyone thinking of Costa Rica as a place to retire should be aware that some people suffer  from seasonal allergies here. Because  we have about seven months of rain (the rainy season is longer than the summer here) and three months of very windy weather allergens flourish in tropical country like Costa Rica. There are many types of molds, pollens and weeds which may affect people.

Some of the people I interviewed for this article said they had allergies when they lived in the States and they went away when they moved to Costa Rica. While other people said they never had allergies until they moved here. If you have had allergies in the past you should come here on a trial visit of a few months to see how the climate affects you.

The good news is that Costa Rica has excellent specialists who have many years treating people with allergies. They will be able to tell you what course of treatment you need to follow to keep your allergies at bay or under control. Periodically I am bothered by Rhinitis and other allergies and have to visit my specialist. His name is Mauricio Buitrago and he works at the Clínca Bíblica in San José. I am extremely please with his services.

Here are what some expats say about their bouts with allergies in Costa Rica.

(1) “I have lived in Ballena de Osa for just over 2 years now. I never had any allergies in the States other than to a couple of foods. Now I have asthma in the dry season and it seems to be at the same time that many trees in our area are turning yellow. It is very mild, bearable  and definately worth any inconvenience.“

(2) “I have had just the opposite happen to me in Costa Rica.  I use to have a few allergies before I came to Costa Rica.  They were mainly nasal problems.  Dust and some types pollen used to cause real problems for me in California.   I moved to Costa Rica and haven’t experienced any allergies.” - Henry

(3) “Funny you should mention allergies. The rainy season has been hard on us… this is our third; the first two were bearable and, while we all sneezed more and suffered prolonged post nasal drip, I chalked up the extra stuffiness to the cold. But this year, it’s a little over the top because of the large amount of rain we have had.” - Sara