Ah, the springtime is such a lovely time of year ... if only the blue skies and budding flowers weren't accompanied by allergy symptoms so miserable you're scared to even go outside. SO unfair! Plus, unlike a case of the winter sniffles, allergies don't generally come and go after just a few days. Seasonal allergies = allergies all season long. Ain't nobody got time for that!

If you're one of the dwindling few who don't suffer a slew of unbearably uncomfortable symptoms this time of year, you'll consider yourself lucky after checking out our choices for the 11 worst things about these highly allergenic months -- illustrated by priceless photos of kids who clearly know the specific brand of torture we're talking about. (If you DO have allergies, these will probably make you laugh. Or cry. Or both.)

Feeling the spring pollen allergies yet? Here's some really weird news. Apparently being born in the U.S. puts you at a higher risk for allergies. Kids born outside the US are less likely to have allergy diseases like asthma, eczema, hay fever, and food allergies than kids born here. And even if you're born outside the U.S., your chances of coming down with those allergy diseases is higher if you move here. Yikes, why are so many of us allergic to America?

Well, the short story is doctors don't really know for certain. But they have a few ideas. Here's what some suspect are causing our allergies, and what you might want to do about it.

There are hundreds of things that cause us to itch uncontrollably, but recent research claims that we should be blaming one newly discovered nerve receptor called MrgprA3. Its only job appears to be to make us itch. So annoying!

Still, we can't forget to address the origin of the itch that's setting the nerve receptor off in the first place. Here, six sneaky culprits behind chronic itching ...

I have been suffering with seasonal allergies for as long as I can remember. While I dreamed of spring during the cold winter months, it undoubtedly would mean both warmer weather and watery, itchy eyes. Unfortunately, my little boy has them too. That means we both have to pop antihistamines all season long so we can get through the day without rubbing our noses raw. But I was amazed to learn there are places where allergies are virtually non-existent. Places where the only stuffy noses occur during a bad cold. Places where the sight of a field of flowers doesn't simultaneously evoke a smile and a sneeze. If only I had known before settling down in NYC! Take a look at the best places to live if you have allergies.

I adore spring and look forward to it like a life raft every single, frigid, snow-packed winter. This winter especially! But I guess you've gotta take the bad with the good, and without fail, as soon as the the temperatures start to rise, so does the frequency with which we're all sneezing and coughing and phlegm-y and eww. And it's not cuz we're sick most of the time. It's because spring is in the air! And we're suffering from allergies. Boo hoo.

If you're wondering if you've got it worst than most thanks to where you live, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AFA) has released their annual list of the worst cities for spring allergies -- based on pollen scores, number of allergy meds per patient, and number of allergy specialists per patient -- so you really can figure out where yours stands and prepare accordingly. 

Here, the top 10 ...

When most people say they're allergic to exercise, it just means they hate it. But not for Kasia Beaver. When she says she's allergic to exercise, it's not just an excuse to lounge around eating Cheetos. She really IS allergic to exercise. Who knew?!!! It took years for Kasia to be diagnosed because this condition is so rare, but finally doctors figured out she has something called exercise-induced angioedema, or EIA. Whenever her heart starts beating rapidly and she sweats, she has all of the symptoms of an extreme allergic reaction -- swollen eyes, hives, her throat can even close up.

Food allergies are a scary thing. Growing up, I don't remember having any friends with food allergies. Kids came to my house for a party and ate whatever was served. Not one parent would be fussing around, demanding to know if there was cashew butter in the cake frosting. But the times have changed, and now it seems like pretty much every kid I know has a food allergy. I've had an up close view of serious food allergies for a very long time, thanks to my friend Amy (not her real name). Amy has a whole host of food allergies, so many that sometimes I've wondered if she were exaggerating or paranoid. But after reading what happend to this teen who died from eating half of a  cookie, I'll never doubt my friend again.

If you happen to have a runny nose right now (and lots of you most likely do, since, 'tis the season and all), this post might scare you. Just a teensy weensy bit. NOT because you're in any real danger. So relax! What happened to 35-year-old mom Aundrea Aragon of Tuscon, Arizona, only happens to 1 in 100,000 people. Okay? So you almost definitely have absolutely nothing to worry about. We're talking RARE.

That's the problem, unfortunately. Aragon's condition was so rare, none of the doctors she went to see even considered it to be a possibility. See, Aragon had a runny nose. A really, really, really runny nose. For over 4 months, copious amounts of a "clear, tasteless fluid leaked out of Aundrea Aragon's nose whenever she bent over." Yuck! The first doctor she saw blamed allergies. So did the second. So did every other doctor she consulted. Aragon knew deep down they were wrong.