New York City now ranks as the 11th worst city for fall allergies, a significant drop from its ranking last year, 73rd, according to a study released yesterday by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

While New York was the only city among the 20 lowest-ranked with a better than average pollen level, allergy sufferers’ heavy use of multiple medications and limited access to doctors led to the city’s low score.

Researchers rated Greenville, S.C., as the worst city for fall allergies this year.

This season has proved to be moderately bad for New Yorkers, with an increased level of ragweed pollen — the common culprit for fall allergies. Dr. Philip Hemmers, a physician in the Allergy and Asthma Division of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, attributes what he describes as a current “ragweed peak” to factors like a mild winter and a dry summer.

While these allergy-inducing changes occur outdoors, the biggest discrepancy between New Yorkers and the average allergy-sufferer takes place indoors, at the pharmacy. While the average patient takes 1.8 allergy medications, New York patients take 2.7 medications, the AAFA reported. The study surveyed purchases of ocular antihistamines, oral antihistamines, and steroidal and non-steroidal nasal sprays.

Yesterday, Christopher Doherty browsed through such medications at a Duane Reade store in Lower Manhattan. He turned over a box of Claritin and skimmed its contents. He said he knew why he needed so many medications for his allergies: No one pill or spray could permanently alleviate his symptoms.

“I’m trying not to take too much,”Mr. Doherty said. “What I find is most anything works, but only for a little while and in varying degrees.”

With unreliable medications and a fickle environment, some experts consider the trial-and-error approach of patients like Mr. Doherty one of the few ways sufferers can seek satisfaction.

“It’s a quality of life issue,” Dr. Hemmers said. “If you can get away with avoidance alone, that’s great, but if it takes a few medications and you don’t suffer any side effects and you’re only using it for two months at most, then it’s not that bad.”

While medications proved prevalent in the study, doctors appeared a bit harder to come by. The study found that there is only one board-certified allergy specialist per 1,000 patients in the city area, with some having waiting periods of four to six weeks. The organization attributed this low number to New York’s dense population.

The study evaluated 100 American cities on pollen levels, the number of allergy medications used per patient, and the number of certified specialists per patient.

Researchers attributed the city’s large drop in the standings to statistical more than environmental differences.

“The jump is not unusual because the data is weighted,” the director of marketing and communications at the AAFA, Mike Tringale, said. “It’s statistically significant, but it’s really not a huge difference.”