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Winter Allergies: How to Deal with Indoor Allergy Triggers

If you have allergies, you may want to breathe a long, sneeze-free sigh of relief as winter approaches. Unfortunately, the chilly weather that puts pollen-producing trees and grass to sleep can also keep people inside, increasing their chance of developing indoor allergies.

Winter may appear to provide a respite for people with outdoor allergies, but it also presents new issues for interior allergy sufferers.

As you spend more time indoors, you may become exposed to common allergens such as dust mites, pet dander, cockroaches, and mold.

If you suffer from indoor allergies, here are tips from allergy specialists on dealing with them and reducing your exposure.

Dust mites

Dust mites flourish in temperatures of 70 degrees or higher and humidity levels exceeding 75 percent. Turning down the thermostat and using a dehumidifier can help to lessen their presence in your home.

You can reduce dust mite droppings by encasing your mattress, box springs, and pillows in allergen-proof fabric or plastic covers. You also should wash your bedding regularly in hot water and dry in a hot dryer.

If you are allergic to dust mites, the AAAAI recommends regularly removing wall-to-wall carpeting and cleaning throw rugs.

With all of this in mind, you should note that you cannot eliminate dust mites and will continue to be allergic to them. The only thing you can do is to make your home and body as unfriendly to them as possible.

If you develop dust mite allergies, you can use plenty of medications to your advantage.

Medications such as antihistamines, corticosteroids, and decongestants may offer some relief. Nasal irrigation systems like the Neti Pot can help flush out irritants.

You also should take advantage of immunotherapy, which involves training the immune system to become less susceptible to mites using tablets or shots.

Cockroaches

Cockroach droppings are an allergen; thus, the AAAAI recommends blocking all openings, crevices, and windows where the bugs could enter your home.

Similarly, replace and plug all leaking faucets and pipes to prevent cockroaches from getting the water they require to survive.

Cleanliness is also a defense against roaches. Keep food covered and wash all dishes, including pet food dishes, after each use. After meals, vacuum and clean the floor and dispose of rubbish in cans with tight lids.

You should also regularly clean your stove and other kitchen surfaces and behind appliances where crumbs tend to accumulate.

Household pets

Most doctors recommend that those who are allergic to animal dander should avoid having pets with feathers or fur.

This is because there are no such things as hypoallergenic pets.

Certain proteins in hairy animal saliva, dead skin flakes, or urine cause allergic reactions in humans. According to the AAAAI, all dogs and cats carry these proteins.

To stay safe, you should keep your pet away from the bedroom and other areas where you spend a lot of time.

You should also sweep carpets regularly using a vacuum with a HEPA filter, and consider removing any wall-to-wall carpeting and leaving bare floors.

Bathing and brushing your pets regularly may help lessen symptoms. If you have animal allergies, avoid grooming your pets; if you have to groom them, wear a mask.

When you are not at home, keep pets out by closing your bedrooms’ doors and covering the vents with a bulky material such as cheesecloth.

Animal allergens are sticky. To remove the allergen, frequently wash and replace your animal’s favorite furniture and toys.

Indoor mold

Repairing and sealing leaky roofs or pipes and using a dehumidifier in moist basements can help prevent indoor mold. To avoid mildew, empty the water pan and clean the units regularly.

You can clean any mold that has formed on hard surfaces with water, soap, and a 5% bleach solution.

Avoid installing carpet on concrete or damp flooring, and don’t store objects in damp areas of your home.

When should you see an allergy doctor?

In most cases, when you do the above, you have few chances of having allergies. Even if the allergies come, they often go away after some time and aren’t too problematic.

While this is the case, in some cases, they become so severe that you have to see a doctor. Some of the situations when you have to see a doctor include:

Symptoms Persist: If your symptoms persist despite taking over-the-counter allergy medications or using home remedies to decrease allergen exposure, it’s best to seek medical attention.

Severe allergy symptoms: Symptoms such as prolonged coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, or chest tightness, necessitate rapid medical care.

Impact on Daily Life: If your indoor allergies have a substantial impact on your daily activities, work, or sleep, you should see a doctor for additional evaluation and treatment.

Allergy Testing: Consult an allergist if you believe specific indoor allergens are affecting your symptoms. Allergy testing can help determine triggers and direct specific treatments.

Medication Side Effects: If you have unpleasant reactions to allergy drugs or find them ineffective, your doctor can offer other therapies or changes to your present medication regimen.

Chronic or recurring sinus infections may be associated with indoor allergens. A doctor can assess your symptoms and provide suitable treatment.

Development of New Symptoms: If you acquire new or worsening allergy symptoms, especially if they differ from your regular indoor allergy symptoms, it is important to get medical attention for a thorough examination and diagnosis.

Remember that everyone’s allergy triggers and symptoms are unique, so consult an allergy doctor Germantown MD for specialized guidance and treatment tailored to your specific needs.

The last thing you can do is take the medication meant for someone else or go for a treatment regimen designed for another person.

When hiring an allergy professional, don’t hire the first one you come across. Instead, you should take your time and find an experienced and reputable one to help diagnose and treat the condition.

4 Ways to Manage Hay Fever

A hay fever is an allergic reaction when grass or tree pollen enters your mouth, nose, eyes, or throat. As it would against a virus, your immune system tries to combat the pollen, which results in an allergic reaction and the accompanying symptoms.

Depending on the amounts of grass, weed, and tree pollen and the materials you are allergic to, hay fever can linger for weeks or months, in contrast to the typical cold, which often only lasts a week or two.

Nearly 19 million people in America suffer from hay fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source.

The typical symptoms of the condition include:

Runny nose, congestion, watery, red, or irritated eyes, sneezing, coughing

While hay fever can have symptoms lasting for extended periods of time, it’s not hard to manage. You can do it even without having to see an allergist. Some of the things you need to do to manage the condition include:

Track the pollen count

Knowing the pollen count, you can better anticipate and prepare for peak pollen days. This means you can take the necessary precautions to reduce exposure and better manage the symptoms.

Through proper tracking, you know when to take the medications. Antihistamines and nasal corticosteroids are the most common medications for hay fever that function best when taken before allergen exposure.

By monitoring pollen levels, you can easily schedule when to take the medications; consequently, you can easily manage the condition.

When you know the high pollen counts, you can easily take precautions to limit your exposure to pollen. When you know you will have a high pollen count, you get to close windows, use air purifiers, and stay inside when pollen counts are at their highest.

To certain people, hay fever can worsen pre-existing respiratory diseases like asthma or cause severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis). By monitoring pollen counts, you can be proactive and avert emergencies.

Observing the pollen count over time can help you recognize trends and patterns. Regular planning lets you tell the times of year when symptoms are at their worst and modify your lifestyle choices accordingly.

Finally, knowing your daily pollen count gives you peace. This is because you have control over exposing yourself. With this knowledge, you can manage the allergies and lessen the unpredictable nature of symptom flare-ups.

Installing a pollen count app on your phone is one of the best ways to track the pollen count. There are free and paid apps you can go for. Of course, the paid versions will often have better features, so if you can afford them, these are the best.

Stop smoking

Smoking can worsen hay fever symptoms by irritating the lining of your airways, resulting in a dry, uncomfortable cough.

As much as it’s easy to say that you should stop smoking, it’s pretty hard. Thankfully, you have a few options to support you if you’re trying to give up or reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke.

One option is to consider nicotine replacement therapies. These include gums, patches, lozenges, inhalators, and sprays that supply the body with little nicotine while eliminating tar, carbon monoxide, and other toxins in cigarettes.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist for advice on which type of NRT would be best for you if you’re unsure.

Manage the pets

Your favorite fluffy animals tend to bring pollen and other allergens, which can worsen the symptoms. To ensure this doesn’t happen, you need to control the pets.

One way to control the pets is by having pet-free zones in your house. Ideally, the bedroom and any other spaces where you spend a lot of time should fall under this category. By keeping these spaces free of dander, you’ll have a place to go when your allergies flare up.

Regular pet grooming can help lower the quantity of dander and loose fur. To stop pet dander from getting inside, brush your pet outside. Consider getting your pet professionally groomed if it has thick or lengthy fur.

Use medication

There are plenty of medication options in the market that you can use to manage your condition. Some of the options that you can go with include:

Antihistamines: Antihistamines prevent the body’s allergic reaction to pollen, which helps control minor hay fever symptoms. They are most frequently found as tablets and liquids, which you can take as needed to assist you in managing your symptoms or as often as necessary during the season.

To determine which antihistamine is best for you, consult your allergy doctor.

Nasal sprays: Pollen tends to induce inflammation of the nasal lining. If you have trouble with a runny or clogged nose, sneezing, or both, you can use nasal spray in addition to antihistamines.

Many over-the-counter nasal sprays are available to assist in reducing the symptoms of hay fever. For instructions on how to use these products, always read the instructions that come with them. If they prove to be ineffective, discuss prescription-only treatment with your doctor.

Eye drops: There are plenty of allergy relief eye drops that you can use to alleviate dryness, discomfort, and watering of the eyes.

Ask your allergy specialist Manassas VA if you’re unsure which eye drops are right for you.

Barrier balm: Stop pollen from entering your nasal passage to protect the body’s major entry point. To help your nostrils capture pollen and prevent it from spreading, dab a small amount of petroleum jelly around the opening of your nose.

Sunglasses: Although not a type of medication, they are vital in protecting and helping you manage the symptoms.

Wearing the appropriate shades can help protect your eyes from the sun and be a useful addition to your regular hayfever regimen. Wear wraparound styles if you have hay fever since they help keep pollen out of your eyes.

Ways to Treat Your Kid’s Seasonal Allergies

asthma information

If your child experiences itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, or throat clearing as the seasons change, there’s a strong possibility they’re reacting to pollen, a typical cause of seasonal allergies.

Thankfully, you can treat seasonal allergies in several ways in your child. Some of the ways to do it include:

Use over-the-counter medications

The nearby drugstore aisle has first-line remedies for seasonal allergies. You can buy all of them over the counter.

Some medications you can go for include Antihistamines, steroid nasal sprays, and eye drops. For children with severe symptoms, you can combine antihistamines and intranasal steroids.

If your child needs daily treatment for chronic problems, try intranasal steroids.

Oral antihistamines

Antihistamines, whether liquid or tablet, can immediately relieve seasonal allergy symptoms. When in the market, look for cetirizine, levocetirizine, loratadine, and fexofenadine in brand-name and generic forms. They typically work in 30 minutes and do not cause drowsiness in children.

In terms of drowsiness, allergists do not recommend diphenhydramine (brand name Benadryl) for youngsters due to sedation and other safety issues.

To stay safe, use one of the newer oral antihistamines with a lengthy track record of safety and effectiveness.

Nasal sprays

Steroid nasal sprays are highly effective at reducing nasal channel edema and irritation, which causes congestion. Fluticasone propionate, fluticasone furoate, and triamcinolone are among the pediatric versions you can go for.

The good side is that, unlike antihistamines, the effect does not occur immediately. You must give it to your child constantly for several days, sometimes up to two weeks before symptom alleviation occurs.

Azelastine, a nasal antihistamine available without a prescription, is another possibility. While it’s highly effective, you should note that the spray may induce drowsiness if you have a stuffy, runny, or itchy nose or sneezing, so use it in moderation.

Allergy shots

If over-the-counter medications aren’t alleviating a child’s problems, allergy shots may be the solution. While they are great, you should avoid giving them to children under five.

However, they can be an excellent solution for some school-aged children and teenagers. You should consider allergy shots if they’re on an antihistamine and a nasal steroid and still have a running nose and congestion.

Allergy shots are often administered in the doctor’s office every two to four weeks and operate by desensitizing how the immune system responds to an allergen.

So, you’re treating a child’s symptoms and modifying their allergy. A trace amount of the allergen is injected beneath the skin. The relief, however, is not immediate. In most cases, you may see symptom improvement after a year, so you should be patient.

Making lifestyle changes

Because pollen is airborne and can travel large distances, it is impossible to avoid it completely. Monitor pollen counts in your neighborhood to reduce your child’s exposure during peak times.

Consider varying your activities when the pollen counts are high. For example, instead of going to the park, you can go to the movies or stay indoors.

Keeping your windows closed can limit the amount of pollen in your home or car. Bathing or showering your child and changing into clean clothes after being outside will help to limit the spread of these allergens indoors.

Don’t forget about your pets. Your dog or cat’s fur may transport pollen into your home. Consider wiping their fur after going outside. You also should bathe the kids more frequently and keep the pollen out of your child’s room.

Under the tongue tablets

Sublingual immunotherapy, often known as under-the-tongue tablets, works in the same manner that allergy injections do.

The good side is that there will be no needles.

Each dose is administered by placing a dissolvable tablet under the child’s tongue. In the office, a doctor administers the initial dose and monitors for side effects. Following that, the child takes one tablet daily at home during allergy season.

Sublingual immunotherapy is currently approved for grass and ragweed allergies in the United States. It is unsuitable for youngsters allergic to tree pollen, one of the most prevalent spring allergens.

Seeing an allergist

Children with well-controlled symptoms may not require allergy testing. However, if over-the-counter drugs aren’t working and your child is unhappy, an allergist can help.

When you visit a pediatric allergist, they will guide your family through the treatment options and allergy testing procedure.

When a child’s allergic condition becomes difficult to treat or causes consequences, such as chronic ear or sinus infections, asthma episodes, or eczema flares, the allergist will help you control symptoms and offer additional prescription drugs.

Allergy testing gives you peace of mind and valuable information about the cause of your child’s sniffling and sneezing.

People sometimes attribute symptoms to pollen when caused by a dust mite or pet allergy, which may necessitate year-round medication and different management strategies.

Through testing, your doctor will tell you the best way to control the condition and the best medications to try.

Parting shot

Seasonal allergies affect about one in every five children, which is expected to rise as climate change causes longer pollen seasons and increased pollen production.

Pollen from oak, birch trees, and other plants are infamous for causing springtime allergy problems in different areas.

A child experiencing allergy symptoms throughout the summer may be allergic to grass pollen. Weed allergies become more prevalent in the fall.

Waiting until your child is unhappy from sneezing and sniffling may require considerably more medication to control symptoms, so it’s good to catch the problem before it develops.

One of the ways to do it is to change their lifestyle, where they spend most of their time indoors. If you do this and the kid still gets sick, don’t worry, as you can use plenty of medications to your advantage.

Besides the medications, also think about taking your child to an allergy specialist Manassas VA. The specialist will undertake a battery of tests to help you understand the nature of the allergy better and how to get over it.

Tips to Handle a Harsh Allergy Season

If you suffer from allergies and the allergy season is coming, you can do several things to make the season more forgiving.

Buy medication

If you suspect that your symptoms may worsen, your usual medications may not work either, so you may need to try new ones or combine them to find relief.

Several over-the-counter and prescription treatments are available to alleviate allergy symptoms. Many doctors recommend nasal steroid sprays like Nasonex (with a prescription) or Flonase as the first line of treatment.

While they are good, they may take several days or weeks to relieve stuffiness and sneezing, so it is best to use them early in the season before your symptoms worsen.

Antihistamines, whether sprays like Astelin, tablets like Allegra, Claritin, or Zyrtec, or eye drops like Optivar, are other options as they have a more rapid effect.

Decongestants such as Afrin or Sinex come in handy. Don’t rush to use them, even if you can access them, as they can have a rebound effect.

After a few days, the blood vessels in your nose become less receptive to the drug, and you may experience severe congestion again. Limit these medications to no more than three days in a row.

If you have already tried numerous over-the-counter allergy medications, and none gives you your desired results, consult your allergy doctor about prescription choices. The allergy specialist will help you plan ahead of time for your unique allergies so you are safe when the allergy season kicks in.

Wash your sinuses

If you don’t want to take medications, consider nasal irrigation. The technique dates back thousands of years, and its efficacy is supported by plenty of studies.

You need to pour a saline solution into one nostril using a neti pot, bulb syringe, or squeeze bottle and let it drain out the other.

The procedure is simple but helps flush out pollen, mucus, and other allergens in your nasal cavity. As a result, you may feel less congested and use less allergy medicine if you have to.

Plan your outdoor time accordingly.

Many well-known weather apps and websites offer “allergy forecasts” or pollen counts. The National Allergy Bureau website lists more than 80 stations around the United States that provide more specific daily pollen reports depending on different plant types.

You can choose the station closest to you and receive notifications for your pollen allergy.

Pollen counts are often highest between early morning and midmorning and on hot, dry, windy days. You can limit the quantity of pollen you come into contact with if you exercise indoors during certain times or run errands later in the evening.

If you are prone to allergy symptoms and need to go out in the morning or do yardwork, don a high-quality N95 mask, which you may already have for coronavirus protection. This will aid in pollen removal.

Reduce the pollen in your home.

Avoid bringing pollen back inside after being outside. When you arrive home, take your shoes off and change your clothes. Shower before bed to eliminate pollen from your skin.

As much as you love them, avoid sleeping with your dogs. Even if you aren’t allergic to your pets, pollen is on their coats, which might cause you to react.

To improve your sleep, try zipping up your mattress and pillows in hypoallergenic encasements, washing bedding once a week in hot soapy water, and using a dryer instead of a clothesline.

You also should make it a habit of cleaning and replacing your air conditioner filter with one with a MERV of 11 or higher.

These filters can capture small pollen particles. If you suffer from severe allergies, consider investing in a professional-style HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter for your bedroom.

HEPA filters with a MERV value of 17 or higher often remove 99 percent of pollen, animal dander, dust, and other particles, leaving your house’s insides safe and allergen-free.

You also should try to close your windows and use an air conditioner. If, on the other hand, you are allergic to indoor allergens such as mold and dust, open the windows and allow in fresh air to help eliminate allergens from your home.

Try immunotherapy

If allergies interfere with your daily life, you should speak with your doctor about immunotherapy for long-term relief.

After a skin prick test or blood test confirms which pollen you are allergic to, your doctor may offer subcutaneous allergy immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots.

This entails a series of injections every week or month, including trace amounts of the pollen to which you are allergic. The dose progressively increases, making your immune system less sensitive to the allergen.

The Food and Drug Administration has begun to approve another type of immunotherapy known as sublingual immunotherapy.

Here tiny amounts of pollen are delivered in tablet form, and you place them under the tongue for one to two minutes before ingesting them. While studies are still ongoing, the only medications that are now approved are for allergies to dust mites, ragweed, and northern pasture grasses. At the same time, other tablets are being examined in clinical trials.

Patience is required for both types of immunotherapy. In most cases, symptom relief could take six months to a year. However, you may need to continue the medication for up to five years before your body can reliably ignore your triggers.

Immunotherapy may be great when it works. If you have been suffering from yearly stuffy noses and itchy eyes and are after successful treatment, you should find an experienced allergy specialist to guide you.

Parting shot

These are some of the ways you can deal with seasonal allergies. To have an easy time treating the condition, don’t ignore the condition regardless of how minor the symptoms appear.

You should listen to your body and rest, go to bed early, or take a sick day. Excessive activity and running around when sick can only make you feel worse.

You also should consider visiting an allergy specialist Manassas for treatment.

How Do Allergists Test For Allergies?

Are you thinking about visiting an allergy center for an allergy test and wondering how do allergists test for allergies? There are plenty of ways they go about it with the common ones being:

Skin prick test (SPT)

It’s probably the most popular test you can have when you visit an allergy clinic. And the doctors love them for a reason—they are accurate and affordable.

Popularly known as SPT, the skin prick test is often carried out on the inner forearm but in some circumstances, it can be carried out on the other parts of the body such as at the back.

When you visit the clinic, the doctor places a small drop of allergen on your skin then pricks the skin with a lancet through the drop. If you are allergic to the allergens placed on your skin, you develop localized allergic response characterized by swelling, redness, and itching.

In most cases, the larger the wheal, the more likely you will be allergic to the allergen.

Intradermal skin test

This is a close cousin of the skin prick test and it consists of injecting a small amount of the allergen extract into your skin using a syringe and needle.

Doctors use this test when they suspect that you might be having allergies even after showing negative skin prick test results.

Allergy patch test

Also known as the epicutaneous test, this test is done to determine the allergen causing contact dermatitis and it’s performed by placing patches with different substances such as metals, foods, rubber chemicals and others on the skin of the back.

The doctor can place many patches depending on the substances that the doctor suspects you might be allergic to.

After the doctor has placed the patches on your back, he removes them after 48 hours then makes the reading after 72-96 hours.

If you are allergic to the substance placed on your back, you should develop a local rash.

You should note that immunomodulators and systemic corticosteroids can interfere with the results so always tell the doctor if using them.

Blood tests

There are two main types of blood tests that your doctor can undertake: total serum IgE or specific IgE.

The total IgE test measures all the IgE in the blood and it’s not often accurate as the IgE levels can be driven up by various factors such as skin diseases, virus infections, fungi, malignancies, and others.

The specific IgE test on the other hand is more accurate as it focuses on one individual allergen. The test is commonly used in children that are intolerant to skin allergies.

Here the doctor takes a blood sample and sends it to the laboratory. The lab then adds the allergen to the blood then measures the number of antibodies the blood produces to attack the allergens.

Oral food challenge test

This is a highly accurate diagnostic test for food allergies and doctors will undertake it after they have failed to get a definitive diagnosis even after performing the skin prick and blood tests.

During the test, the doctor feeds you the food he suspects you might be allergic to and observes you for a period. If there is a reaction such as flushing or hives, the allergy doctor Manassas VA will stop the test.

If there are no reactions after you have taken all the food, the doctor rules out food allergies.

If there is a reaction and the doctor confirms you are allergic to food, he will advise you on the foods to avoid and even prescribe the appropriate medications, often antihistamines to relieve the reactions.

What Are The 4 Types Of Allergic Reactions?

If you are searching for, what are the 4 types of allergic reactions? You must be suffering from allergies, and you have heard your allergy doctor talking about the classification of allergic reactions.

Allergy reactions are indeed classified into four types: Type I, II, III, and IV.

Type I, II, and III are characterized as immediate allergic reactions as they happen within 24 hours of exposure to the allergen, while type IV reactions happen after 24 hours of exposure. Due to this, they are referred to delayed allergic reactions.

You are here because you want to learn more about the reactions, right? So let us dig deeper into them:

Type I reactions

They are also known as anaphylactic reactions, and they are mediated by proteins known as IgE antibodies produced in response to allergens such as dust mites, animal dander, pollen, and certain foods. Due to this reaction, the body releases histamine and other chemicals that cause inflammation and swelling.

Type I reactions include: food allergies, bronchial asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, anaphylaxis, and allergic rhinitis. Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of reaction, and when it happens, you should treat it as a medical emergency as it’s deadly. People with the condition experience extreme difficulty in breathing, low blood pressure, swelling, shock, and bluish skin.

Type II reaction

It’s also known as a Cytotoxic reaction, and it’s mediated by IgG and IgM antibodies. These antibodies damage the body cells by activating a complement system. Common type II reactions are common autoimmune neutropenia, immune thrombocytopenia, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Type III reactions

They also come about due to IgM and IgG antibodies, and the antibodies react with the allergen to form immunocomplexes responsible for the reaction. You can see type III reactions in lupus, Arthus reaction, and serum sickness.

Type IV reactions

They also go by the name cell-mediated reactions, and they occur 24 hours of exposure to the allergen. The reactions take 48-72 hours or longer to appear after coming into contact with the allergen. These reactions are often common in long-term infectious diseases such as fungal infections and tuberculosis. They are also common in skin sensitivity reactions, such as metal reactions.

Where do the common allergies fall?

Most allergies fall under type I hypersensitivity, and this includes allergic rhinitis characterized by running nose, eyes, and sneezing.

Two common allergic rhinitis categories are seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) and perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR). SAR is associated with exposure to pollen at certain times of the year, while PAR occurs all around the year.

Allergic rhinitis is common and affects over 20 million people in the United States.

Other allergies that fall under type I reaction are food, dry, and insect allergy. Insects that can lead to allergies include: wasps, yellow jackets, ants, bees, and hornets.

The major allergens for the common allergies are animal dander, pollen, fungal spores, dust mites, and molds. The common symptoms for the condition include: shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and thick mucus secretions.

Is there a treatment for allergic reactions?

The best way to treat allergic reactions is to prevent them from occurring in the first place by avoiding the allergens, but if the reaction has already happened, try controlling it using medications. The cool thing is there are plenty of medications you can use. You only need to visit an allergy specialist doctor Manassas VA to prescribe the best one for your condition.

Some of the medications you can use include:

Antihistamines for seasonal and indoor allergies
Nasal corticosteroids for nasal allergies
Decongestants to reduce stuffiness
Mast cell stabilizers to help with itchy, watery eyes and runny nose
Oral corticosteroids to reduce swelling and stop severe allergic reactions
Epinephrine for life-threatening anaphylaxis

What You Need to Know about Allergic Rhinitis

Sneezing is often associated with colds and often results in stuffy or runny nose and watery eyes. To help alleviate your cold symptoms, doctors would usually prescribe cold medications to lessen your sniffles. But if you sneeze a lot, suddenly feel itchy all over, or end up with runny nose and watery eyes even without symptoms of colds, chances are you may have allergic rhinitis.

It is said that around 40 to 60 million – or even more – Americans suffer from allergic rhinitis. Also known as hay fever, this condition often affects your nasal area. If you think you have allergic rhinitis, you should consult an allergist doctor near you and given the right medications to manage the condition.

Knowing more about allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis usually occurs when you inhale something that you are allergic to, such as pollen, pet dander, or a certain perfume. This condition also occurs if you ingest something that you are allergic as well, such as seafood or eggs. However, the more commonly known type of allergic rhinitis is more on the former wherein you experience adverse reactions upon inhalation of an allergic.

There are instances wherein a person do not realize he or she is allergic to something unless already inhaled or ingested. In such cases, it can result in the manifestation of similar symptoms as in common colds such as a runny and stuffy nose, and watery eyes. If you experience this after suspicion of getting into contact with a potential allergen, head to the nearest allergy clinic immediately.

As mentioned, allergic rhinitis or hay fever is usually triggered by a pollen allergic reaction. In other words, it may happen when you are outdoors as they may come from plants and then blown away by the wind. However, it can also happen indoors especially if you are not fond of regular dusting and if you have furry pets.

Types of allergic rhinitis

It is important to note that allergic rhinitis or hay fever has two major forms: seasonal and perennial. The former occurs especially during springtime to early fall, and are usually caused by airborne spores or pollen from trees, weeds, and grass.

The latter, on the other hand, happens all year-round. It can be caused by indoor or outdoor allergen triggers like dust mites, pollen, pet dander. Some food allergies may also result in perennial allergic rhinitis, although this is a rare instance. In some cases, there are people who experience both.

That is why you should consult an allergy doctor if you experience possible symptoms of hay fever. An allergy specialist doctor will provide medications and treatment to help manage your condition. At the same time, it will prevent your condition from worsening which can lead to further complications.

Symptoms

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology or AAAAI revealed that there is around eight percent of American adults suffer from hay fever. On the other hand, it is also believed that as much as 30 percent of the total global population have this condition.

An allergy physician and other allergy experts suggest getting treatment from allergies if you or someone you know experience one or more of the following symptoms.

Repetitive sneezing
Runny, stuffy, and itchy nose
Itchy or sore throat
Coughing
Itchy and watery eyes (usually accompanied with sneezing and runny nose)
Itchy and dry skin, or hives in worse cases
Fatigue and headache

These symptoms usually show up as immediately as you come into contact with an allergen. On the other hand, some of the symptoms such as fatigue and headache may occur following long-term exposure to the specified allergens. Nevertheless, it is best to consult an allergist doctor to help manage your condition.

Treatment

Doctors would normally prescribe antihistamines to help manage allergic symptoms. Antihistamines work by halting the production of histamines in the body, of which the latter contribute to the allergic reactions. Among common over-the-counter antihistamine medications include loratadine (popularly known as Claritin), cetirizine (also known as Zyrtec), and diphenhydramine (generic name of Benedryl).

Some are also given nasal decongestants to relieve sinus pressure and stuffy nose. However, prolonged use of these products can result in a rebound effect and make the condition worse. Also, it is better to consult an allergist first before taking or using these medications.

Finding an allergy expert near you

If you experience any symptoms of allergic rhinitis, never delay treatment. Instead, visit the best allergist in Germantown MD immediately for proper treatment.