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What Diseases Do Allergists Treat?

Have you been advised to see an allergist for your condition, and you are wondering what diseases do allergists treat? Well, they treat a myriad of conditions that include:

Hay fever

Also known as allergy rhinitis or sinus allergy, hay fever is a common allergic reaction that takes place in the nose and nasal passages. The common symptoms of the condition include: stuffy nose, sneezing, runny nose, and nose itching.

The condition goes by different names depending on the trigger and when it comes about. When pollens or outdoor molds trigger it during the spring, summer, or fall, it’s known as hay fever or seasonal allergy.

When the condition comes about due to exposure to house dust mites, indoor molds, pets, and other allergy triggers, it’s known as perennial allergic rhinitis.

Asthma and frequent cough

Asthma affects the airways in the lungs, making them inflamed and swollen. The inflammation increases the chances of the airways being bothered by allergens and other things such as stress, smoke, cold air, and exercise.

The airway muscle spasms block the airflow to the lungs bringing about difficulty in breathing, coughing, tight feeling in the chest, and wheezing. In some cases, the only symptom is a chronic cough at night after exercising or when laughing.

Eye allergies

Also known as allergic conjunctivitis, eye allergies lead to tearing, itching, redness, and burning. Eye allergies are caused by the same allergy triggers that cause allergic rhinitis and can lead to plenty of symptoms such as stuffy nose, sneezing, and sniffling.

Different allergy doctors treat eye allergies differently. Some treat them using medications, while others do it with immunotherapy.

Food allergies

These are self-explanatory. You develop allergic symptoms after consuming certain foods. Different people are allergic to different foods. Common allergic foods include: milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, shellfish, and tree nuts.

Food allergy symptoms can be mild or severe depending on the toxicity levels. Common food allergy symptoms include: stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, hives, indigestion, headaches, stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, and in severe cases, the food allergy can trigger anaphylaxis which is a severe and life-threatening condition.

When you visit an allergy doctor, the doctor will undertake a battery of tests to determine the food you are specifically allergic to. Of course, to avoid allergies in the future, you should stay away from allergy-causing foods.

Skin allergies

The common skin allergens are foods, animals, medicines, and chemicals. When these materials get on your skin, they cause eczema, contact dermatitis, and hives. Sometimes these reactions happen quickly, but in other cases, they take hours or even days to develop, such as in the case of poison ivy.

Sinus infections

Also known as sinusitis, sinus infections are common in people with allergies affecting the nose, such as allergic rhinitis. The constant stuffy and runny nose inflames the nasal passages, causing them to swell.

The common symptoms of this condition include: cough, thick discharge, and occasional pain in the forehead running around and in between the eyes or in the cheeks, upper jaw, and teeth.

Although most of the sinus infection symptoms are mild, sometimes people with asthma develop the condition, complicating the disease and making it more severe and deadly.

Anaphylaxis

This is a rare allergic reaction that affects different parts of the body at the same time, and if you don’t fix it early enough, it can be fatal. The condition can be triggered by different materials such as food, insect sting, medication, or latex in rubber products.

The worst symptoms of the condition affect the respiratory system or the cardiovascular system.

The most common systems include difficulty breathing, wheezing, nausea, hives, dizziness, stomach cramping, and many others. To prevent the condition from worsening, see an allergy specialist Manassas VA as soon as the symptoms come up.