To begin with, let us consider what happens to the patient internally. Allergic rhinitis, also known as seasonal allergies or hay fever, is a condition in which your immune system starts overreacting to some specific allergens. The allergens include such agents as tree pollen in spring, grass pollen in early summer, and ragweed pollen in fall. It means that your body recognizes the mentioned types of pollen as a threat and reacts to it producing Immunoglobulin E.
These antibodies then activate the mast cells and stimulate the release of histamine and other chemicals.
Histamine is a chemical agent responsible for the occurrence of the mentioned symptoms: swelling of blood vessels that leads to congestion, irritation of nerve endings causing sneezing and itchiness and increased mucus production leading to runny nose. To summarize briefly, your beloved one suffers from continuous internal chemical warfare caused by a single piece of pollen. How tiring!
So, what are the symptoms observable to others? They include the following obvious signs: frequent sneezing, watery and runny nose, as well as itchy, red and watery eyes. Patients usually complain about the itchy roof of the mouth, throat or ears and a loss of sense of smell and taste because of irritation of sensory nerve endings. Moreover, drainage down the throat can result in chronic cough.
Well, now you probably understood why allergic rhinitis negatively impacts the patient’s quality of life. Due to constant internal fighting of his body, he feels fatigued, irritable and unable to concentrate. He may experience headaches due to sinus pressure and worsening of asthma symptoms. Therefore, this condition requires a serious approach, as it significantly influences the ability to perform everyday activities, work and sleep.
Well, now we come to the point that you are probably interested in the most. Let us consider some ways of combating this condition. At first, try to avoid this allergen at any cost. There are numerous applications that measure the levels of pollen such as Weather.com, so the patient should stay inside with closed windows in the mornings when the level is high. After staying outdoors, it is necessary to take a shower and change the clothes to wash off all pollen attached to it. Cleaning the house with the help of a HEPA air filter in the bedroom and regular vacuuming of the floor also helps.
If avoiding doesn’t help in fighting with allergic rhinitis, we will have to move to medications. Do not be afraid of the medical jargon! Antihistamines prevent the activity of irritating histamine. Some common over-the-counter antihistamines are cetirizine (Zyrtec), loratadine (Claritin) or fexofenadine (Allegra) and they do not cause drowsiness. If you suffer from nasal blockage and sinus inflammation, you can use nasal corticosteroid spray. Fluticasone (Flonase) or triamcinolone (Nasacort) reduce the inflammation, and they are effective when used consistently every day.
Sometimes, a combination of medications becomes necessary. The patient can be prescribed a nasal antihistamine spray or leukotriene receptor antagonist such as montelukast (Singulair). In case of significant eye symptoms, there are antihistamine eye drops providing immediate relief. An important thing is to find the right combination of medications in cooperation with a physician.
There is an alternative for the patients who suffer from allergic rhinitis for a few years already and tired of annual fighting. It is called allergen immunotherapy. This is a gradual introduction of small doses of allergen into the patient’s organism in order to develop immunity to it. It can be done with the help of injections in the physician’s office and/or dissolvable tablets. This type of therapy lasts for three to five years. However, for a right candidate, it can provide miraculous relief from daily medications.
What is your role in this therapy? First of all, you need to remind your beloved one to use the nasal spray every day. You also need to pay attention to the symptom pattern and maintain the journal containing this information to discuss it with the physician. You may encourage your loved one to visit an allergist for allergy testing in order to find out the exact allergen such as oak, Bermuda grass or mold spores. It gives you the target to fight. Most importantly, you need to support your beloved one and say: “I know this is really unpleasant for you, and I am here to help”.
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