Your Relief Blog

What Causes Nose and Eye Allergies and How To Treat Them

When you are exposed to something that you are allergic to, you may sneeze, have a runny and itchy nose, get congested, and your eyes can get red and itchy. These are responses that you can actually see, hear and feel. However, what you may not realize is how these responses are triggered from within your body through its own natural defenses. Treatment for allergies is designed to prevent your body from overreacting when you are exposed to an allergen.

You’re sick of your allergies! All the staying inside. You’re take all the medications you can find and your primary provider prescribes. Yet still the itchy, runny, plugged up, sneezy and can’t breath keeps on and on. Maybe its time to see a board certified allergist.

Why A Board Certified Allergist?

Board Certified Allergists are the best choice for allergy and asthma problems because they provide you relief. Outcomes for asthma and allergy control are better with a board certified allergist than using your primary provider. Getting the right diagnosis and treatment plan leads to feeling better and this is often with fewer medications and less cost long term.

Dust Mite Allergies: What You Need to Know

If you are allergic to dust mites, it can be very difficult to avoid exposure, no matter how clean your house may be. In fact, your symptoms may worsen while you clean or immediately thereafter, as dust mites become unsettled and float in the air where they can be easily inhaled. They are also a leading cause of asthma in children and adults.

Stuffy Nose: Is It Allergies?

Once the colder weather rolls around, it is very easy to pass off a symptom such as a stuffy nose as having a cold. Normally, some cold symptoms might persist from seven to ten days. However, if you are still suffering a stuffy nose for longer than two weeks, it may be very possible that you have indoor allergies.

Changing Your Diet For Asthma Control
If you have asthma, you might wonder if you should change your diet to help control your symptoms

The short answer: don’t do it.

Why? There’s a long answer for that.

While many people associate symptoms such as sneezing, runny noses, or congestion with allergies, swollen puffy eyes can also be a sign of an allergy. Eye allergy symptoms can occur with the aforementioned symptoms or they can occur completely on their own.

Eye allergy symptoms may include:

• Itchiness
• Burning
• Redness
• Clear, watery discharge
• Puffiness
• Swelling

If you have never been to an allergy doctor before, you probably do not know what to expect during your first visit. You might think going to the allergist is all about being pricked by needle after needle to see what you are allergic to. Just the thought of that may make you dread going to that first appointment. However, seeing an allergist is not just all about needles.

Antihistamines

When you are exposed to something that you are allergic to, your body reacts by releasing histamine. Histamine acts on the local tissues and you experience sneezing, itchy eyes and a runny nose. Most people gravitate to three main antihistamines to relieve those symptoms:

1. Claritin (Loratadine) – Usually effective for milder symptoms.
2. Zyrtec (Cetirizine) – Can make your feel sleepy and cannot be used by some individuals, i.e. pilots when on duty.
3. Allegra (Fexofenadine) – Usually costs more than Claritin and Zyrtec.

It sometimes can be difficult to determine whether you have a cold or an allergy because many of the symptoms are so similar. However, with a cold your symptoms and discomfort will usually go away within seven to ten days. But when symptoms continue to linger, it could be a pretty sure bet that you have some type of allergy. And when that happens, it might be time to see an allergist.

Along with the cooler weather comes the flu season. If you suffer from allergies and/or asthma, you could be at a higher risk for catching influenza. Having the flu is bad enough, but it can cause your asthma to flare.

Reducing Your Chance of Catching the Flu

It is very easy to catch influenza during the fall and winter months because everyone spends more time indoors. Once someone in your home or workplace catches the flu, it can quickly spread to everyone around them. This can happen with colds and other types of viruses, which can also cause your asthma to flare.