Allergic Rhinitis (Nasal Allergies) – Causes and Treatment

Allergic Rhinitis

Allergic Rhinitis (commonly called Nasal Allergies) is extremely common. These symptoms are caused by something that is inhaled and affect mainly the nose and sometimes the eyes.

If they only happen at specific times of the year, then you have a seasonal allergy, usually caused by pollen from grass, trees and weeds circulating in the air.

Also there are perennial allergies that happen any time of the year for example house dust allergy.  But there is hope, you and your doctor can come up with a treatment plan that can help control your allergic rhinitis symptoms or even prevent their occurence and alleviate a lot of your discomfort.

Allergic Rhinitis Manifestations

When you have Allergic Rhinitis it feels a bit like you’ve gotten a bad cold. You’ll have a blocked or runny nose (with a clear discharge), sneeze, have irritated watery eyes, and even the other cold symptoms like a cough and sore throat. You may think that it is a cold but if it’s Allergic Rhinitis you will need to treat it differently.

Common Causes of Allergic Rhinitis

All allergy attacks are triggered by an allergen, which is the substance that your body treats as an invader and tries to fight. As mentioned previously, in Spring and Summer,  when flowers are blooming, pollen can be a major trigger but mold spores can also be inhaled and end up entering your respiratory tract. Also animals are major causes of Allergic Rhinitis, whether it’s from pet dander from our dog or dust mites, these can all cause allergic reactions in your body.

Diagnosis of Allergies

Talk to your doctor about you nasal symptoms, when they started, how often they occur etc and your doctor can determine the best way to treat your case.  They will usually have you undergo tests to figure out the exact source of your allergy and how severe your reaction is to each allergen.

Once they’ve completed all the testing, you and your doctor can devise a plan of treatment; medication (Antihistamines), allergen avoidance, or they may even suggest immunotherapy which may prevent the Allergies from occuring in the future.

The best treatment of allergies, of course, is to avoid being exposed to it at all if possible. If, for example, you have Nasal Allergies caused by pollen (Hay Fever), then it try to limit your exposure during times of high pollen count as much as you can.

Follow the medical advice your doctor gives you and you will find your symptoms minimized and possibly avoided entirely.

As Animals are also good sources of nasal allergies, try to keep your environment free of pet hair and dander by vacuuming and cleaning often.

Just use your common sense when trying to prevent allergic rhinitis and when you suspect your allergen will be plentiful in a specific location just try to keep yourself out of it.

More information on Allergic Rhinitis

Take the Allergic Rhinitis Quiz by clicking HERE