Breathe Easy During Allergy Season
Breathe Easy During Allergy Season
Is it rising temperatures, blooming flowers, and the smell of freshly mowed grass that signals spring has arrived, or is it your hay fever, congestion and itchy eyes? If you are one of the 35 million Americans who suffer from "seasonal" allergies, you know the warmer weather is a warning that allergy season is here. Although most people suffering from allergies are able to handle their conditions with advice from their physician, they must take extra precautions during the height of allergy season to avoid severe reactions.
To help improve your allergy I.Q., the following advice is offered for allergy sufferers:
- Visit your physician regularly. The continuing advice of a doctor is crucial to the long-term treatment of allergic conditions. Your physician may recommend drug therapies, allergy shots, or to see a medical specialists, known as an allergist/ immunologist, who has received special training in diagnosing and treating allergic diseases.
- Know your allergies. If you and your physician suspect you suffer from allergies, you will be tested to try to determine what is triggering your allergic symptoms.
- Avoid allergens. Once you know what you are allergic to, avoid the allergen. If you are allergic to shellfish, don't eat it. If cats make you break out in hives, don't pet them or keep them in your home.
- If you are allergic to pollen and mold, avoid the outdoors on windy days or when you begin to notice symptoms. The wind often stirs up pollen and mold and carries it through the air.
- If you are allergic to grass or molds, do not cut your grass or be near someone mowing his or her lawn.
- If you are allergic to pollen, minimize activity outdoors at dawn (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) when pollen is usually emitted into the air.
- Keep car windows closed when you drive. It is also a good idea to use an air conditioner at home.
- Don't hang laundry out to dry. Pollen and molds can collect on sheets and clothes.
Treating Allergies - Antihistamines. These drugs are the mainstay of treatment for allergies. Used properly, antihistamines can prevent an allergic reaction from happening, or reduce the symptoms should a reaction occur. In the past, most antihistamines caused drowsiness. Today, your doctor might be able to prescribe an antihistamine for you that is effective in treating your allergies and does not cause drowsiness.
- Allergy shots. Administered by a doctor, these shots change a person's reaction to an allergen. The shots contain extracts from allergens and are given in slowly increasing doses until a person can tolerate enough of the allergen to be free of allergy symptoms. About 85 percent of allergy patients report improvement in their conditions after allergy shots.
Some Allergic Reactions Are an Emergency
Go to the emergency department if you have severe sweating, faintness, nausea, panting, rapid pulse rate, and pale, cold, moist skin. These are symptoms of an intense allergic reaction and require immediate medical attention. Blood pressure could plummet to levels far below normal and you could become drowsy and confused or lose consciousness.
The Allergy and Asthma Connection
People with asthma sometimes find their symptoms worsen during allergy season. Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects more than 17 million Americans. Asthma is characterized by inflammation of the airways. The inflammation makes the airways smaller, making it more difficult to breathe. Inflammation of the airways in some people can be triggered by their exposure to allergens. Since many of the symptoms of asthma are the same as they are for allergies, physicians use some of the same medications to treat both.
This information is made possible through the American College of Emergency Physicians©.