You know those typical cold symptoms? Common things like a runny nose, sneezing, fever, and coughing. The cold virus itself isn’t the cause of most of these symptoms, as it happens. Instead, these symptoms are a by-product of your immune response. It may sound strange, but your immune system produces a fever to safeguard you from bacteria and viruses.
Your immune system is pretty great! It keeps you healthy when you would otherwise be overwhelmed by germs. But your immune system doesn’t necessarily get things 100% right. Sometimes, your immune system confuses something innocuous for a threat and attacks it with all those antibodies.
People can have allergies to all kinds of things: pollen, foods, animals, dust, or just about anything else. Symptoms generally related to a cold could, in fact, be caused by environmental allergens. Environmental allergies are normally breathed in, they’re part of your environment (hence the name), making them extra challenging to prevent. Your sinuses can be devastated because of this and with them, your peace of mind.
Seasonal allergy symptoms
Allergic reactions happen when your immune system distinguishes something otherwise harmless as a threat to your health. Whether that’s mold, pollen, or cat dander, your immune system will then spring into action its defenses. For most individuals, this will result in some of those hallmark symptoms. The most common include the following:
- Stuffy nose
- Eyes that are itchy or red or watery
- Sneezing
- Hives
- An itchy nose
- Feeling tired all the time
- Coughing and wheezing
- Coughing
- Postnasal drip
- Dark circles under your eyes
The symptoms can be extensive as you can see. These symptoms can also differ considerably from person to person. Your friend Susan might sneeze when near cats; your pal Bruce may begin coughing. Having said that, some of these symptoms are certainly more common than others, and sneezing is a stereotypical allergy symptom for a reason!
Causes of allergy symptoms
Environmental allergies can be triggered by a wide variety of substances, medical professionals tend to call them “allergens”. Here are a number of examples of common allergens:
- Pet dander: Your allergic reaction isn’t typically caused by the fur on your dog or cat.: it’s their dander. This is especially true because dander is light and can get up into the air. Pet dander can lead to all of those allergy symptoms if you have allergies to it.
- Dust mites: Dust mites are tiny little critters that consume dust. They’re generally absolutely harmless. But you can end up with a runny nose, sneezing, and possibly even some wheezing when they trigger an allergic reaction.
- Pollen: When it comes to seasonal allergies, this one is huge. Seasonally, these microspores are discharged by things like flowers, weeds, and trees. They’re perfectly harmless unless you’re allergic to them. The majority of pollens only travel a small distance and remain fairly local. However, some pollens can travel long distances on air currents. So even if you don’t see anything green nearby, you could still have an allergic reaction to pollen.
- Dust: Most homes have more dust than you might think. In many instances, this dust can either itself trigger, or carry other allergens that can trigger allergic reactions. That’s why it’s important for you to keep your house as free of dust as you can.
These are only some of the environmental allergens out there. Many of these categories can be sorted even more (for example, if you have an allergy to pine trees, that doesn’t necessarily mean you would have an allergy to oak trees.).
How do I know if I have allergies?
Maybe you have some idea as to what you may be allergic to. But going to your doctor to get tested is the only way to find out. An allergy diagnosis can be completed in a couple of ways. Here are the two most common:
- Blood testing: There are certain markers your doctor will find in your blood sample which will indicate an allergy response.
- Pin prick test: Your skin will be lightly pricked with suspected allergens and your doctor will watch to see if you have a reaction. This is usually the most reliable way to find out what you’re allergic to. It can produce some itching, but that’s an ordinary part of the test.
You will always be required to go see your doctor for an official diagnosis. And you will have the comfort of knowing exactly what you’re allergic to.
How to treat allergies
Allergic reactions, unfortunately, have no cure. But treating them requires three basic techniques.
Prevention
It’s possible for you to prevent the onset of allergy symptoms by decreasing your exposure to allergen triggers. Indoors, this means keeping the air clean, keeping mold under control, and vacuuming frequently (especially if pet dander is an issue). Also, consider brushing your pets often and being mindful about how you dry clothes (an indoor drying system is better than an outdoor one).
Outdoors, this means checking the pollen count before you plan adventures, and wearing a mask if you need to. Pollen counts are often lowest in the early morning and late evening, so plan your adventures around those times.
Short-term treatment
Short-term medications, such as antihistamines, can sometimes be used to effectively control symptoms. Hopefully, these medications will offer some help when symptoms surface.
It’s never a great idea to continue to be on these medications over long periods of time like months or years and should only be used to get you through a day or a week.
Treating allergies over the long-term
One of the most effective long-term treatment methods is something called immunotherapy. Your doctor will expose you to a minute amount of the particular allergen that triggers you.
It’s too small an amount to trigger any obvious reaction. But your immune system will still be able to start to get Accustomed to managing that allergen. The amount of allergen will gradually increase with each subsequent injection. With time, this approach can effectively desensitize your immune system.
Positive outcomes from this treatment might take several months to accomplish. But you can be symptom free for many years after your immune system is desensitized to that allergen. Immunotherapy is available in the form of allergy shots, liquid drops, or tablets.
Allergies don’t need to ruin your life
You might, at times, find yourself with a cold that just won’t quit, especially at certain times the of year. Well, it might not even be a cold! Environmental allergies are tough to get away from so they can be particularly challenging.
But just because you experience environmental allergies doesn’t mean you need to be miserable. You can get a sinus infection or repeated sinus infections from seasonal allergies, after all. The best way to avoid all that is to be sure you’re managing your allergy symptoms the best you can.
Want relief from environmental allergies? Schedule an appointment with us and find out about your options.