Nasal Allergy

Many studies have shown that people with allergic rhinitis have problems with mood and energy. In a survey of 2500 people with allergies, nearly 1 in 4 people felt embarrassed as a result of their allergy symptoms, more than one-third felt depressed, and over half felt irritable or miserable because of their allergies. In addition, [...]

Patients with seasonal or year-round allergies occasion-ally experience such difficulty with their nasal allergies that they consider moving to another geographic location to help reduce their symptoms. Patients with seasonal hay fever will often find that many of the seasonal pollens and/or molds that bother them in their current home will also be present in [...]

Patients with nasal allergies often have fatigue during the day. One of the main causes of this tiredness is poor sleep quality during the night. Sleep studies of patients with allergic rhinitis have shown that they repeatedly come out of the deepest phases of sleep and enter periods of lighter sleep; these periods of near-awakening [...]

A number of long-term studies of large populations have shown that patients who have allergic rhinitis frequently have subtle narrowing and inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the absence of any asthma symptoms. When patients with isolated seasonal or year-around nasal allergies are followed over time, they are found to have an increased risk of [...]

Headaches may be related to allergic rhinitis in a number of ways. First, patients with severe nasal congestion may have swelling of the openings to the paranasal sinuses, called “ostia.” This swelling may cause intermittent or persistent closure of the sinus, resulting in an inability to equalize pressure within the sinus cavity. Symptoms related to [...]

Nasal polyps are teardrop-shaped growths that usually start in the sinus cavity and extend into the nose. There is no relationship between nasal polyps and polyps in the colon. Small nasal polyps often cause no symptoms and go unnoticed, while larger ones can completely block the nasal passages. Although their origin is not really known, [...]

A general approach to patients with chronic sinusitis includes nasal saline flushes, intranasal steroids, and a prolonged course (at least 3 weeks) of a broad-spectrum antibiotic . In approximately half of patients with chronic sinusitis, patients are found to have positive skin tests to airborne allergens. Given this very high prevalence of allergy in chronic [...]

The paranasal sinuses are airfilled cavities located inside the bone of the human skull. While we are not entirely sure of their function, we do know that air pockets within solid structures provide increased strength and reduced weight. The four principal sinuses include the maxillary sinuses (in the cheeks), the frontal sinuses (in the forehead), [...]

Children may experience chronic blockage of the nose for a variety of reasons, including allergic rhinitis, nonallergic rhinitis, or enlargement of the adenoid gland. When the child lies down to sleep, the blockage often becomes worse because of increased blood flow through the nasal mucosal tissue due to gravity, which causes the membranes to swell. [...]

Does She Need To Be Evaluated For Allergies? Acute middle ear infections (acute otitis media) usually follow colds, and occasionally the fluid in the middle ear space persists for long periods of time. Chronic middle ear fluid, referred to as  otitis media with effusion,is defined as mild middle ear inflammation with fluid but without symptoms [...]

The two biggest factors that cause allergy sufferers to experience problems on planes is the change in cabin pressure, particularly during descent, and the low humidity of the cabin. The change in pressure often leads to swelling of the sinus openings, with subsequent sinus headaches, and closure of the eustachian tubes, with secondary ear pain [...]

The medications listed in Worsen During Pregnancy can all be used while you are breast-feeding your baby. However, most of these medications will pass from the bloodstream into the breast milk and cause similar systemic side effects as those seen in the mother. Therefore, older, sedating anti-histamines such as diphenhydramine and chlorphen-iramine may also result [...]

Women go through a number of important physiologic and immunologic changes during pregnancy. Blood volume and estrogen levels both increase during pregnancy, which frequently lead to mucous membrane swelling in the nose. For this reason, many women who have no history of rhinitis develop nasal congestion during pregnancy. Women with allergic rhinitis may develop worsening [...]

If your child develops symptoms of seasonal nasal allergies, his or her physician will prescribe medications, such as oral antihistamines or intranasal steroids, for the symptoms. If these medications are effective, and do not result in any unwanted side effects, they can be used safely on a seasonal basis for many years. Because seasonal nasal [...]

Herbal remedies have a long track record of use through-out much of the world for a variety of ailments and have become increasingly popular in the United States over the past 2 decades. Patients are often attracted to the fact that these products are found in nature and that they have been used by indigenous [...]

Acupuncture is an ancient form of therapy that originated in Asia and is now practiced throughout the world for a large number of physical illnesses. In the United States, approximately 2 million people, or close to 1% of the population, seek acupuncture care each year, and 4% of the US population have used acupuncture at [...]

Administration of allergy shots, more appropriately called “specific allergen immunotherapy” or “allergen vaccine therapy,” is one of the oldest forms of treatment for allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis. At the turn of the 20th century, it was discovered that injection of increasing doses of grass allergen into patients with summer hay fever resulted in a marked [...]

I have severe asthma and nasal allergies, and my doctor has prescribed Xolair. Will this help my nasal symptoms as well?  Injectable omalizumab (Xolair) is a relatively new medication that has been approved for use in year-round allergic asthma. This medication, which consists of an antibody against IgE, is injected once to twice per month. [...]

How Should I Treat Them? Approximately 50% of people with nasal allergies also have allergic eye symptoms, known as  allergic conjunctivitis. The most common symptoms are some com-bination of redness, itching, and watering. If your eye symptoms are moderately severe and you have not had them before, you should always be checked by a physi-cian [...]

There are a number of pointers that may be useful to patients using intranasal sprays. It is important to realize that all available intranasal medications are atomizers that contain a liquid suspension. These types of devices work best when they are held upright in the vertical position and do not spray effectively when they are [...]