A new season is a welcomed change for most people. However, it may come with health complications for many people across the globe. Seasonal allergies can cause these problems. Here are the answers to the most common queries about them.
 

How Is an Allergy Different From a Common Cold?

Allergies and colds are different but with similar symptoms. The best way to tell the difference is to look at their patterns. Both these ailments can cause headaches, congestion, fatigue, watery eyes, runny nose, and sneezing. Irritation in the nose and eyes occurs more in allergies than in common colds. Allergic reactions happen at once, unlike colds that have irregular patterns.

What Triggers Allergies?

When your body overreacts to the immune system’s efforts to purge foreign substances, it results in allergies. Those that occur during spring start when grass and trees bloom. Allergy triggers in summer and early fall stem from ragweed and weeds.

On the other hand, winter allergies result from the buildup of mold. Some allergies may also come from allergens that appear throughout the year, such as animal dander and house dust.

How Do You Diagnose Allergies?

The best way to diagnose allergies for most doctors is through blood and skin tests. However, medical practitioners prefer skin testing as it is more accurate. Both tests can determine your sensitivity to mold, foods, pollen, latex, and other common allergens. When you suspect that you have allergies, the doctor will likely first perform a skin test.

If you are suffering from a severe form of skin rashes, they will opt for an allergy blood test. The same case applies when you are under uninterruptable medication that can affect the outcome of a skin test.  

At What Age Do Allergy Symptoms Appear in Children?

Allergy symptoms appear at different ages, depending on the allergen. Pollen-related symptoms may become evident when your child is about four years old. By this age, your child’s body has probably experienced all cycles of the seasons.

Children below this age may sometimes react to allergens like animal dander, pollen, and dust mites. Their symptoms may become noticeable, or exacerbate, as they get older and can respond less to medication. At this point, it is advisable to consult a doctor for a diagnosis and treatment approach.

Are Allergies Treatable?

The first form of treatment that your doctor may recommend is employing some limiting factors like:

 

• Cleaning your pets and keeping them free of pollen
   

• Close your windows
   

• Do not dry your clothes outdoors
   

• Cover your head when outside to avoid pollen attaching to the hair
   

• Take a shower before sleeping
   

• Wear protective eyewear to keep pollen away from your eyes
  
   

If these do not work, you may have to seek alternative forms of treatment like antihistamines, decongestants, allergy shots, eye drops, and nasal sprays.

Your body produces histamines that cause your body to swell and leak fluid after they attach to the cells. These cause the irritating seasonal allergy symptoms that you experience. Antihistamines relieve or prevent these symptoms by averting histamines from sticking to cells in your body.

For more on seasonal allergies, visit Westchester Eyes at our office in Yonkers, New York. Call 914-586-EYES (3937) to book an appointment today.