Allergic rhinitis has four typical symptoms, namely nasal itching, sneezing, runny nose and nasal blockage. In milder cases, itchy nasal sensation is unbearable, and the nose needs to be rubbed from time to time, and there is continuous sneezing, often several or a dozen in a row, accompanied by a large amount of clear watery nasal discharge, and in severe cases, the nasal blockage can be intermittent or continuous, unilateral or bilateral. Some patients have hyposmia or absence of smell. Children with itchy nose often make “ghost faces” from time to time, and often involuntarily push the tip of the nose upward with the palm of their hands to improve the nasal blockage. Because of the nasal blockage and the need to open the mouth to breathe, a “dementia”-like face may appear after a long time; in addition, the nasal blockage can cause the obstruction of the venous return of the face, the skin of the lower eyelids on both sides is colored, forming dark circles under the eyes. The disease may also be accompanied by general discomfort, such as fatigue and a feeling of heaviness in the head.
Dangers of allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is not fatal, but it is dangerous. The four symptoms mentioned earlier can affect the patient’s work, study, sleep and recreation, resulting in a lower quality of life. If treatment is delayed or improperly treated, a number of comorbidities may occur, the most important and common of which is asthma. According to statistics, about 1/3 of patients with allergic rhinitis are combined with asthma, and even more patients with asthma are combined with allergic rhinitis, accounting for about 3/4 of the patients, so they are closely related. Allergic rhinitis often occurs before asthma, so it is said that allergic rhinitis is a risk factor for the development of asthma. In addition to the combination of asthma can also be combined with sinusitis, etc. If these diseases are combined, the treatment of allergic rhinitis will be more complicated and troublesome.
Can allergic rhinitis be cured?
To answer this question, we must first clarify that the onset of allergic rhinitis depends on the patient’s allergic constitution and the presence of allergens in the environment, both of which are indispensable. Allergies are genetically related, and the current level of medicine is not yet able to change allergies to non-allergies, so from this point of view allergic rhinitis is difficult to cure. But by avoiding allergen contact, (because of the many types of allergens, and more hidden, not easy to find all, so it is difficult to completely avoid), correct, regular medication and the necessary desensitization treatment can achieve good symptom control, no morbidity, from this point on allergic rhinitis is a good treatment effect. To achieve this requires the cooperation of the patient and the physician, especially to adhere to a longer period of medication, and to increase or decrease the dose or change the variety of therapeutic drugs according to the physician’s instructions.
A special advice to the majority of patients is not to believe in “big slogans” and “small ads”. In recent years, some “big slogans” and “small advertisements” for the treatment of allergic rhinitis have been appearing around us one after another, taking advantage of the patients’ eagerness to get rid of the disease to achieve their purpose of earning black money. It is important to emphasize that no matter what kind of medicine is used, including Western or Chinese medicine, it is currently impossible to achieve a cure for rhinitis; the assessment of the effectiveness of treatment should be objective and should be based on the results of both clinical symptoms and laboratory tests. The temporary relief of the patient’s symptoms is not the same as a cure, let alone a cure.
Of course, it is not a dream to change the allergic body, domestic and foreign research is being carried out in this area, and as scientific research continues to progress, it is believed that in the future gene therapy will be used clinically to change the allergic body into a non-allergic body, and at this time, even if the contact, inhalation or ingestion of the relevant allergens will not produce symptoms.
When the symptoms occur mainly indoors: the following points can be noted.
First, pay attention to the details of life to reduce allergies
The substance that causes allergy symptoms in response to the details of life is called an allergen, and can be found both outdoors (generally seasonal allergens) and indoors (generally perennial allergens). The following 10 points can help you reduce these types of allergens. You should also pay attention to reducing mold and mildew. Since cockroach excrement and animal dander are the most common allergens, you should also pay attention to eliminating cockroaches and handling pets and small animals.
Living details.
1. Close the windows of your car or room during the season when pollen or dust is high;
2, remove allergens, including pets, smoke, and even suspicious flowers or furniture;
3.Use air conditioners with air cleaning filters to remove pollen (but may not filter dust);
4, can use a thermostat to reduce indoor humidity, preferably to bring the air humidity down to below 50%.
5.Repair damp basements, air vents and bathrooms, and should remove indoor or balcony flowers and plants;
6, keep the room clean and dust-free to reduce allergens, you can use vacuum cleaners to clean frequently;
7.Use non-allergenic sheets and bedding in the bedroom, such as mattresses and pillows with good airtightness, and sheets and pillowcases with good flexibility, and wash the sheets and pillowcases with hot water every week; and be careful not to dry the sheets and sheets outdoors, because mold and pollen can stick to the blankets;
8. Replace the carpet with wooden boards, floor tiles, etc., especially the carpet fixed on the floor should be removed. And do not plant flowers and plants that need constant watering, because moist soil is conducive to the growth of mold and mildew.
9. pack up your small objects, such as books, record boxes, CDs, CDs and long-haired animal toys, which are highly susceptible to dust and thus cause allergies.
10, do not take excessive amounts of drugs to reduce symptoms; if you have acid reflux gas, do not eat before bed and pillow cushion, and take antacids under the guidance of a doctor.
11, pay attention to the nasal cavity cleaning, wash the nasal cavity frequently.
12, strengthen outdoor physical exercise to enhance physical fitness.
13, keep the room clean and dust-free to reduce allergens, use vacuum cleaners or wet rags to clean the room frequently.
Second, control the occurrence of indoor mold and mildew
Mold can release spores and thus cause allergy symptoms, widely present in all corners of people’s lives, especially in wet environments, such as basements and bathrooms, general sources of mold include household humidifiers, bathtubs, wet blankets, showers, flowers and plants, old newspapers, garbage bins, etc.
1.Clean with bleach, use bleach or other cleaning agents to clean the above bathroom and garbage bins.
2.If the clothes are moldy, throw them away as early as possible, or handle them as appropriate to remove the mold.
3.Keep dry, carpets should be careful to prevent moisture, and keep books, newspapers and clothing dry and ventilated, food should also be reasonably preserved to prevent mold.
4, rooms and balconies are best not to have shade-loving plants that often need to be watered, the moist soil may hide a large number of mold.
5, thoroughly kill cockroaches and other pests; cockroaches have existed for more than 300 million years, most of them grow in warm and hot and humid environments, and are prevalent in offices, family rooms, cockroaches are not only a kind of guys that others hate, but the protein in their excrement is an important substance that causes allergic rhinitis and asthma, especially in children living in crowded rooms and cities.
6. Stay away from pets.
Contrary to popular belief, animal hair does not cause allergies, while animal dander, saliva and urine proteins tend to cause allergic symptoms, when invisible proteins can enter the human eyes or lungs and nasal passages through the air. A cat or dog can produce a large amount of allergenic material each week, and since both cats and dogs can produce dander, it is.
① For allergic patients, the best thing to do is not to have contact, or to have as little contact as possible.
②If you must have a pet, it is best to spend some time with other small animals first to determine if there is an allergic reaction to it, or feed animals without fur, such as turtles, fish, etc.
③ Clean the animal regularly, you can ask someone without allergic diseases to take a bath for you.
④Clean the animal’s cage. Allergens can be present in the animal’s cage even months after the animal is moved out.
Depending on the various aspects of the pathogenesis, seek to interrupt or mitigate their reactions so as to achieve the purpose of treatment.