1.What is allergic rhinitis? Allergic rhinitis is a hypersensitivity reaction caused by allergens in the environment, and there are two types: seasonal and perennial. Typical symptoms are nasal itching, repeated paroxysmal sneezing, profuse clear watery nasal discharge and nasal congestion, sometimes accompanied by loss of sense of smell. Ye Jing, Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University 2.What drugs are used to treat allergic rhinitis? At present, allergic rhinitis cannot be cured, but it can be controlled with proper treatment. Medication is the main method of treating allergic rhinitis, commonly used drugs include: antihistamines such as loratadine, cetirizine, etc., which are effective in treating nasal itching, sneezing and increased nasal discharge; nasal glucocorticoids such as Berkner, Renolcort, Cochlear, Nesuna, etc., which have strong local effects on the nasal mucosa without systemic side effects; mast cell stabilizers such as sodium cromoglycate, etc., which can relieve nasal symptoms; nasal decongestants such as ephedrine, etc., which are effective in treating allergic rhinitis. The nasal decongestants, such as ephedrine, can quickly reduce the symptoms of nasal congestion. 3.Can allergic rhinitis be treated surgically? Surgery itself cannot treat allergies, but only for patients with nasal congestion caused by enlarged turbinates and deviated septum. Allergic rhinitis can lead to enlargement of the inferior turbinate after long recurrent attacks, and most of them respond poorly to medication, so surgery can be considered to improve nasal ventilation. Neurotomy is not recommended as a treatment for allergic rhinitis. Surgery is only considered in the following cases: inferior turbinate hypertrophy, which is ineffective with medication; with structural abnormalities such as deviated septum and affecting nasal function; with other diseases suitable for surgical treatment, such as secondary sinusitis and nasal polyps. 4.Immunotherapy Immunotherapy is a method of gradually injecting incremental allergens into the body to treat allergic rhinitis, and is generally applied to patients with more severe symptoms. Due to problems such as standardization of immunotherapy preparations, immunotherapy has not been widely used in clinical practice and is currently only carried out in larger hospitals. 5. Prevention of allergic rhinitis Avoiding or reducing contact with allergens is crucial to the treatment of allergic rhinitis. The main allergens in the environment are mites, molds, insects, pets, pollen and other environmental irritants. Pay attention to thoroughly clean the indoor environment, keep it dry, avoid furniture that tends to accumulate dust, avoid pets and plants, keep ventilation to reduce indoor allergens; minimize outdoor activities when the pollen content in the air is high, reduce the number of window openings to avoid outdoor allergens; reduce contact with cigarette smoke, perfume, cosmetics and other irritants.