Attention! There are six misunderstandings about allergic rhinitis. How to prevent it?

As soon as spring comes,

Hard times are coming for people with allergic rhinitis!

The nose keeps running.

The sneezing keeps happening.

Always carry tissues with you wherever you go...

The quality of life began to decline seriously.

Frustration and embarrassment become daily life...

01What is allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is an allergic disease with four major nasal symptoms: nasal itching, sneezing, watery runny nose and nasal congestion. The current incidence of allergic rhinitis in my country is around 15%-25%, and the allergic reaction during an attack has affected the patient's daily life.

02Occurrence of allergic rhinitis

1. Environmental factors

Allergic substances in the environment mainly include inhaled allergens and food allergens. Among them, exposure to inhaled allergens is the main cause of allergic rhinitis, including fungi, pollen, dust mites, animal fur, etc. The higher the concentration of contact allergens, the more severe the allergic reaction will be.

2. Genetic factors

According to genetic statistics, if one parent has allergic rhinitis, the child has about a 1/4 chance of developing allergic rhinitis; and if both parents have allergic rhinitis, the child's chance of developing allergic rhinitis will increase to about 47%.

3. Psychological factors

Emotional or mental stress and allergic diseases influence each other, so regulating emotions can also alleviate the corresponding symptoms to a certain extent.

03Clinical manifestations of allergic rhinitis

①Nasal congestion, stuffy nose

②Runny nose, watery or purulent nasal discharge

③ Occasional or frequent sneezing

④Headache and local pain, dizziness

⑤ Nosebleeds occur at any time, occasionally or frequently

⑥ Loss of sense of smell, postnasal drip, foreign body sensation in the throat

The above symptoms often appear together, or 1-2 of them may be the main ones, while the others are not obvious.

04Six misunderstandings about allergic rhinitis

Misconception 1: Thinking that allergic rhinitis is just a cold and can heal on its own.

It is very simple to distinguish between colds and allergic rhinitis. Colds often cause symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches, etc. The course of the disease is short and can heal itself in one to two weeks. Allergic rhinitis usually causes itchy nose, sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion and is accompanied by asthma or skin allergies. The course of the disease is long and cannot heal itself.

Misconception 2: Just use saline to rinse the nasal cavity without taking any medicine.

Without the addition of drugs, physiological solutions have no pharmacological effects and can only improve the nasal environment.

Misconception 3: Take medicine only when symptoms appear.

Patients with a history of allergic rhinitis attacks need to take preventive measures in advance when the seasons change, or receive preventive treatment according to the doctor's advice to safely pass through the peak period of allergic rhinitis.

Misconception 4: Stop or reduce medication without authorization after symptoms are under control.

Taking nasal hormones as an example, the course of treatment for patients with mild to moderate intermittent allergic rhinitis should be more than two weeks, and the course of treatment for patients with moderate to severe persistent allergic rhinitis should be more than four weeks. After the symptoms are controlled, standardized, long-term, and safe medication is still required. If the medication is stopped without authorization, allergic rhinitis may recur repeatedly.

Misconception 5: Treat when you want to, stop when you want to.

Allergic rhinitis requires standardized treatment and long-term control to improve the quality of life.

Misconception 6: Being afraid of the word "excitement".

Hormones are substances produced every day in the human body, which play a certain driving role in maintaining the functioning of the body. The hormone content of nasal hormone drugs is relatively small, and usually does not cause systemic absorption, so there is no need to be afraid of the word "hormone". Guan Kai, director of the Department of Allergy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said: "Patients with moderate to severe persistent allergic rhinitis should follow the 28-day treatment principle, because after the allergy occurs, the inflammation will last for a longer or shorter period of time depending on the exposure time. If the nasal hormone is discontinued for a short period of time, the inflammation may come back because the allergens have not subsided."

05How to relieve allergic rhinitis?

Allergic rhinitis is related to genetic factors. It cannot be cured at this stage, but it does not mean that it cannot be alleviated.

If not treated actively, in addition to the pain that allergic rhinitis itself brings to your life, various complications may also occur, such as bronchial asthma, otitis media, sinusitis, sleep disorders, memory loss, etc.

Compared to enduring the torture for several months every year, I benefited more from receiving regular treatment under the guidance of a doctor. I finally understood:

Although allergic rhinitis cannot be cured, improving symptoms and reducing attacks is also a victory.

Of course, in addition to standardized treatment and taking medication on time, there is still a lot we can do:

1. Avoid contact with allergens

If conditions permit, you can go for relevant allergen tests. If you are allergic to pet dander, it is best not to keep or contact pets. If you are allergic to pollen, try to avoid going outside during the pollen spreading season and wear a mask when going out.

When conditions permit, desensitization treatment can also be carried out to achieve long-term therapeutic effects.

Keep indoor hygiene and improve ventilation.

2. Avoid catching cold and prevent colds

Low temperatures and colds can trigger allergic rhinitis or worsen the condition. Keep warm and put on more clothes when necessary.

3. Quit smoking and drinking, and eat a light diet

The stimulation of tobacco and alcohol will aggravate the symptoms of rhinitis. During the attack period, you should eat less raw, cold, spicy, seafood and other irritating foods, and eat more light, easy to digest and nutritious foods.

4. Exercise to enhance immunity

5. Scientifically perform nasal irrigation

This is a safe and convenient adjunctive treatment method and is generally used before other nasal medications.

It is best to use medical saline solution to wash your nose.

If you prepare it yourself at home, you can prepare 500 ml of pure water, boil it and disinfect it, then add 4.5 grams of iodine-free salt to make a 0.9% isotonic saline solution, and leave it at room temperature before use.

If you buy it online, you can search for keywords such as "nasal wash salt" or "medical sodium chloride".

Be careful not to use iodized table salt or rinse your nasal cavity directly with tap water.

Source: Tencent Medical Dictionary, People's Daily Health, People's Daily Online, Xi'an Science Popularization

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