When a person lives with one or more allergies, they could experience anything from one mild and fairly manageable flare-up sporadically over the years to a constant and troublesome allergy that appears to refuse to shift.

With this in mind, continue reading for a comprehensive guide to allergy care and treatment.

Allergies: Explained

Essentially, an allergy is simply the human body’s response to substances or materials that are, in the great majority of cases, usually entirely harmless, yet for a person with allergies, their immune system believes such substances to be a danger. As such, anyone who has allergies may find that their immune system produces an entirely inappropriate and wholly unnecessary response to the substance.

Usually, allergic reactions come from one or more of the following fundamental causes:

• Wasps, bees, and other insects (usually of the flying kind)
• Tree nuts, eggs, peanuts, milk, and other specific but widely used foodstuffs
• Proteins and amino acids which are produced by house dust mites
• Anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and other medications
• Furry animals including rabbits, dogs, horses, cats, and guinea pigs
• Damp and mold
• Grass or tree pollen

Are You Allergic?

If you believe you may well be experiencing allergic reactions to a particular item, foodstuff, liquid, or animal, including your household pets, ask yourself the following fundamental questions:

1. Do your symptoms seem to occur every single time you are in direct contact with the potential allergen?
2. Do your symptoms seem to occur when you come into contact with various different species of animals?
3. Do you appear to feel symptomatic in the day, in the night, or both?
4. Do such symptoms seem to occur at specific points throughout the day?
5. Do your symptoms get much better when you are on holiday?
6. Does it seem as if specific food or drinks trigger the symptoms?
7. Are you symptomatic both inside your home and outside of it?
8. Does it seem as if you experience symptoms at the same time of year, every year?

Allergy Treatments

The main types of allergic reactions are a runny or blocked nose, a red rash, sickness and diarrhea, shortness of breath, swollen eyes, lips or tongue, or red, cracked, and dry skin.

In more severe cases of allergic reactions, an individual could experience confusion and disorientation, difficulty in breathing, losing consciousness or fainting, lightheadedness, mouth and throat swelling, and even blue lips or skin.

Essentially, there are five main ways that a medical professional will treat your allergic reaction; the use of either decongestants, antihistamines, creams and lotions, immunotherapy, or steroids. Decongestants are used for blocked noses and should only be used for one week at a time, and creams and lotions are for skin rashes and irritation and can be used for considerably longer.

Steroids can only be prescribed by a medical professional and are very much a short-term measure, and immunotherapy, also known as desensitization, is only for those individuals who are not responding to the other forms of treatment and always by a qualified medical practitioner in ENT in Texas.

Antihistamines are the primary tool for both preventing an allergic reaction and also managing the reaction after it has occurred and can be taken in a variety of ways, including nasal sprays, capsules, liquid form, creams, tablets, and nasal drops.