Hay Fever

What is hay fever?

Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis, is an allergic reaction. Your mucous membranes in your nose and sinuses become inflamed, and you have symptoms similar to those of the common cold. However, these symptoms don’t come from viruses. Instead, they’re from substances in your indoor or outdoor environment that you breathe in.

Symptoms resulting from allergic rhinitis include:

• Runny nose
• Nasal congestion
• Postnasal drip
• Sneezing
• Watery eyes
• Itchy eyes

Depending on the allergen causing your hay fever, your will flare up during certain parts of the year or year-round. Fortunately, the ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC team can uncover your allergen or allergens and help you manage your allergy symptoms.

What causes hay fever?

The allergens that cause hay fever include pollens, spores, and dust mites. Some are primarily in outdoor environments. Others are found in your house.

When you come to ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC with symptoms of hay fever, the team completes allergy testing for common indoor and outdoor allergens:

• Tree pollen
• Grass pollen
• Ragweed pollen
• Dust mites
• Pet dander
• Cockroaches
• Mold spores
• Fungi spores

ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC offers several skin testing methods for various allergens. Skin tests provide quicker, more accurate results than blood lab testing, so they’re the preferred method in most cases.

How is hay fever treated?

Symptoms like congestion, sneezing, and eye watering are a lot to handle, especially if they happen year-round or are severe. Since hay fever allergens are usually difficult or impossible to avoid entirely, the team at ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC will recommend one of these two immunotherapies:

Allergy shots

Every week, you come in for allergy shots to prepare your immune system to protect you against the allergen. Allergy shots help you gradually build up a tolerance to the allergen by exposing you to gradually increasing amounts of the allergen. You’ll stop getting the shots once you’ve reached the maximum symptom-relieving dose.

Allergy drops

Allergy drops, also called sublingual immunotherapy, are an alternative to the more traditional allergy shots. Instead of coming in weekly for injections, you place a liquid drop under your tongue every day at home. Over time, you increase the amount of your allergen in the drops to build up a tolerance to it.

If you suffer from hay fever symptoms seasonally or year-round, call ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC today or schedule an appointment online for help managing them.