Any allergic rhinitis is a sign of impaired immune system function. Such a runny nose was first identified as a separate disease about 100 years ago. This was done by a scientist who himself suffered during the flowering of plants. In winter, he was near the mown hay and began to sneeze again. At this moment, he suspected that his well-being was a reaction to certain substances in the air. This disease is also called hay fever.
Types of problems
Experts say that there can be two types of allergic rhinitis. Symptoms and treatment are similar. So, some people only face seasonal problems. In this case, allergic rhinitis is due to the appearance of plant pollen, to which the body reacts. The greater its concentration near a sick person, the more noticeable will be the manifestations of diseases.
But some suffer from a runny nose year-round. In this case, patients most likely respond to dust, animal saliva, wool, dust mites, mold fungi, or other irritants. Some have a reaction to the so-called occupational allergens: paints, solvents, varnishes, cement and other chemicals.
Causes and characteristics of the disease
Experts have long been saying that any allergies are problems with the immune system. It produces histamine upon contact with an irritating substance. This process provokes an allergic rhinitis. The reasons for its occurrence lie in hypersensitive reactions of an immediate type that occur when in contact with an irritant. It is the immune system that begins to fight with inhaled particles and stimulates the onset of a runny nose.
She considers allergens to be foreign substances. The body, which first encountered them, begins to produce specific antibodies. In subsequent contacts, they begin to fight with allergens they know. But at the same time, histamine and other substances are released, leading to the appearance of symptoms. Specialists call this whole process sensitization.
Symptoms usually appear quite quickly: it can take from a few seconds to 20 minutes. They arise due to the reaction of the peripheral and central parts of the nervous system, which give an impetus to a change in the nasal mucosa. Swelling of the tissues appears, the nasal cavity narrows, breathing is disturbed, the tone of the vessels of the mucous membrane of this organ changes. In addition, there is an increased secretion of goblet cells, increased secretory function of the glands, the appearance of a significant layer of mucus above the cilia of the cylindrical ciliated epithelium.
In addition, an allergic rhinitis is characterized by a decrease in the absorption capacity of the nasal mucosa. Symptoms and treatment of this disease depend on its course and duration. Equally important is the general well-being of a person.
First signs of problems
Upon contact with allergens, the body in most cases works instantly. Symptoms may disappear on their own in a few days. The maximum period during which rhinitis can continue is 10 days. But we must understand that the disease can only go away when there is no contact with the irritating substance. Otherwise, an allergic rhinitis can last for a long time. Symptoms of this disease are always pronounced:
- sneezing: appears a few minutes after inhaling the allergen or in the morning;
- runny nose: the mucus secreted is liquid and transparent, but when a nasal infection is attached, it becomes yellow and viscous;
- discomfort in the nasopharynx, coughing may occur;
- itching in the nose, ears, throat.
Eyes are also often inflamed, slight swelling of the face can be observed.
People who have never encountered such a disease, it seems that this is not so scary. But an allergic rhinitis can greatly complicate life, because its manifestations affect well-being, appearance, performance.
Disease prevention
Many people suffering from aggravated immunity reactions to stimuli have never even visited a specialized doctor - an allergist. But in vain. A specialist could choose drugs that will alleviate the condition, and tell what needs to be done so that an allergic rhinitis does not appear. Prevention (symptoms should not yet appear) is aimed at preventing the development of the disease. The best preventive measure is to prevent exposure to the allergen. To do this, it is advisable to take samples and identify which substance you are responding to.
To prevent the development of the disease or minimize its manifestations can be as follows. We must try not to go out into the fresh air early in the morning, to avoid any trips to nature. At home, windows can be hung with a dense fabric so that pollen does not have the opportunity to enter the rooms. Rinse your nose and eyes as often as possible. This will help clear the mucous membranes of the allergens that have fallen into them and prevent the onset of the disease if you know that your allergic rhinitis may worsen. Komarovsky E.O. claims that this disease also arises as a reaction to excessive purity and an abundance of household chemicals in the house. He considers nasal lavage and maximum contact with potential allergens as the best preventive measure. He says that before the appearance of the baby in the house, you can even get a dog, this will also help to prevent the child from allergies.
But other doctors do not recommend people with hypersensitivity to keep flowers at home and use cosmetics (except for special hypoallergenic series). Compliance with these recommendations may not completely relieve allergies, but it can significantly alleviate your condition.
Symptoms of the disease
If at the beginning a person is only concerned with a runny nose, frequent sneezing and itching, then over time there are other signs by which a specialist can diagnose an allergic runny nose. Symptoms that occur over time may be as follows:
- increased photosensitivity;
- sniffling, constantly stuffy nose;
- irritability caused by poor health ;
- prostration;
- sleep impairment;
- mouth breathing (occurs due to constant nasal congestion);
- altered sense of smell;
- hearing problems, a feeling of pressure in the ears;
- discomfort in the face;
- allergic bruises - dark circles appearing under the eyes.
The intensity of the manifestation of symptoms throughout life may vary. At certain points, they can become aggravated, at other periods, they can practically disappear. An allergic rhinitis often occurs during pregnancy. Children are considered more sensitive to allergens. It happens that, growing up, they become less susceptible. Frequent use of perfumes, work in which there are strong odors, contact with wood or cigarette smoke only worsen the situation.
If you notice an exacerbation of allergies in the spring and summer, then most likely you have a reaction to pollen. But there are people who are much worse in winter, at a time when most of the time you have to spend indoors. In this situation, allergens must be sought among dust, household ticks, animals living in houses, plants on the windowsill.
Action tactics
If you have a feeling of itching, sneezing and mucous discharge from the nose begin, do not try to immediately run to the pharmacy for antihistamines - the cause of the ailment may be completely different. Now let's talk about how to distinguish an allergic rhinitis from a cold. With exactly the same symptoms, treatment requires different things. A common cold in most cases is accompanied by other symptoms characteristic of acute respiratory infections. It can be fever, body aches, cough, pain in a goal, hoarse voice. In addition, with infectious diseases, the discharge is often viscous, they are colored yellow or greenish.
If you know what exactly you are allergic to, then you need to minimize contact with the irritant by all possible means. With seasonal manifestations of the disease, you need to spend as little time as possible on the street, constantly rinse your nose, try to get around by car, bus, minibus, and close windows at home. Only in this way can the manifestations that characterize an allergic rhinitis be reduced.
A collection of tips may recommend alleviating the condition with antihistamines. First-generation drugs can eliminate the symptoms, but they have many side effects. They inhibit the nervous system, weaken attention, provoke a feeling of lethargy and constant fatigue. These include funds such as Suprastin and Diphenhydramine. More modern drugs only block histamine receptors and do not affect the general condition. In addition, to achieve the desired effect, drinking a new generation is enough 1 time per day. They include medicines "Claritin", "Zirtek", "Aleron" and others. Systemic drugs in the form of tablets, capsules or syrup, as a rule, are prescribed in cases where the patient is concerned about several symptoms at once, and not just an allergic rhinitis.
Prevention and treatment of nasal mucus is carried out using local drugs. If necessary, novocaine blockade can be done , injections of hydrocortisone into the lower nasal concha. But such drastic measures are used in extreme cases. Most often, with rhinitis of an allergic nature, eye drops and nasal sprays are recommended, which can slightly alleviate the condition in less than an hour. An allergist can prescribe such drugs as Kromoglin, Kromosol - they are used for a mild form of pathology. In more severe cases, corticosteroids are recommended - Nasobek, Nazarel, Nazonex, Benorin.
Another method of control is the injection of allergens. But such a tactic can be used only if the stimulus has been established. Therapy is carried out as follows: first, an allergen is introduced into the body in small doses, then its concentration is increased. This is done until tolerance to irritants that cause an allergic rhinitis develops. You will no longer need prevention with this approach to treatment, because the body stops responding to the substance that caused the disease.
Seasonal problems
Specialists distinguish several stages of the pathology we are considering. And all of them are accompanied by an allergic rhinitis. Symptoms and treatment will depend on the severity of the manifestations and on what type of disease it can be attributed to.
Seasonal rhinitis is referred to as pollinosis syndromes, in which the mucous membrane of the nose and eyes is primarily affected. If the patient has a hereditary predisposition to the disease, then his body begins to produce antibodies to irritants. As a result, well-known manifestations arise. They can be expressed both in the form of abundant mucous discharge from the nose, and combined with conjunctivitis. In severe cases, bronchial asthma may join these symptoms. In this case, a person often has signs of intoxication: fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances, and even fever.
As a rule, an allergic rhinitis develops against the background of general health during the period of active flowering of plants. A feeling of itching sharply appears in the nose, it is accompanied by repeated sneezing, difficulty in breathing and copious transparent mucous secretions. In most people, seizures last for a couple of hours and can be repeated several times a day.
At the time of the attack, the nasal mucosa is saturated with blood, it can become cyanotic, swollen. In this case, the nasal concha increase , they block the passages. Some also note irritation of other mucous membranes - the larynx and trachea suffer. A cough appears, viscous sputum is released, a hoarseness of the voice is observed .
Exacerbations cease at a time when the active flowering of plants ends. When examined in a healthy state, there are no pathological changes. True, some are diagnosed with a curved nasal septum, mucous polyps, contact spikes.
Chronic manifestations
But there are people who may be bothered all year round by an allergic rhinitis. Symptoms and treatment in this case will be slightly different. This type of allergy is distinguished by the fact that with it there are no pronounced exacerbations, it is impossible to track the frequency. But the symptoms are less pronounced than with seasonal rhinitis.
Chronic allergic rhinitis has 4 conditional stages:
- aperiodic transient seizures;
- continue;
- polypo formation;
- carnification.
The first stage is characterized by the fact that the symptoms are moderate, periodically there are minor exacerbations. Patients react to hypothermia, drafts, this provokes an exacerbation of the disease. At the same time, their nose is periodically stuffed up, there is a feeling of dry mouth, lethargy, poor sleep, increased fatigue, and sometimes dyspnea attacks can occur. Also at this stage, the permeability of cell membranes begins to be disturbed. Such an allergic rhinitis during pregnancy is a fairly common phenomenon.
If the doctor notes that there are signs of degeneration of the nasal mucosa, this means that the situation is getting worse. This indicates the beginning of the second stage. In this case, the mucous membrane becomes pale, a gray tint appears, granular formations noticeable at the ends of the middle and lower nasal concha. At this stage, breathing is constantly difficult, the sense of smell is practically absent. The effect of the use of vasoconstrictor drugs is almost not noticeable.
After some time (it can take several months or about 4 years), polyps grow in the nasal passage. They look like formations, similar to bags hanging in the lumen of the nasal passage on the leg. In most cases, they are sandwiched between the septum of the nose and its lateral wall.
At the stage of carnification, the tissues of the lower and partially middle nasal concha are noticeably denser and become insensitive to vasoconstrictors. This process may be accompanied by the appearance of asthma attacks. The general symptoms that characterize the disease become permanent.
Diseases of children
Unfortunately, an allergic rhinitis in a child can often occur. Symptoms and treatment, as in the case of adults, will depend on the form and course of the disease. Toddlers may have seasonal or year-round rhinitis. The disease proceeds in the same way as in adults. But in children, often a runny nose due to an allergy reduces the body's overall resistance. Because of this, the disease is complicated by the addition of viral or bacterial infections.
Seasonal or chronic allergic rhinitis in children is accompanied by swelling of the nasal cavity, active secretion of mucus. Children complain of itching in the nose and eyes, they constantly sneeze. The disease is often accompanied by a cough. But this, by the way, may be a sign of the development of bronchial asthma.
Any allergic rhinitis in a child often gives complications in the form of the appearance of acute (and sometimes chronic) otitis media, sinusitis, and the attachment of various acute respiratory infections. If you do not treat the baby, then this is fraught with the development of inflammation in the nasal sinuses.
If possible, it is necessary to eliminate the irritant or to minimize contact with the baby. In other cases, you need to know how to distinguish an allergic rhinitis from a cold, and begin competent treatment on time. All drugs are best selected together with the doctor. The child should be treated either by a pediatrician or a pediatric allergist. The doctor selects age-appropriate drugs and calculates the required dosage.
Occupational Therapy
Do not disregard an allergic rhinitis in children and adults. This is fraught only with a worsening situation. Therapy is symptomatic (elimination of the manifestations of the disease) and allergen-specific. The patient is prescribed drugs that mitigate the manifestation of allergic reactions, sedatives and vasoconstrictors. To reduce swelling and eliminate congestion, you can use drops and sprays that have a vasoconstrictive effect: Xylometazoline, Nafazolin, Sanorin, Naphthyzin, Nazivin, Tizin and others. But you should not use them for more than 10 days in a row.
However, symptomatic treatment can give the expected results only when it is possible to eliminate the irritant.Otherwise, it is also necessary to use antihistamines, corticosteroids or conduct immunotherapy. The first group of drugs include drugs such as Zirtek, Aleron, Claritin, Ketotifen, and others similar.
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Folk methods
Doctors do not get tired of saying that it is fraught to let an allergic rhinitis run on its own. A collection of tips for treating folk remedies can, of course, be found, but you should not hope for getting rid of the disease only with their help.
Among the most popular recommendations are the following. Many proponents of alternative medicine recommend burying their nose with calendula, red geranium, or coltsfoot juice. In addition, you can gargle with water infusion of valerian or motherwort.
You can relieve swelling with the help of various physical exercises. This recommendation is based on the fact that the load stimulates the sympathetic nerves, and as a result, the vessels narrow and the allergic rhinitis decreases.
Herbal treatment is also possible. Some recommend brewing celandine, insist it for at least 4 hours and drink. It is believed that duckweed also helps with a cold. Her infusion (prepared from 1 tbsp. L. Herbs and 0.5 l of water) must be drunk in the morning for several weeks.
Another popular recommendation is the use of activated carbon in the acute period of the disease. You can drink it 2 tablets up to 5 times a day. This method helps to reduce the manifestations of intoxication.
Even if you are an ardent supporter of traditional medicine and do not recognize conservative methods of treatment, you should know that if you have an allergy, it is better to make an exception. After all, this disease not only significantly complicates life, but can also lead to a number of serious complications.