Seasonal allergies: causes, development and treatment

Many people have seasonal allergies with the beginning of the spring-summer period. This phenomenon can significantly spoil the impression of warm days and walks with loved ones. Allergy often manifests itself in the form of watery eyes, runny nose and cough up to asthmatic attacks. But what causes such deplorable reactions of the body and how to deal with them. So, as you need to know the enemy in person, Estet-portal decided to tell you about the allergens that cause seasonal allergies and how to deal with the root cause and consequences of its manifestation.

Causes of hay fever

The cause of hay fever is an allergic reaction to plant pollen. Allergens can be trees, composite grasses, and even some fungal spores. The period of manifestation of seasonal allergies depends on the time of flowering of certain plants. Thus, they can be divided into three groups according to the flowering time. Accordingly, pollinosis occurs during this period. It should be noted that the concentration of allergens does not depend on the time of day. Allergy does not recede day or night. But the manifestations of hay fever at the beginning and end of the flowering period may be different. Although these are already individual characteristics of an allergic person.

What causes allergies

There are many plants that cause allergies. You have already learned the time of their flowering from the table above. There are also trees. If you arrange them according to the degree of allergy provoking, then birch will be in the first place, followed by alder, ash, maple and linden. This may surprise many, but poplar is not on the list. As it turned out, poplar itself is not an allergen. It's just that its flowering time coincides with the flowering time of cereal grasses, which form allergic pollen. Poplar powder puffs are only carriers of this pollen, and in themselves they are harmless. Factors influencing the development of pollinosis The state of allergy sufferers largely depends on the factors influencing the development of pollinosis. So among these factors are distinguished:

1. Weather conditions. In dry and windy weather, the concentration of pollen in the air is much higher than after rain. The thing is that the rain nails her to the ground.
2. Location. In different regions, a different number of flowering trees and herbs. Therefore, it is better for a person who has hay fever not to live near fields or deciduous parks.
3. Location. Pollen concentrations are higher outdoors than indoors. Therefore, it is not advised to open windows, so as not to worsen your condition at home.

Regardless of the factors, the development of pollinosis needs to be done with it. Nowadays, there are many different ways of treatment and prevention that will help a person cope with allergies.

How to deal with allergies

Given that many people suffer from seasonal allergies, there are, accordingly, many ways to deal with it. To facilitate the course of the disease, allergy sufferers are prescribed special drugs, immunotherapy, and even offer to move away from places where allergens are more concentrated. But it is worth remembering that in the first place you need to seek help from a specialist. Only a doctor can prescribe a complete, and most importantly, well-chosen, treatment. We will tell you about what you can recommend.

Medications for the treatment of seasonal allergies

There are several groups of antiallergic drugs:

1. Antihistamines. They are usually prescribed as oral tablets, or as drops and spray.
2. The Kramons. These are drugs that suppress allergic inflammation. Mostly they come in the form of a spray or drops for nasal and eye use.
3. Glucocorticosteroid preparations. These are hormonal drugs that are prescribed if  other therapy has not worked.
4. Complex treatment is considered the most effective. Therefore, sorbents are often prescribed in addition to antiallergic drugs. It is they who help to remove allergens from the body that have entered the gastrointestinal tract through the mucous membranes.

There are many different drugs. Therefore, when prescribing a particular remedy, the doctor is guided by the patient's personal indicators. Also of great importance is its reaction to the individual components of the drugs.

Specific immunotherapy for seasonal allergies

Specific immunotherapy is more likely not even a treatment, but a prevention of the onset of the disease in the future. It promotes the production of protective antibodies that resist allergens.  It is often carried out outside the pollination season of plants that cause allergic reactions. On average, a course of specific immunotherapy includes up to 40 injections, which are carried out once a year. If, after the first course of therapy, it did not give a good result during the dusting season, then you can repeat the procedure at the end of it. Developed antibodies can protect the body over a long period and spanning several busy seasons. If the positive effect of immunotherapy wears off, it can be repeated again. It is believed that such manipulations help only up to 50 years.

Tips to help manage allergies

Recommendations for people suffering from seasonal hay fever are not limited to therapeutic measures and symptomatic therapy. Here are some tips to help you manage your allergies:

1. Go on vacation to regions where pollen distribution has already ended. This minimizes your contact with her.
2. Remove carpets from the house. And not only on the walls, but also on the floor. If you have a cold floor and no carpets, then prefer lint-free carpets.
3. Keep doors and windows closed, and humidify the air in the apartment with a special anti-allergic humidifier.
4. Take allergy medication. It is best to start taking two weeks before flowering.
5. Avoid eating foods that provoke cross-reactivity of the body. During the flowering of certain plants, you should not eat foods that the body perceives as concomitant. The list of products is shown in the table below.

Remember that medications should be taken only under the supervision of a doctor and only those prescribed by him. Self-selection of antiallergic drugs can lead to a worsening of the condition. Allergy treatment must be qualified. Therefore, do not try to solve the problem yourself, but seek help from a specialist. After all, each person has pollinosis manifested differently.  The editors of Estet-portal hope that our advice will help the treatment and wish you warm days without allergies.