Alternative medicine (1)
- Hypnosis
Prevention (1)
- Springtime allergies: Nip them in the bud
Symptoms (1)
- Symptom Checker
Tests and diagnosis (1)
- Allergy skin tests
Treatments and drugs (1)
- Allergy medications: Know your options
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Springtime allergies: Nip them in the bud
Try an over-the-counter (OTC) remedy
Several types of nonprescription medications can help ease allergy symptoms. They include:
- Oral antihistamines. Antihistamines can help relieve sneezing, itching, runny nose and watery eyes. Examples of oral antihistamines include loratadine (Claritin, others) and cetirizine (Zyrtec, others). Older antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl, others) and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton, others) are also effective, but they can make you drowsy.
- Decongestants. Oral decongestants such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, others) can provide temporary relief from nasal stuffiness. Decongestants also come in nasal sprays such as oxymetazoline (Afrin, others) and phenylephrine (Vicks Sinex, others). Only use nasal decongestants for short-term relief. Long-term use of decongestant nasal sprays can actually worsen symptoms (rebound congestion).
- Cromolyn spray. Cromolyn (Nasalcrom) can ease allergy symptoms — but it can take up to a week of several sprays a day to start working.
- Combination medications. A number of allergy medications combine an antihistamine with a decongestant. Examples include the oral medication Actifed, which combines the antihistamine chlorpheniramine with the decongestant phenylephrine; and the nasal spray Claritin-D, which combines the antihistamine loratadine and the decongestant pseudoephedrine.
Rinse your sinuses
Rinsing your nasal passages with water — nasal irrigation — is a quick, inexpensive and effective way to relieve allergy symptoms. Rinsing directly flushes out mucus and irritants from your nose. Look for a squeeze bottle or a neti pot — a small container with a spout designed for nose rinsing — at your pharmacy or health food store. Use water that's distilled, sterile, previously boiled and cooled, or filtered using a filter with an absolute pore size of 1 micron or smaller to make up the irrigation solution. Also be sure to rinse the irrigation device after each use with similarly distilled, sterile, previously boiled and cooled, or filtered water and leave open to air dry.
Interested in alternative treatments? Consider these
A number of natural remedies have been used to treat hay fever symptoms. Treatments that may help include extracts of the shrub butterbur and spirulina (a type of dried algae). A number of other natural remedies are used to treat allergies, but the benefits aren't clear and some may not be safe — so talk to your doctor before trying one.
When home remedies aren't enough, see your doctor
For many people, avoiding allergens and taking over-the-counter medications is enough to ease symptoms. But if your seasonal allergies are still bothersome, don't give up. A number of other treatments are available.
If you have bad seasonal allergies, your doctor may recommend that you have skin tests or blood tests to find out exactly what allergens trigger your symptoms. Testing can help determine what steps you need to take to avoid your specific triggers and identify which treatments are likely to work best for you.
For some people, allergy shots (allergen immunotherapy) can be a good option. Also known as desensitization, this treatment involves regular injections containing tiny amounts of the substances that cause your allergies. Over time, these injections reduce the immune system reaction that causes symptoms.
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- Herbs and other dietary supplements. In: Bauer B. Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine. New York, N.Y.: Time Inc.; 2007:156.
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- deShazo RD, et al. Pharmacotherapy of allergic rhinitis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
- Rabago D, et al. Saline nasal irrigation for upper respiratory conditions. American Family Physician. 2009;80:1117.
- Naegleria FAQs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/faqs.html. Accessed Dec. 30, 2011.
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