Sneezing, blowing your nose, having an itchy throat and itchy eyes all the time. A quarter of French people suffer from the most common allergy, allergic rhinitis.
Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Daily returns today to a seasonal allergy, allergic rhinitis. Crying eyes, itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, 25% of French people suffer from the most common allergy, commonly called hay fever.
franceinfo: How does this disease manifest itself?
Martin Ducret: It is characterized on the one hand by an inflammation of the nose, it is rhinitis. The nose itches, runs, clogs and causes sneezing in bursts. On the other hand, this rhinitis can be accompanied by conjunctivitis. It is the inflammation of the superficial layer of the eye. The eyes become red, itchy and watery on their own.
What are the causes of these allergies?
Allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis are triggered by 3 main allergens, present in the air: cat hair, dust mites, which are found in house dust, and of course pollens, which are responsible for the allergy peak. which usually occurs in the spring. But this year, with global warming, the plants bud early. Consequence: allergies have pointed the tip of their nose much earlier than usual.
How can we know what is the allergen in question?
It is necessary to consult an allergy specialist, an allergist doctor. He performs a detailed examination beforehand, then skin tests, called prick-tests, The doctor instills several drops of different extracts of allergens, by pricking the epidermis of the forearm (one drop = an allergenic potential) .
When a drop is responsible for a local skin reaction, the allergen contained in it is designated as the culprit. And when these skin tests cannot be performed, a blood test can identify the allergen(s) in question.
What are the solutions ?
When possible, avoiding the allergen is essential. Dusting, vacuuming, airing daily are part of effective actions to get rid of dust mites. For pollens, you must expose yourself to them as little as possible: for example, avoid walks during the pollen period, especially on windy and sunny days.
Regarding drugs, antihistamine tablets relieve a good number of patients. They are to be taken either on demand, when the symptoms are intermittent, or continuously, when the rhinitis is persistent. There are also corticosteroids in nasal spray or antiallergic eye drops which are often used as reinforcement.
Finally, there is desensitization. The idea is to make the patient tolerant towards the responsible allergen. It is a kind of vaccine treatment for allergies, which is based on the regular administration of allergenic extracts for a minimum of 3 years.