How To Treat Allergies

Hi, thank you for coming back for the latest edition of Beyond Primary Care’s blog- How to treat allergies. In Beyond Primary Care blogs we highlight healthcare news, advice for medical conditions, and how membership for care works! Beyond Primary Care is an insurance free, membership based family medicine clinic. Beyond Primary Care is the highest rated Direct Primary Care clinic serving patients in Ann Arbor and throughout Washtenaw, Livingston, and Wayne counties giving families and employers peace of mind about healthcare costs by providing affordable and accessible primary care services.

The primary purpose of the blog is to introduce healthy lifestyle concepts and answer common questions we receive from patients that we believe are important. We want to start discussions that will help educate, benefit, and improve your well-being. 

In this blog post, we want to educate our patients and any prospective patients about: How to Treat Allergies

What Are Allergies

My favorite part about winter is that it always ends. Warmer weather eventually takes over. The sunshine is radiant, the flowers are blooming, and we can go for walks without spending 10 minutes bundling-up inside. You couldn’t ask for much more. But for allergy sufferers, springtime can be miserable. Allergens are lurking everywhere. 

There are different type of allergens including fungi (such as mold and mildew), pollen (such as tree, grass, weed), food (such as nut, milk, egg, fish), and pet (such as dander, urine, saliva).

Sources of pollen for Dr. O’Boyle: His siberian husky, Jackson; the dog saliva (drool), and grass. Eeek!

Pollen is an airborne substance. Hay fever is the name given to allergic rhinitis caused by pollen. The amount of pollen in the air depends on the season and the location in which you live. You can check the daily pollen count (the number of grains of pollen in a cubic meter of air based on a sample taken in a 24 hour period). Follow pollen counts online at https://www.pollen.com/. The count is reported as low, moderate, high, or very high.

Allergy Symptoms

Regardless the type of allergen, the basic same process occurs in our body as part of a normal immune response to an allergy that we physically come into contact with or through the air. Our immune systems recognizes an abnormal intruder- or threat- as dangerous and starts various mechanisms in order to eliminate the allergen. These mechanisms result in allergy symptoms that range on a spectrum and may include:

• Itchy mouth, nose, or throat

• Itchy, watery, or red eyes

• Stuffy or runny nose

• Loss of smell

• Congestion

• Headache

• Sneezing

• Rash

More dangerous allergy symptoms are part of a spectrum known as anaphylaxis. These typically occur with a trigger such as food ingestion or an insect sting, and can include

• Difficulty breathing

• Tightness in the chest

• Nausea & Vomiting

• Hives

• Swelling

• Dizziness

Allergy Testing

Being diagnosed with allergies is mostly a clinical diagnosis. It is based on a history of illness and physical examination. If you are really symptomatic, it’s helpful to get tested to establish the specific triggers. The skin prick allergy test involves poking your skin to allow a small amount of a selected allergen to enter. After a period of time, if the substance being tested is a problem, there should be a reaction to the substance. The test is not painful, as it uses tiny needles that barely penetrate the surface of the skin. 

A benefit of the skin prick test is its ability to test for many allergens at once, including foods, mold, pollen, and more. Another benefit is that the skin prick tests takes 10 minutes to administer and another 15 minutes to get results. We then get instant results by measuring the size of the reaction to determine the severity of an allergy. 

How to treat Allergies

Treating allergies can be accomplished with various medications from over-the-counter to prescription to targeted therapy. Fortunately, the possible solutions for allergy sufferers have never been better. Here’s a quick overview of your options (roughly in order of preference):

1) Minimize exposure
Allergies are triggered by allergens; if there’s no exposure, there will be no symptoms. I’m not saying you should lock your kids in the house until June, but there’s something to be said for eliminating unnecessary exposures. Keep the windows in your house and car closed to keep pollen out. Try to discourage your kids from rolling around in the grass, and when they come back inside, have them bathe and change clothes. Wear a face mask when outside or if you may be inhaling larger particles- such as folding laundry. Wear a hat and sunglasses to avoid getting allergens in your hair and protect your eyes.

2) Nasal Rinses

This is an ancient practice that has been shown to have benefit in relieving both allergies and cold symptoms. Nasal rinses are a great way to remove allergens that have already found their way into the nasal passages before turning to medical management. Essentially, it involves some method of sending a stream of saline solution up one side of your nose and then back out.

3) Medication

When symptoms are bad enough to need a daily medication, there are a few options that work great. Start with antihistamines for itching and runny nose, steroid nasal sprays for congestion, and anti-histamine drops for eye symptoms. 

• Oral Antihistamine: eg- Zyrtec (BPC med price $7.00 for 100 pills), Claritin (BPC med price $7.00 for 100 pills)

• Nasal Spray for allergic nose: eg- Flonase (BPC med price $6.00 per bottle), Ipratropium (BPC med price $17 per bottle)

• Eye drops for allergic eyes: eg- Zaditor ( BPC med price $10 per bottle)

People whose allergies aren’t well controlled may benefit from targeted therapy. Targeted therapy, such as allergy drops, goes to the root of the problem, where they try to change and decrease your allergic response to the allergens. These allergy drops work similar to allergy shots but the antigens are placed under the tongue and absorbed through the veins instead of an injection. People will find tremendous relief from environmental allergies with allergy drops- not just seasonal, but also pet dander, dust mites, and other inhaled allergens. Beyond Primary Care offers sublingual therapy through Allergy Choices. 

Thank you for reading.

- Dr. Jeff O’Boyle with Beyond Primary Care