Rhinitis, sneezing, watery eyes: millions of people in Germany suffer from hay fever. A clinical picture that should definitely be taken seriously. After all, long-lasting symptoms can seriously damage your bronchial tubes. Our doctors at Avi Medical will help you at all our locations with the acute care of your allergy and also accompany you in the long term with chronic allergy complaints.
Hay fever (also known as pollen allergy) is, like all allergies, an unfounded defensive reaction of the body to actually harmless, foreign particles. The body marks these as a "danger" (antigen) on initial contact and then fights them in a similar way to harmful viruses or bacteria .
This means that the body forms immune cells (antibodies) to eliminate the supposed pathogen. As a result, the next time the body comes into contact with the allergens, an excessive immune reaction occurs, which is intended to quickly flush the intruders out of the organism. This includes familiar symptoms such as runny nose or sneezing, eye itching or even coughing and even breathing difficulties.
Good to know: Hay fever belongs to the upper group of allergic rhinitis, i.e. diseases that irritate the nose. If this irritation is accompanied by irritation of the conjunctiva, doctors call it allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.
Unlike an animal dander or food allergy , hay fever is a seasonal allergy, as it occurs mainly in spring and summer.
The presence of hay fever can often already be diagnosed on the basis of the typical symptoms that occur in spring or summer due to the seasonally increased pollen count.
A test to confirm and find out exactly which allergens or pollen the allergy is directed against can be diagnosed by an allergy test (so-called prick or intracutaneous test), which is performed by a specialist.
However, this test should be performed during the symptom-free period, so it is not relevant for acute treatment for the time being.
Typical symptoms of allergic rhinitis include:
If it is allergic conjunctivitis, there will also be other symptoms:
If hay fever remains untreated for a long time or if the symptoms are very pronounced from the beginning, allergic asthma can develop, which manifests itself as irritable cough and respiratory problems that also occur increasingly in spring or summer.
The first step in the treatment of an acute pollen allergy is to take medication that can quickly relieve the acute symptoms . These include anti-allergic eye drops and nasal spray, as well as anti-allergic tablets, so-called antihistamines. In the case of very pronounced symptoms, it may also be necessary to take cortisone for a short time, which suppresses the body's immune response for a short time.
If you also suffer from allergic asthma symptoms, temporary therapy with an inhalation spray can relieve acute symptoms such as breathing difficulties and irritable cough.
At Avi Medical, we will be happy to advise you on which acute treatment is the best choice in your case and help you to get the acute symptoms under control as quickly as possible.
If further clarification or so-called immunotherapy by a specialist is necessary, we will gladly refer you to further diagnostics and therapy.
