In spring when all things come to life, buds appear on the trees and pollen fills the air. But there are some patients who fear going outside during this good season.

These patients have allergies that include allergic rhinitis, or inflammation of the nasal passage, conjunctivitis and allergic asthma. Allergic rhinitis is defined as the specific response of the nose to a variety of stimuli. In addition, pollen-induced allergies are defined when the pollen acts as an antigen and triggers allergy symptoms.

Allergic rhinitis symptoms usually include sudden sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and eyes, and nasal congestion. In addition, these symptoms are also accompanied by headache and olfactory dysfunction. Pollens include springtime shrub pollen, grass pollen during the summer and weed pollen during the fall. Of these, autumn mugwort pollen is representative of those with an antigenic significance. 

It is also known, however, that the alder tree during spring, populous, willow and birch are common sources of pollen. Tree pollen is mainly present in the air from late March to early May. There is also what is blown away like a downy hair. But this is the seed rather than the pollen. The difference is that the seed is not involved in the occurrence of symptoms and is invisible to the eyes.

It is necessary to use radical or preventive methods to treat allergic rhinitis. It is impossible to prevent by completely avoiding pollen.

If you’re predisposed to allergic rhinitis, you’re recommended to refrain from going outside during seasons when pollen is heavy in the air. If we wear glasses or sun glasses, we can protect the eyes, in part, by preventing pollen from directly contacting them.

In addition, we should close all windows at home, as well as car doors, and use an air conditioner. While pollen is mainly present outdoors, it causes symptoms when carried indoors on clothing. It is therefore important not to carry pollen from outdoors indoors.

When you return home, you should completely brush away pollen before entering, lest outdoor pollen should enter. You should also wash your face once you enter your home. It is generally known that patients with an allergic predisposition are sensitive to temperature change. When they feel a chill, this means that their symptoms are aggravated. When spring comes, the daily temperature range is relatively wider. That is, the spring season can be compared to early summer during the day time and late winter at night. This, therefore, renders our body unable to adjust to the temperature change. If we wear a single type of clothes, we are liable to feel chilly. It is recommended to prepare sufficient clothing rather than to wear clothes simply following the fashion. Moreover, stress, fatigue and flu are also factors that aggravate the symptoms of allergic rhinitis.

We should therefore avoid these factors. The treatment is to use drugs that alleviate the symptoms, for which the use of anti-histamines would be the first choice. To date, anti-histamines have been used the most frequently to reduce runny nose. They also, however, cause drowsiness and sluggishness. Accordingly, there have been recent efforts to develop drugs that cause less drowsiness once they are administered. These drugs are currently used in a clinical setting.

The use of corticosteroid nasal sprays is recommended in patients who are resistant to monotherapy with anti-histamines, for most of whom two types of drugs are used to alleviate the nasal symptoms. In addition, these patients are also susceptible to conjunctivitis that is exposed outside of the body.

It is recommended for patients who present with symptoms in the eyes to also use eye drops. If you feel that you display the symptoms immediately, you should first control the symptoms with the drugs. It might also be necessary to perform surgical correction on patients who have symptoms due to structural abnormalities of the nose.

By Chung Seung-kyu 

The author is a professor at Department of Otorhinolaryngology of Sungkyunkwan University of School of medicine and doctor at Samsung Medical Center. ― Ed.