Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever) affects about 30 million people in America and has increased in prevalence over the last 25 years. Allergy medications have dominated the shelves in many pharmacies as a result of the increasing brands of antihistamines, nasal sprays and decongestants. Despite the plethora of remedies, both over the counter (OTC) and... Read more
1. Your medication may not be targeting the right symptoms.
Some patients enter my office frustrated because of the failure of their antihistamine pills (e.g. Claritin (loratadine), Zyrtec (cetirizine) and Allegra (fexofenadine) to relieve symptoms of nasal-sinus congestion.
Antihistamines chiefly dry up the nose and reduce itching... Read more
"Doc, I think I'm allergic to cottonwood tree. Every summer I start sneezing my head off when those "cotton things" start floating around in the air."
Every year in May or June a few people ask me about cottonwood allergy after noticing their eye and nasal symptoms escalate as the cottonwood tree molts its seedlings. But this is a... Read more
Understanding allergic diseases and how they are managed is becoming increasingly complex. Recent research is chipping away at age old practices that for decades were thought to be sound allergy advice.
The first oxymoron:
For decades allergists have told patients to remove their furry pets from the home but recent scientific... Read more
Seasonal allergy sufferers are still enjoying the absence of outdoor allergy triggers as the days of winter come and go. If you are fortunate enough to have avoided severe colds, sinus infection and flu symptoms up to now, the outlook is good. On the other hand, those who are sensitive to indoor allergy triggers have not experienced as much of a... Read more
