The Main Offenders = Allergens
Dogs can have an allergic reaction to almost anything they come into contact with. The most common allergens for dogs are: fleas, food, dust and dust mites, and “inhalant” allergens . Many allergic dogs, especially severely allergic dogs, are allergic to more than one of these.
It is ideal to determine what your dog is allergic to. This is usually not simple. Your dog’s “itch pattern” may help a little to determine what he or she is allergic to. In general, dog’s with flea allergies scratch over their tail head, on their back. In general, dog’s with food allergies have itchy “ears and rears”. Canine inhalant allergy sufferers tend to gnaw on their feet more that other areas. Don’t determine what your dog is allergic to strictly by his or her itch pattern, but it’s a good starting place. For instance, if your pet has a really hard time only over his tail head, get rid of every flea on him. I stress, EVERY flea, because even one single flea bite can start the whole itch cycle all over on a dog that is allergic to them.
Why Might Your Doctor Not Recommend Allergy Shots
- You have another health problem, such as coronary artery disease , that puts you at increased risk for a severe reaction to the shots.
- Your child with allergies is younger than 5.
- You are pregnant. Pregnant women who are already getting allergy shots may keep getting them. But doctors don’t recommend starting allergy shots during pregnancy.
Change Your Bed Covers
Dust mites and other allergens lie in their bed, waiting for the night to attack. When we feel constipated, they increase the cough and make it difficult for us to breathe, which bothers our throat. It is important to change the covers at least once a week and wash them at least 60 degrees to kill bacteria, germs and fluids that can interfere on your side while you sleep.
It is also desirable to dry them outdoors because sunlight is very effective in eliminating microorganisms. Uh! Remember to ventilate your room every day. Leaving fresh air for a few minutes is the easiest way to get rid of the germs that caused the soaking of the pillow and bed.
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How To Prevent A Cough From Allergies With These Precautions
- Avoid getting close to sick people
- Get rid of or stay away from irritants such as scented sprays and perfumes
- Drinking plenty of water and natural juices will help you to get rid of persistent cough allergies
- Always blow your nose than a sniffle. It will help you to get rid of stuffy nose dry cough allergies
No Hugging And Kissing
Hang onto your seat because:
Youre probably not going to like this one
Fact:
The best treatment for pet allergies is to avoid contact.
And guess what?
The highest concentration of allergens on a cats body is found on the face and neck.
What this means:
You should try not to hug and kiss your feline friend.
In addition to that, have someone who isnt allergic take care of the washing and brushing.
This might be a difficult one to stick to
The choice is yours.
This is one of the simplest tricks on the list.
The first thing you do after you touch or handle kitty:
You wash your hands.
Soap and water will do just fine to remove those allergens.
Its a no-brainer.
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Listening To The Symptoms
Right now many people are anxious and concerned with COVID-19 being so widespread, Dr. Siegel says. But I tell parents that while the symptoms of allergies and COVID-19 can be similar, there are some concrete ways to tell which one their child is experiencing so they will know how to treat it.
Here are several differences that can be important clues:
- An illness like COVID-19 causes a system-wide response, while an allergy, which is an overreaction of the immune system in response to exposure to a trigger, is usually more localized. For instance, a child with a flu or COVID-19 may have a fever, body aches, chills, a sore throat, weakness, and respiratory symptoms. Someone with allergies will be more likely to have the symptoms centered on the nose, eyes, and throat, and they usually wont have a fever.
- Allergies cause itchiness: itchy eyes, itchy nose and sneezing, and a tickle in the throat, she says. Itchiness is usually not a symptom of illness.
- COVID-19 doesnt seem to cause much in the way of nasal symptoms, Dr. Siegel says. That means if your child is sneezing a lot, its more likely allergies, a cold, the flu, or another illness that isnt related to COVID-19.
- Children with allergies may also have asthma, which can cause wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness. While many people with COVID-19 also have a cough and chest tightness or difficulty breathing, most of the time this isnt accompanied by wheezing, Dr. Siegel says.
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Can Allergies Affect Joint Pain
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If you suffer from allergies, you likely know the toll they can take on your sinuses. But what about the rest of your body? Can allergies affect joint pain? Believe it or not, allergies, whether seasonal or food-related, can affect joint pain. Allergy symptoms appear for a variety of reasons, but some symptoms like joint pain may occur because of the humidity and rapid temperature changes that accompany the spring season.
During allergy season, many individuals experience a spike in allergy symptoms, particularly when there is a high pollen count. Some individuals will have mild symptoms like a stuffy nose and sneezing.
Others, on the other hand, can experience pain in their neck, back and joints. Joint pain is widespread. A national survey showed one-third of adults claimed to have experienced joint pain within the previous 30 days.
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Talk With Your Doctor About Allergy Testing Or Allergy Shots
Allergy testing can help your care provider diagnose your exact allergies and come up with a treatment plan to help relieve your symptoms.
Allergy tests are pretty simple. The tests are performed on your skin at your clinic, to determine what allergens are causing your symptoms.
Depending on how severe your allergies appear to be, your doctor may recommend immunotherapy with allergy shots to help reduce and maybe even eliminate your bodys reaction to environmental allergens.
These shots help teach your body to not be allergic and are given over the course of a couple of years until a target dose is reached. Once the right dosage has been reached, your doctor will work with you on a maintenance schedule.
Allergy shots are the most effective way of treating allergies and work better than most prescription medications. A course of allergy shots can give you long-term symptom relief for three to five years. Many people have symptom relief the rest of their life. You can discuss the cost of allergy shots with your insurance provider.
How To Identify What Youre Allergic To
Identifying substances that you are allergic to is a critical part of allergy treatment. This way, you can avoid them in the future.
There are many different types of allergies, so ask your doctor about the best allergy tests for diagnosing your symptoms. Most often, allergists perform skin prick tests. These involve injecting tiny amounts of several common allergens to see if they provoke a reaction. Skin prick tests are different from allergy shots.
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What Is Dust And Where Does It Come From
Everything in our home collects dust. But what is it really? Where does it come from and why does it keep coming back?
Read more
When they munch on the dead skin cells, the mites release enzymes into their gut that break down the cells.
In the 1980s, Professor Tovey discovered that one of these enzymes is a powerful allergen that floats in the air on the poo of mites.
The allergen from poo is distributed on smaller dust particles, says Professor Tovey.
go down to less than a millimeter, so that means they are inhalable.
People may also be allergic to a number of other proteins in the mites body, but the enzyme accounts for about 60 percent of allergies.
This is because a mite can produce a lot of poo during its lifetime of up to 90 days.
A lifetime for poo is much more than a mite body because they constantly produce poo.
Dust mite allergens can also hang for a long time depending on the humidity level.
In dry conditions it will hang for years, in humid conditions it will collapse for months.
Dog Allergies Treatments And Relief For Dogs
“How can I help my dog with allergies?” Treating allergies can be frustrating for the owner, the veterinarian, and most of all for the poor dog. It is important for owners to realize that allergies don’t usually go away, we primarily treat the symptoms. It will seem like they go away because the animal will usually improve with treatment, but once treatment is stopped and the animal continues to come into contact with what it is allergic to, it will scratch again.
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Top 9 Natural Allergy Relief Home Remedies
According to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, one in five people, or an estimated 50 million Americans, suffer from some type of allergies. The chances are high that you or someone you know deals with ongoing allergies, whether seasonal allergies, food allergies or another type, and could use allergy relief at least from time to time.
Most people who struggle to find allergy relief go to the doctor to be treated and/or are routinely given pharmaceuticals ranging from acetaminophens to antihistamines, both of which may actually further aggravate the symptoms they were given for. If you prefer not to take prescriptions to keep your symptoms under a control, what can help allergies at home?
Home remedies for allergies including symptoms like congested sinuses, headaches, and watery or itchy eyes include using frankincense essential oil, eucalyptus oil and quercetin. Below youll learn about nine amazing, all-natural home remedies for allergies that can help provide fast allergy relief.
Move To The Desert For Allergy Relief
Its a myth. Youll know this if you live somewhere like LA or Las Vegas. Grass and ragweed pollen is found pretty much everywhere . You might experience short-lived relief, but soon you could develop new triggers.
However, it has been proven that dry places like the Great Plains and Mountain West regions are hosts to fewer dust mites . So if youre planning a vacation, it might be worth checking out desert climate locations.
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How To Clear Inner Ear Fluid With Dandelion
- Image: Shutterstock
Dandelion is an effective remedy for removing fluid in the inner ear. Fluid buildup between the throat and eustachian tube can cause severe infection. It may also result in tinnitus, vertigo, or loss of hearing. Hence, you must treat it quickly. Here dandelion, the amazing herb known for its extensive medicinal uses comes to your rescue. It is an excellent treatment for how to remove fluid from the ear.
How to use?
- Boil a cup of water
- Pour it in a cup over a teaspoon of dried dandelion leaves
- Strain the mixture and drink it
- For effective healing, consume the dandelion drink at least three times a day
Benefits of dandelion
Dandelion is not just a notorious weed it is a potent herb with miraculous properties. It is natural diuretic and thus, helps in drying out the fluid present in your ear.
Precautions
Consumption of dandelion herb may cause an allergic reaction in some. It may also interfere with your medications. Hence, consult your doctor before using the remedy.
Risks And Side Effects
While most of the supplements and tips described above can provide natural allergy relief safely, there are some precautions to keep in mind.
When allergies are mild or moderate, they are usually not very threatening and go away with time. However, severe allergic reactions can be dangerous and require medical attention.
Anaphylaxis is the term for a severe allergic reaction, which can happen due to contact with food allergens, drugs/medications or insect stings. Symptoms usually affect the lungs, blood vessels or heart and can include:
- trouble breathing
- rash
- vomiting
If you or your child experience these symptoms, head to your doctor or the emergency room right away to prevent complications.
What can you do for severe allergies? Your doctor may need to prescribe allergy shots or prescription asthma medications, such as bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids.
Discuss these options with your health care provider, and consider trying the natural allergy relief remedies described above in addition to using medications.
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Keep Up With The Laundry
Check this out:
Your clothes or bedding might not look dirty
you still need to wash them frequently.
Hows that?
As allergens are microscopic in size, you are not able to see them.
That said:
A thorough wash will get rid of them.
The following study investigated the effectiveness of laundry to remove cat allergens.
The result?
For starters:
Make sure you use detergent solutions. As they remove more allergens than soap or water alone.
Also, the water temperature needs to be 130 degrees Fahrenheit for maximum results.
It really is that simple.
Ten Ways To Control Allergies Without Medication
The best way to control allergies without medication is to avoid them altogether, but thats not always possible, or realistic. Some allergens like pollen are tiny, which means they can travel long distances and cover a lot of ground, surfaces, skin and hair. So, unless you have severe allergy symptoms that require medication, there are a lot of ways you can alleviate your symptoms and get back to doing the things you love, including:
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Am I Allergic To Cat Hair
To help you understand how these new treatments would work, let me quickly break down cat allergies.
If you are amongst the 1 in 5 people worldwide who suffer a range of allergic symptoms when youre near a cator even near someone who has a catyour allergies are actually NOT caused by the animals fur.
This is why a short-haired cat likely invokes the same allergic response as a long-haired Persian cat.
The culprit behind your sneezing and wheezing and puffy eyes is a protein in a cats saliva and sebaceous glands . That glycoprotein is called Fel d1.
When cats groom themselves, some hairs break loose and become airborne. The offending protein in the salivathat Fel d1 allergenis carried on the hairs, so they become distribution vehicles for the potent allergen thats causing your inflammatory response.
What Are The Symptoms Of Allergies
Allergy symptoms are classified as mild, moderate or severe:
- Mild reactions include local symptoms such as a rash or hives, itchiness, watery/red eyes, hay fever and runny nose. Mild reactions do not spread to other parts of your body.
- Moderate reactions include symptoms that spread to other parts of your body. Symptoms may include itchiness, hives, and/or swelling and trouble breathing.
- A severe allergic reaction, known as anaphylaxis, is a rare, life-threatening emergency in which your bodys response to the allergen is sudden and affects the whole body. Anaphylaxis may begin with severe itching of your eyes or face. Within minutes, more serious symptoms appear, including throat swelling , abdominal pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, hives and swelling . You may also have mental confusion or dizziness, since anaphylaxis may cause a drop in blood pressure.
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Can You Get A Sore Throat From Allergies And What Causes It
Yep, and how you develop it all comes down to how your body reacts when its exposed to an allergen like pollen. If you have allergies, your immune system will react to being exposed to an allergen by releasing histamines, chemicals that cause allergy symptoms.
For many people with seasonal allergies, those histamines can cause a stuffy, runny noseand that can trigger post-nasal drip, i.e. mucus running down the back of your throat, explains Purvi Parikh, MD, an allergist with Allergy & Asthma Network. And that can cause irritation back there. Cue the sore throat. Often, first thing in morning it will be worse from laying down all night, Dr. Parikh says.
Post-nasal drip isnt the only reason you might develop a sore throat from allergies, though. Coughing and mouth breathing can also mess with the way your throat feels, says Kara Wada, MD, an allergist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Of course, not everyone with allergies gets a sore throat. Allergies can affect each of us differently, Dr. Wada says. There are some things that might make you more prone to struggling with a sore throat from allergies, Dr. Parikh says, including how severe your allergies are and the anatomy of your nose.
