As summer ends, many allergy sufferers take solace in the fact that their seasonal allergy seasons has ended. However, for some allergy sufferers, they are still living with running nose, watery eyes and sneezing symptoms typical of seasonal allergies. If you are one of these people, you might suffer from hay fever or allergic rhinitis commonly linked to pollen from ragweed plants.
How to Avoid Ragweed
While it may be impossible to completely avoid ragweed pollen, there are some precautions you can take that can reduce the exposure:
- Stay indoors
- Keep Car Windows Closed
- Change Clothes After Being Outdoors
- Shower before bed
- Install an air filter
Consider an Allergy Test
Allergy tests help allergy sufferers like yourself, pinpoint exactly what the cause of certain allergies are by testing various common allergy triggers in a controlled environment. When you schedule your allergy test with our Sarasota sinus allergist, our medical team can explain which allergy testing options are available for you.
Common Allergy Tests:
- Blood tests
- Skin patch test
- Intradermal testing
Once the test has begun, our medical staff with observe the reaction each substance has on your body to determine which allergen you are allergic to.
Immunotherapy
If you are a perennial allergy sufferer or if you have an allergy to pet dander, you wish to manage while living with your pets,immunotherapy may be the right choice for you. Immunotherapy or allergy shots are injected over a period of three to five years. The goal is to expose your body to a small amount of the allergen so it can learn to reduce or arrest allergy symptoms. The immunotherapy exposes your body to just the right amount of the allergen for your immune system to build up a tolerance, but not enough to send you into an allergy attack. As you progress through the immunotherapy, Dr. Mandel slowly increases the amount of the allergen in each shot.
Living with constant allergies can be exhausting; you may find yourself consistently fatigued by the cocktail of antihistamines and allergy medication you are taking. If you are tired of living in a fog, consider contacting South Florida Allergy Center for more information on immunotherapy.
Contact us today (954) 883-9449 for more information on allergy treatments.