Cellulite Solutions | Beating Allergies | Pregnancy Guide | Back Pain | Sleep Deep

Allergies & Common Allergens

Allergies come in all shapes and sizes, and affect people in different ways. Some are just a nuisance, others make life a misery, whilst a few threaten life itself.

Hayfever is probably the most well known allergy, and can make having fun in spring and summer impossible for many sufferers. Stories of how a school examination performance was hindered because of hayfever are true. If streaming eyes mean you can't see the examination paper clearly, which is soaked through anyway from your dripping nose and continual sneezing, and your blocked nose means your mate has no idea what you're saying when you ask to see his answers, how can you expect to do well? And it's not only the eyes and nose that pollen irritates, it can cause the roof of the mouth and the ears to itch as well.

If you think hayfever, or seasonal rhinitis, is bad, spare a thought for those with perennial allergic rhinitis, who basically get the symptoms of hayfever all year round. They're the people in your office who appear to always have a cold. It's usually the dung of the house dust mite that's been getting up their nose whilst their continual sniffing has been getting up yours.

Eczema is also known as dermatitis, which just means inflammation of the skin. The word eczema comes from the Greek language and means 'to boil over' or 'to erupt', which describes perfectly what happens when the skin becomes dry, itchy, red, inflamed and weepy. The commonest type occurs in childhood and is called atopic eczema (atopic meaning that the person is allergic, or allergy-prone). Another type of eczema, more often found in adults, is contact eczema. Although, strictly speaking, it's a sensitivity rather than an allergy, those who suffer from it find that contact with a substance triggers their skin to become red, inflamed and itchy. The usual culprits are metals, such as nickel, and substances in perfumes and household cleaning products.

Coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath are all typical of asthma. With asthma, the airways become narrow as a result of inflammation, excessive mucus and airway muscle contraction, and this, in turn, obstructs the airflow within the lungs. Remember when, as a kid, you'd wrestle with your older brother, sister or classmate and they'd sit on your chest? Well that sort of constriction is how it feels for someone when they are having an asthma attack. In fact, it can feel like all three are sitting on you at the same time!

Admiring the wild flowers and picking blackberries from the hedgerows in the countryside is idyllic until ouch, you've brushed against nettles and been stung. Nettle rash or hives (or urticaria, to give it its medical name) causes itchy, raised white bumps surrounded by red, swollen inflammation on the skin where histamine in the liquid from the nettle itself has been injected into the skin and where the body has reacted by releasing its own histamine too. This same reaction on the skin can also occur as a result of other triggers, such as in food or drug allergy reactions.

For some people mild reactions to food, such as tingling of the lips, may be the only effect of food allergy. However, for others just brief contact with the offending substance can be enough to provoke swelling of the face, lips, tongue and throat. They may look like a cartoon character, but it's not funny. Life-threatening anaphylaxis may also occur at the same time.

And this is what everybody fears - anaphylaxis. The most severe form of allergic reaction, it's a medical emergency as it can be fatal. On the shortlist of triggers are food, insect stings and bites, medications, vaccines and latex. If someone develops nettle rash, swollen skin, describes a sense of impending doom, is hoarse, light-headed, has difficulty breathing or chest tightness, it's important to think anaphylaxis and get medical help immediately.


Custom Search