December is here with all of its beautiful decorations, holiday get-togethers with friends, and that seemingly annual plugged nose, cough, and yuck! You might be asking yourself, “why am I having to put up with these allergies instead of enjoying the season?”

Let’s face it men (and even many of you women), a beautiful Fall day with friends and family in the great outdoors is just made for a hunt. But what if you are allergic to the mold spores and pollen grains floating through the crisp Fall air? Don’t be discouraged! With a little help from your Board-Certified Allergist, you, your friends and family, and even the hunting dogs can all enjoy a great day of hunting!

Once the allergy season kicks in, the misery soon follows. What can you do to get some relief?

Hives (or urticaria) will affect 1 out of 5 people during their lifetime. They are itchy, red or skin colored bumps with redness around them that come and go. Histamine is the substance that actually causes the hives. This means that if you have hives, they are the result of histamine being released from your mast cells.

"You’re allergic to your pet"

Those dreaded words from your allergist.  At one level you kind of ‘just knew it’ but emotionally no one is ever ready to hear those words.  How can this be?  Let’s back up and look at how pet allergy presents itself.

The scariest type of allergy is clearly anaphylaxis. With an attack, the patient generally gets itchy all over and can face problems like their throat closing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, vomiting, diarrhea, or passing out. An exceptionally severe attack can be fatal.

In our latest infographic, we took a person that uses over-the-counter nasal spray to treat dust mite, mold, or grass allergies and did the math to see how much medication the person would use in his lifetime.

Have you been trying to avoid your allergies but they follow you everywhere you go?  Are you feeling miserable?  Is the sneezing; itchy, watery eyes; nasal drainage; and constant coughing getting to be too much?

This is the question I get asked the most!  Everyone wants to know – patients, parents, nurses, and other doctors. 

It seems that everyone has “hay fever” these days.  If you don’t believe me, just ask people if they are suffering from sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, watery eyes, and itching of the nose, eyes or even mouth!