Living With Allergies
Suffering from nasal and eye allergies is often depicted in the movies and on TV in a way that makes it cute: Scenes of sniffles and little sneezes seem to represent the ailment in a way that, if you don’t already have an allergy, you want one.
“Oh, look, that Kardashian sneezed. Isn’t that cute?”
As an allergy sufferer myself, I’m here to tell you, it isn’t like that. When allergies hit, and when they hit hard, the experience can flatten me out, and make me ineffective at the most basic level: I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.
What are allergies? Allergies are the body’s defense against what it identifies and perceives as a threat to its well being. For example, some bodies may perceive tree pollen as a threat, and enact sneezing and sinus drainage as a defense mechanism to clear the threat out. Is the pollen an actual threat? Well, not really. But try telling that to someone who’s in the throws of itchy eyes and incessant sneezing, and they’ll insist, “This is really happening!”
Why the eyes and nose? The sinuses and the eyes are tissues where allergens come into direct contact with our bodies. Unlike your kneecap, or elbow, which are difficult to pass through, our moist membranes are much more exposed, and like castle gates, that’s just where the body expects to find trouble.
What I see most often are the itchy eyes, inflamed eyelids, irritated corneas and red noses. Some of this is from the basic allergic response, while much more of it is the result of eye rubbing, face scratching and nose blowing. The more some patients try alleviating the suffering, the worse it can get.
Numbers as high as 50 million are attributed to allergy sufferers. The exact number would be hard to define, as even more will never take it to a clinical lever and talk with their health care providers. An abundance of over the counter medicines and no shortage of OTC medicine marketing make allergies one of the most media, or self diagnosed ailments around.
To many allergy sufferers, avoidance is the most basic medicine. Those who are allergic to cats and dog avoid them. Allergic to peanuts? Don’t eat them. Allergic to pollen? Mold? Don’t go where those elements are found.
But is that always possible? In the Pacific Northwest’s lush, always damp, sometimes soggy environments, avoiding these things can be as difficult as avoiding air itself. Closing yourself up indoors with door and window sealing will get you away from the pollen. But once you’re inside, then there’s the dust. And aside from constant air filtration, maybe even mask wearing, sometimes there’s just no getting away from it.
What can I do to help you? Well, we know that an allergy is just a moment of trigger, followed by a lifetime of reaction and fall out. Getting the body to not worry about an allergen like pollen is some deep science, so we find ourselves treating the symptoms like watering eyes, swelling, and itching, with eye drops, anti-histamine medicines and even steroidal concoctions.
Finding the most effective symptom fighter is key, and through my knowledge of patients and their unique physical natures, Seattle Vision Clinic is very good at managing and treating such allergies.
