Summer is nearly upon us, with those hot sunny days and warm nights. Time to spend more time outdoors, at the beach or in the pool. Along with sun exposure comes the need to use sunscreen to prevent sunburn and long-term sun damage. But with the increased use of sunscreen comes the potential for an unintended reaction -- sunscreen allergy. Sunscreen has the potential to cause contact dermatitis to many of the active ingredients. This leads to any itchy, bumpy, red rash where the sunscreen was applied. Topical steroids are often helpful to treat the rash, but the culprit sunscreen should then be followed. This may prevent the ability of a person to spend time in the sun due to a fear of using sunscreen. However, there is a way to find out which chemical caused the reaction, and which sunscreen may be tolerated. Finding the right sunscreen can result in having safe, healthy sun exposure this summer!

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Don't Get Burned By Sunscreen Allergy originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 00:32:42.

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Coughing is one of the most common reasons why people visit their doctors. When symptoms last for more than a few weeks, the cough would be diagnosed as being chronic. The most common causes of chronic cough include post nasal drip, asthma and acid reflux. Post nasal drip, caused by allergic rhinitis, and asthma certainly could be caused by allergies, which could be worse seasonally.

Have you noticed that your cough seems to be worse along with your seasonal allergies? It is certainly possible for a cough to be worse seasonly, which may mean that the cough is due to asthma or post nasal drip caused by seasonal allergic rhinitis. Allergy testing may reveal positive testing for tree or grass pollens, and pulmonary function testing may reveal signs of asthma. A therapeutic trial of medications for allergic rhinitis or asthma may be helpful at differentiating the cause of cough.

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Are Seasonal Allergies Causing Your Cough? originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 02:11:02.

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Spring hay fever season finds people desperate to find relief from their nasal allergy symptoms. Natural therapies, without the use of medicines, are becoming more popular, especially among allergy sufferers. It is a popular notion that eating honey is a natural remedy for symptoms of allergies and asthma. Honey contains various ingredients, including pollen allergens and components of honeybees. Locally produced honey would be expected to contain local plant pollens to which a person would be allergic, and therefore is the preferred type of honey for allergies. It makes sense that consuming pollen-containing honey would improve allergies, much like how sublingual immunotherapy works. And, the fact that many people have experienced anaphylaxis from eating honey means that there may be enough pollen to stimulate the immune system. Read more to find out if eating local honey is a good idea for treating your hay fever symptoms.

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Local Honey to Treat Pollen Allergies originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 00:50:13.

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The April rains have stopped, the weather is warming up, and the flowers are beginning to bloom. But along with this beauty that you CAN see comes the misery you CAN'T see -- grass allergy season.  May is grass allergy season in much of the country, which causes many allergy sufferers to be absolutely miserable. Whether a person is mowing the lawn, golfing, or just spending some quality time outdoors, airborne grass pollen can wreak havoc on a person's allergy symptoms. Grass pollen causes a wide array of allergy symptoms, the most common of which is hay fever. Other symptoms caused by grass allergy include contact urticaria as a result of direct exposure to grass, as well as a form of food allergy secondary to proteins in grass pollen being closely related to those in fresh tomatoes.

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April Showers Bring May Flowers -- And Grass Pollen originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 18:53:21.

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Have you been in the cold and allergy section of your local drug store recently? The choices of different products -- and there are literally hundreds of them -- can be very confusing. After all, the name of the product doesn't always give you the best idea of what the medicine actually contains. Unless you're a physician, nurse or pharmacist, you'd probably not really know what you're getting just be looking at the active ingredients.

It also always surprises me to see what my patients choose from over-the-counter (OTC) products to treat their allergy symptoms. Many people will pick a product containing Sudafed® even though nasal congestion isn't one of their major symptoms. Or, they purchase an antihistamine even though their allergy symptoms don't include itching or sneezing.

Do you have trouble choosing an OTC cold or allergy medicine? Who do you go to for advice -- your doctor, pharmacist, healthcare professional friend or maybe even your mother? Are you more likely to purchase a product because you've seen an advertisement or because a certain item is on sale? Do you stick with a certain brand name, such as Robitussin®, or do you buy the generic version because it's cheaper? Share your answers to these questions and more on this quick survey.

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Over the Counter Cold and Allergy Medicines: Do You Know Which One to Choose? originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 19:25:26.

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Marijuana has become increasingly popular over the past many decades as a medicinal and recreational drug. While still outlawed in most states in the U.S., some states have approved the use of "medicinal marijuana". Derived from the buds and flowers of the Cannabis sativa plant, marijuana has been linked to many allergic reactions over the years. These reactions have included hay fever symptoms from the plant pollen, common in the summer months in areas where marijuana is cultivated or grows wild. Other reactions have occurred from smoking marijuana, due to not only the plant allergen but also as a result of mold contamination of the marijuana. Lastly, people have even experienced urticaria and angioedema from eating marijuana in herbal teas and in those infamous "brownies". Learn more about the possible symptoms of marijuana allergy.

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Marijuana Allergy originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Friday, April 27th, 2012 at 15:58:40.

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Spring hay fever means different symptoms for different people -- some people experience sneezing and runny noses, while others get nasal congestion and the sniffles. But for some people, the tree and grass pollen in the air this time of year can primarily affect their eyes. While a large number of people with hay fever have some amount of eye allergies, certain people have mainly symptoms of red and itchy eyes, called allergic conjunctivitis.

Allergic conjunctivitis is usually a mild disease that can be easily treated. However, other forms of eye allergies can be dangerous enough to threaten eyesight. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC), for example, typically affects young children in the spring, and causes severe sensitivity to light and severe itching. Atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC), affects adults with a history of atopic dermatitis and can cause infections in and around the eyelids (blepharitis). Both VKC and AKC require the care of an allergist and an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) since both conditions can result in ulcers of the eyes and threaten eyesight.

If you suffer from eye allergies, check with your doctor about seeing an allergist or ophthalmologist. Find out more about what form of eye allergies you have, and the treatments available.

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Springtime Brings Red, Itchy Eyes for Allergy Sufferers originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 at 00:48:56.

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Women can experience many different symptoms around the time of their menstrual cycle. Most would complain of mood swings, abdominal/uterine cramps and worsening acne, but few women are aware that they can experience a variety of allergic reactions related to their menses. It has long been known that asthma and nasal allergies can worsen during a woman's mentrual cycle, but other allergic reactions, including various skin allergies and even anaphylaxis may also occur. One form of anaphylaxis is caused by an allergy to a woman's own hormones, especially progesterone, while another form of anaphylaxis actually occurs during a woman's menses as a result of inflammatory chemicals released from the lining of the uterus. Learn about the various allergic reactions that can occur during the menstrual cycle, and what can be done about them.

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Hormone Allergies originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 19:28:53.

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You may be blaming your springtime sniffles on a cold, but could it really be spring allergies instead? It is often difficult, even for a healthcare professional, to tell the difference between a cold and allergies. Symptoms of a cold may include fatigue, body aches and possibly a fever. Nasal allergies, on the other hand, include symptoms that may come and go, often include itching of the eyes and nose, and recur with exposure to a person's allergic trigger (such as pollen or pet dander). Most treatments of allergies will not be useful for the treatment of cold symptoms, with the exception of older antihistamines (such as Benadryl) and nasal decongestants (such as Sudafed) which are likely to help the symptoms of both colds and allergies.

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Is Your Cold Really Spring Allergies? originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Monday, April 16th, 2012 at 01:44:49.

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Like 30% of the U.S. population, I also suffer from allergic rhinitis. My skin testing results are more impressive than most of my patients'. So, I'm often asked by my patients what I use to treat my own allergy symptoms. I've been on allergy shots in the past, mainly for fire ant allergy, and I tried allergy drops before offering them to my patients. I've also tried just about every allergy medicine currently available. But instead of using an allergy medicine indiscriminately, I base my choice on the symptoms I'm having. It doesn't make sense to take an antihistamine to treat nasal congestion -- because nasal congestion isn't caused by histamine. Similarly, a medicine like Singulair wouldn't be expected to help sneezing and nasal itching, because Singulair blocks leukotrienes, not histamine.

The best allergy medicine is one that would be expected to treat the allergy symptoms that a person is experiencing. When you see your allergist or primary care doctor, make sure you describe your allergy symptoms accurately, with an emphasis on which symptom bothers you the most. Your doctor should then be able to choose an allergy medicine that will best suit your needs.

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What Does an Allergist Take For Hay Fever? originally appeared on About.com Allergies on Sunday, April 8th, 2012 at 01:51:38.

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