Anderson Reporter

• Allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, can be either seasonal or perennial and can cause sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, watery eyes, and an itchy nose, eyes, or mouth.
• Allergy symptoms such as itchy eyes can be caused by inflammation, which is a result of the body attempting to protect itself from allergens.
• Some treatment options are over-the-counter medications, nasal sprays, immunotherapy, or, for very severe allergies, carrying an emergency epinephrine shot, such as an EpiPen

More than 50 million Americans are suffering from allergies every year, and allergies are the 6th most common cause of chronic illness in the U.S., according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI). Allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, can be either seasonal or perennial and can cause sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, watery eyes, and an itchy nose, eyes, or mouth.

In adults, chronic sinusitis is often linked to nasal swelling caused by allergies, especially allergies to inhaled dust, mold, pollen, or the spores of fungi, according to Harvard Medical School.

Allergy symptoms such as itchy eyes can be caused by inflammation, which is a result of the body attempting to protect itself from allergens, according to MBG Health. When someone is exposed to an allergen, the body's natural stress response is to secrete hormones such as cortisol and chemicals such as histamine, but studies have shown that those secretions can lead to inflammation, which in turn makes allergy symptoms, as well as asthma, even worse.

"Allergies are a form of nasal inflammation caused by environmental things that you inhale that trigger the allergic response, so it can cause problems with nasal inflammation, swelling, drainage, and symptoms that sometimes are somewhat similar to chronic sinus," Dr. Anthony Sanders of Indianapolis Sinus Center told Anderson Reporter. "In addition, people who have poorly controlled allergies tend to get nasal swelling. And oftentimes, if your sinus openings are too small to allow infection to drain out, then that's when you have problems with chronic sinus infection, so they can play into sinus infection that way by making the openings even smaller still." 

Depending on the type and severity of your allergies, your doctor could recommend various treatment options, according to Mayo Clinic. Some treatment options are over-the-counter medications, nasal sprays, immunotherapy, or, for very severe allergies, carrying an emergency epinephrine shot, such as an EpiPen.

"We still do allergy shots," Sanders said. "Also, another form of allergy treatment or immunotherapy is what's called sublingual immunotherapy. Rather than doing shots, you can do this at home, where you put a drop or two under your tongue once a day. It has the same effect as allergy shots, generating antibodies that block the allergic response occurring in the first place. And it's the way allergy treatment has been done in Europe for decades, and it's fairly new to the United States. The other advantage to not having to go in for allergy shots, the inconvenience of all that, is that it can be done at home; and the systemic reaction rate with it is so small, it almost doesn't occur. So it's a lot safer and it's quicker. You're done usually in three years as opposed to five or six for allergy shots."

Readers experiencing sinus issues are invited to take a Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz from Indianapolis Sinus Center.