East Panhandle News

Suffering from allergies can make people miserable, according to Dr. Matthew Blair of Gulf Coast Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers.

"Allergies are a condition where your body reacts to an allergen in the environment, especially in your nose," Blair told East Panhandle News. "Your nose is covered with a mucous membrane similar to your mouth. And there's these cells within your nose called mast cells, and they release something called histamine. And histamine is what gives you this overall reaction of itchy eyes, itchy nose, sneezing, clear watery mucus and just stuffiness, that generally uncomfortable feeling that you may get."

Allergies also cause swelling in the tissues in the nose, and they can block openings to the sinuses, the doctor said.

"If you already have an anatomical problem -- let's say that you have a deviated septum or some anatomic variation where you're already having narrowing in your sinuses or your nasal cavity -- just a little bit of irritation from an allergy is really going to affect your nasal health," Blair said. "You're going to have a lot of symptoms, and it can lead to chronic infections."

More than 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from allergies,  which are the sixth most common cause of chronic illness, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Some patients also have perennial allergic rhinitis, which persists year-round. But Blair points out that treatments have advanced over the last decade.

"Now we're able to test 30 to 40 allergens all at once," he said. "We really look at all the different ones to see what you react to."

Treatments at the clinic include shots and allergy drops, which are immunotherapy solutions that can reduce or eliminate your allergies altogether.

Gulf Coast Breathe Free offers an online sinus quiz to help determine the severity of your sinus problems.