East Panhandle News

There are three primary reasons that you might experience a worsening of allergy or sinus symptoms after your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The types of foods you eat on St. Patrick’s Day could result in sinus trouble, according to research published in the medical journal BMC Pulmonary Medicine, which focused on the link between acid reflux and nasal troubles. 

The second potential issue, according to research published in the medical journal Respiratory Medicine, is the potential for upper airway issues stemming from alcohol consumption.

While seasonal allergies often kick up in February, they can ramp up in earnest in March, due to all of the trees and flowers in bloom, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

According to Dr. Matthew Blair of Gulf Coast Breathe Free Sinus &  Allergy Centers, physicians have come such a long way in the last few years in terms of how they treat sinus and allergy patients differently than they have in the past.

“Nasal obstruction, chronic sinusitis or chronic allergies really affects one's quality of life. If you have a poor outlook on life because you're always suffering from allergies or sinus, it's going to affect the rest of your general health. So if you can get your breathing, you can get your nose in tiptop shape, you're gonna feel better and you'll want to do more things and you're going to overall improve your quality of health," he told East Panhandle News.

Blair, who is a board-certified otolaryngologist, said that physicians hope to move from treating patients in a surgery center to handling more patients in the office, with minimally invasive procedures that offer lifelong benefits to patients, such as balloon sinuplasty.

If you're interested in evaluating your symptoms and are considering seeing a doctor, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.