Kosmix Blog

Gwenn S. O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP

The season changes can be a magical time of year with new found colors and a heralding of the next holiday season. But, those amazing colors and falling leaves don’t come without a price. For many people, the more dramatic the season change, the more dramatic the sniffles and sneezes of allergies.

Believe it or not, anyone can develop allergies over the course of their life time. We are all born with a potential for all sorts of medical conditions and our life experiences are what trigger what may occur and when. For allergies, our environmental exposures are the trigger – outside pollens and molds in quantities that overwhelm our immune response causing it to actually over react. It’s this over reaction of our immune response that causes our symptoms.

For many people, young and old, moving from one part of the country or world to another may be the straw that tips the balance. For others, it could be the intensity of a particular season. Here in New England, for example, we have experienced very extreme allergy seasons for the last year so many people who have never had past issues have found themselves reaching for tissues and calling their doctors.

For kids and adults, the typical allergy profile and symptoms tends to include:

1. a family history (but not always)
2. symptoms start when allergy season starts and ends when allergy season ends
3. sniffles, runny nose, and sneezing
4. cough, often worse at night
5. wheezing in susceptible kids (usually asthmatics)

Treatment involves preventing the symptoms and addressing the symptoms. The best preventive medications are antihistamines. We typically start with over the counter Claritin for kids 2 years of age and older. This is a great medication because it is safe and doesn’t make kids sleepy or hyper and comes in a variety of forms, pill and liquid.

To get the most benefit, however, you need to start the Claritin as soon as your recognize your child has allergies and continue through the allergy season. Keep in mind, depending on the allergen count (pollens and molds), your child will have break through days, but those days will be worse without an antihistamine on board. Your pediatrician can help you determine the dose that is right for your child based on your child’s age.

For nasal congestion, saline nose spray used as needed helps most kids free up their clogged nasal passages. If that alone does not help, over the counter Mucinex, an expectorant, may help for kids older than age 2.. Avoid decongenstants such as Pseudofed as they do not work and are not safe in young kids.

For older kids with primarily nasal symptoms, runny nose and sneezing, prescription steroid nose sprays are a great choice because they actually stop the nose from making the mucous. Talk to your pediatrician if this sounds like something that would benefit your child.

If your child is asthmatic, make sure you have all your child’s asthma medications on hand during season changes incase an asthma exacerbation is triggered. Season changes and pollens and molds tend to be reliable triggers for many asthmatics so you’ll want to have these medications close at hand and review your asthma plan with your pediatrician.

Finally, the longer your child is congested, there is the possibility of developing other upper respiratory infections such as ear and sinus infections. Contact your pediatrician if your child develops ear or sinus pain or fever to get an evaluation.

by: Gwenn S. O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP