What methods are there to treat allergic rhinitis? Let a professional doctor teach you to get rid of rhinitis.

The treatment methods of allergic rhinitis mainly include drug therapy and allergen-specific immunotherapy, also called desensitization therapy, which I will share with you one by one.

In addition, avoiding allergens is the most basic. For example, if we know that we are allergic to animal dander, we should not keep small animals at home. If you know you are allergic to milk, don't drink milk. But if you are allergic to dust mites, it may be difficult to avoid them completely, because you don't know where there may be dust mites at home. But try to avoid it, such as bask in the quilt. If you are allergic to pollen, spring will be sad, and pollen may be everywhere. Wear a mask when going out at this time to avoid contact with allergens as much as possible.

Let's talk about the main drugs first:

The first drug is glucocorticoid, which is the most effective drug to treat allergic rhinitis. Glucocorticoid is called hormone for short. Hormones, which we usually talk about, are the general name of a large class of drugs, which have strong anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects. No matter what causes inflammation or allergies, hormones are effective and very powerful.

The hormones we use to treat allergic rhinitis are mainly inhaled through the nasal cavity, not taken orally. Local use of hormones in nasal cavity can make high-concentration drugs directly act on nasal mucosa without entering the whole body, which improves the curative effect and reduces adverse reactions.

Hormone is so effective that it is the first-line drug for allergic rhinitis at present, that is to say, it is the first choice. All nasal symptoms of allergic rhinitis include sneezing, stuffy nose, itchy nose, runny nose and so on. , can be significantly relieved by hormones.

Whether it is mild allergic rhinitis or severe allergic rhinitis, nasal inhalation hormone can be used. Someone asked what is mild and what is severe? It is easy to understand that if your rhinitis affects your work, study, life and sleep, it is serious. If there is no effect, it is mild.

How to use this hormone? The standard usage is nasal spray 1-2 times a day, each time 1-2 times, each time 1-2 times, and the course of treatment is not less than two weeks. If it is severe allergic rhinitis, then the hormone should be inhaled through the nose, and the course of treatment may be longer, at least more than one month.

How long will it take? Do you need long-term medication? At present, the research shows that the curative effect of continuous medication is definitely better, but continuous medication means that the side effects will definitely increase and the cost will also increase, so it is difficult to persist for that long.

So some people think that intermittent medication is also acceptable. When rhinitis is the most serious, it may take weeks or months, and the rest of the time is not needed. It will still be effective to take the medicine again when you have the next attack.

But for those patients who have symptoms all the year round, it may be more appropriate to continue taking the medicine. The use of nasal inhaled hormones may begin to have curative effect in a few hours, but it will take about two weeks after taking the medicine to exert the maximum curative effect.

Hormone is a general term. What drugs does it contain? Commonly used hormones are budesonide, fluticasone and mometasone, which are available in pharmacies. We inhale hormones through the nose, not through the trachea or orally. Hormones inhaled by trachea are used to treat asthma, and hormones inhaled by nasal cavity are used to treat allergic rhinitis.

Hormones are so effective, but there are always advantages and disadvantages. It will also bring some adverse reactions, such as dry nose, nosebleeds and pharyngitis. , are generally mild. Short-term use of hormones, such as less than a month, rarely leads to nosebleeds. If you use nasal inhaled hormones for more than one year, the probability of nosebleeds may be 20%. This also shows that the more drugs are used, the greater the side effects. We should face up to this problem.

A mother asked, my son has allergic rhinitis. If hormones are used, will it affect his growth and development? Generally speaking, no. Nasal inhalation of hormones rarely has adverse effects on the whole body. Studies have shown that the use of hormones for one year has no effect on the height of children, so don't worry too much. Use it when you need it.

Because we use this hormone through nasal inhalation, we should master the correct method when spraying medicine. We sprayed the nasal cavity, not the nasal septum. Don't keep spraying medicine on the nasal septum. You can read the instructions to operate.

▲ The picture of nasal septum comes from the network.

In addition to nasal inhalation of hormones, oral hormones, such as oral prednisone, can also be used, but oral hormones have great adverse reactions, especially long-term use of oral hormones, so oral hormones can only be used as second-line treatment, not as the first choice.

Only when your allergic rhinitis is moderate or severe and other drugs are ineffective or ineffective, consider taking oral hormones. Even if you use it, you should use it for a short time, preferably not more than a week. Especially children and the elderly, oral hormones should not be considered.

The above is about the use of hormones to treat allergic rhinitis. All patients with allergic rhinitis should know that hormones are not poison, but good medicine, but they should be used correctly under the guidance of doctors.

Let's talk about the second kind of drugs, antihistamines. You may not have heard of such a technical term. In fact, antihistamines are anti-allergic drugs, so that everyone can better understand. Histamine is a major allergic substance, an antihistamine and naturally an antiallergic drug. The curative effect of these drugs is worse than glucocorticoid, but they are more than enough for the treatment of mild and most patients with moderate and severe allergic rhinitis.

There are two generations of antihistamines, and the second generation is the most widely used at present. Generally speaking, the second generation is better than the first generation, just like mobile phones. Loratadine, cetirizine and so on. It is widely used in the second generation antihistamines. These drugs are all taken orally, with quick effect and long duration.

▲ Second generation antihistamines

Generally speaking, one tablet a day can obviously relieve the symptoms of runny nose, itchy nose and sneezing, but the effect on improving nasal congestion is average. Take this medicine to treat allergic rhinitis for at least two weeks.

The second generation antihistamines, such as loratadine and cetirizine, are also first-line drugs, which are safer and have fewer side effects. The advantage is that they will not cause drowsiness and will not feel sleepy after taking them. Why are they the second generation? That's the reason.

The first generation of antihistamines, such as chlorpheniramine, can cause drowsiness and drowsiness, so you can't take the first generation of antihistamines when driving or flying; The second generation overcame its shortcomings. Anti-asthma drugs can be administered not only orally, but also by nasal inhalation. Nasal inhalation takes effect quickly, generally about 20 minutes, which can obviously improve nasal symptoms, especially nasal congestion, with less adverse reactions, mainly bitter taste, and many patients react with strange smell.

Many patients may be ineffective after oral antihistamines. At this time, antihistamines administered through nasal inhalation will still be effective. There are few antihistamines used in nasal cavity, and the main drugs sold in the market are azelastine nasal spray, and the course of treatment is generally not less than two weeks. Glucocorticoids and antihistamines are both good drugs and first-line drugs. If these two drugs are used together, the effect will be better than that of either drug alone, and of course the cost will be higher.

The third drug to talk about is leukotriene receptor antagonist. Just now we said that histamine is an allergic substance, and leukotrienes mentioned here are also an allergic medium, so these drugs can also be simply understood as antiallergic drugs, but the mechanism of action is different from that of antihistamines just now. This kind of drug is mainly montelukast, also known as Shunerning, imported from abroad. I heard that there are already generic drugs in China, and the price will be cheaper and the effect will not be too bad. We can look forward to it.

Anti-leukotriene drugs are also used by doctors to treat allergic rhinitis, and are also recommended in clinic. Friends with severe nasal congestion should pay attention to the fact that drugs such as nasal congestion are better than the second-generation oral antihistamines. If you have bronchial asthma at the same time, it is more appropriate to use this medicine, because it can control asthma at the same time, and children can also use it. It is better to use antihistamines and leukotrienes at the same time. But again, the price will be higher, so we will use it according to the situation.

If one drug works well alone, there is no need to use two drugs. Glucocorticoids, antihistamines and leukotriene receptor antagonists mentioned above are the most commonly used first-line drugs.

In addition, there are some other drugs, such as decongestants, including oxazoline nasal spray, xylometazoline nasal spray and so on. These drugs can quickly relieve nasal congestion, but have no obvious effect on relieving symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing and itchy eyes, because these drugs only reduce congestion of nasal mucosa blood vessels.

In addition, the side effects of these drugs are relatively large, so the dosage and use time should be strictly controlled. Generally, the number of nasal sprays should not exceed two times a day, each time 1 spray -2, and the continuous medication time should not exceed 7 days. If the dosage of drugs is relatively large, it is likely to lead to nasal dryness and drug-induced rhinitis. These are commonly used drugs to treat allergic rhinitis.

Have you ever sneezed ten times in one breath? Have you ever experienced a runny nose and a confused mind? This may be a familiar daily life for most patients with allergic rhinitis.

Although allergic rhinitis is very difficult, through active, standardized and meticulous treatment, most patients with allergic rhinitis can obtain satisfactory curative effect and master relevant knowledge, so as to maintain the curative effect, avoid recurrence and basically get rid of rhinitis.

In this course, Dr. Li, the doctor of critical care medicine, the author of clove garden, medical field, Yimaitong and other professional medical platforms, will explain the causes and manifestations of allergic rhinitis to us, and then help us to correctly understand allergic rhinitis and treat it scientifically from the perspectives of diagnosis, treatment and prevention, so that people will no longer be troubled by it.

Course link: Professional doctors teach you to get rid of rhinitis.