How Can I Find Relief From My Spring Allergies?

If nasal saline rinses and antihistamines aren’t doing the trick for your spring allergies (aka allergic rhinitis), new treatments offer relief for the 40 million of us who suffer. “Omalizumab shots, for patients 12 years and older, is medication that binds to and essentially deactivates IgE, the immunoglobulin involved in the allergic response,” says Deya Jourdy, MD, an ENT Sinus and Nasal specialist at MidHudson Regional Hospital, a Member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network. “There is also a new prescription nasal spray that combines anti-histamine and steroid medication, to combat allergic rhinitis on two fronts.”

If this doesn’t work, surgery that corrects a deviated septum and/or reduces the nasal turbinates — structures blocking nasal passages and producing nasal drainage — can result in “a dramatic improvement in quality of life for many patients,” Dr. Jourdy says. Not all congestion results from allergies, though. “If you have a persistent runny nose,” cautions Dr. Jourdy, “visit an ENT doctor for further evaluation.”