Your Safety is our Priority! Masks May Be Required at Millennium Offices. Grab the tissues, it’s allergy season, and May kicks off Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. Millennium Physician Group Allergy and Immunology Specialist Usha Chandrahasa, M.D., offers advice for snuffing out those seasonal sniffles, explaining that diagnosing and treating common allergies can lead to more than just better breathing … it can lead to improved overall health.
“Untreated nasal mucosa, or unhealthy nose, viruses love to multiply in. Think of it that way. So if you have a stable nose and a treated nose, there’s less chance of viral replication. Viruses don’t like a healthy nose.”
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, in many areas of the US, spring allergies begin in February and last until the early summer. Tree pollination begins earliest in the year followed by grass pollination later in the spring and summer and ragweed in the late summer and fall.
From preventing colds to COVID, the best way to keep your nose healthier during allergy season is to keep the sniffles and sneezes from starting in the first place. Dr. Chandrahassa has a top recommendation for nipping your allergies in the bud.
“Using nasal sprays to treat allergies is very important,” she says. “Most people like to pop a pill. Pills don’t really offer long-term protection from allergies. It’s really using nasal sprays, the correct ones, the preventive anti-inflammatory nasal sprays are really how we treat allergies.”
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy, nasal steroid sprays are the most effective for treating nasal allergy symptoms including inflammation, congestion, runny nose, and sneezing.
“By using your nasal sprays prior to season and starting that in an appropriate fashion will help prevent and curb the onset of symptoms to peak, really, when the pollen goes up,” agrees Dr. Chandrahasa.
Sound advice for enjoying a sneeze-free spring and summer.