Understand My Allergies

What causes an allergic reaction? What are your allergy triggers? Whether pollen makes you sneeze or cats make your eyes water, understanding your allergies is the first step toward living with them. Explore this section to learn about the allergens that affect you.

Identifying Allergies

An allergy is a condition in which your body's immune system overreacts to normally harmless substances, known as allergens, and releases a chemical called a histamine, which is what stirs up symptoms.

People can experience a range of allergy symptoms, including the ones described here. Eye allergy symptoms are very common and often come as a package deal with upper respiratory symptoms. But they can also occur alone. More than 80% of people with allergies have itchy eyes.

Upper Respiratory
• Itchy, stuffy, or runny nose
  (thin, clear discharge)
• Sneezing
• Itchy throat

Eyes
• Itchy eyes
• Watery or teary eyes

Determining Triggers
Here are some techniques to help determine your allergy triggers:

Be an Allergen Detective…narrow down your triggers by asking yourself these 3 simple questions:

• WHEN do my allergies occur? Allergies that flare up only during specific seasons could indicate a reaction to an outdoor allergen such as pollen. Allergies that occur more regularly throughout the year may indicate an indoor allergen such as dust mites.
• WHAT time of day do my symptoms occur? Upon waking? This might be sensitivity to an indoor allergen such as those triggers found in the bedroom. When you go outside in the morning? This might be a sign of sensitivity to an outdoor allergen such as pollen.
• WHERE am I experiencing my symptoms? At home? Work? Only outside? Location might hold a major clue as to what you're reacting to. But remember, pollen can come from outside into your home through windows, on clothing or even on pets.

Professional Diagnosis
If your symptoms are severe, or if you're not sure what's causing them, a professional diagnosis may start you on the path to finding relief. The following are common allergy diagnosis testing methods:

Scratch test (also known as a puncture or prick test)
• In this test, the doctor or nurse places a drop of each potential allergen on a labeled area of your skin, then pricks the outer layer of skin so the potential allergen can enter. After about 15 minutes, the doctor or nurse will look at how your skin reacted

Intradermal test
• In this test, a small amount of the potential allergen is injected just under the skin
• After about 15 minutes, the doctor or nurse will look at how your skin reacted

Patch test

• In this test, an allergen is applied to a patch, which is then placed on the skin
• In order to determine a reaction, you must wear the patch for about 48 hours, after which you will return to the doctor for evaluation

Allergy blood test

• In this test, called a specific IgE, or RAST (radioallergosorbent test), a blood sample is taken to determine the presence of specific IgE antibodies
• The presence of these specific allergic antibodies can determine which allergens cause a person's allergic reaction

Myths & Facts
Each statement reveals some of the most common myths and facts surrounding allergies.

Hairless and short-haired pets don't cause allergies.
MYTH

While it is true that short-haired pets and low-shedding dogs may cause less allergic reactions, there is no such thing as a truly hypo-allergenic pet. Because it's not the fur itself that triggers allergies. It's a protein found in the animal's saliva, skin, and urine that causes an allergic response. When animals clean themselves, the saliva can stick to their fur, which you come into contact with when you pet them, or when they shed. Note that in general, cats are more likely to cause severe allergies than dogs.

Children can outgrow their allergies.
MYTH

Although children with allergies can learn to avoid their triggers, repeated exposure may continue to cause a reaction.

Hay fever isn't just caused by hay.
FACT

Hay fever is another name for upper respiratory allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis, outdoor allergies, and seasonal (occurring only at certain times of the year).

Your children will be allergic to the same things that you are.
MYTH

Heredity plays an important role in allergies. If parents have allergies, it's more likely that their kids will have them too, but they might be allergic to different things. If both parents have allergies, the chances of their child having allergies are higher than if only one parent has allergies.

Every allergic reaction is the same.
MYTH

There's really no way to accurately predict how a person will react after each exposure to a particular allergen. Their reaction could be the same, but it could also be worse or even milder than the time before.


Living in the desert will make allergies go away.
MYTH

Allergies will not necessarily go away if you move to a drier climate, or to the desert. Your allergies might even be worse, because some allergenic plants thrive in these dry environments.

You can't escape allergy triggers by moving to another place.
FACT

Even if you move to a new place, your inherited tendency to produce allergic antibodies may cause you to have reactions to new allergens — instead of escaping your triggers, you may just have a new set of different allergy triggers. Talk to your healthcare professional before considering a change of location to manage your allergies.