Well, another thing that seems to
come along with spring is allergies,
but when symptoms can be confusing when
you don't know if you're having allergies
or if it's something more serious.
Doctor Jennifer Hite from Evergreen
Health is here with some insight.
Welcome to new day. Thank you.
We are so glad to have you here at this
time because I mean everybody in this
studio has been having allergy attacks.
It is that time of year.
It really is.
What should people be thinking about?
What do they need to know?
We head into this time of year
so some of the most common
symptoms of allergies.
Could be things like stuffy nose,
runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes,
and those things can happen
year round for some people too,
depending on what they're allergic to.
Most of those things will respond to
over the counter medications like
antihistamines and nasal steroid sprays.
I do love a nasal steroid spray.
I gotta tell you the things like Zyrtec,
Allegra, those are things.
I mean I take Claritin,
I take multiple every day.
No, I'm just kidding.
I don't but I will say that all
these things in conjunction
sometimes work really well together,
especially if somebody doesn't know
that they're having a bigger problem,
right, right?
So sometimes if you try treating with
antihistamines and nasal steroid sprays.
When you find that you're really not
getting relief from some of these symptoms,
there could be other things going on.
OK, things like what?
Now you and I were talking
off camera about how I had
the trifecta of things I had
deviated septum I had polyps,
I had all the things,
those are some of the things you're
talking about, right, right?
So if you've tried over the
counter medications and you're
still having a lot of symptoms,
it is possible that in
terms of like congestion,
it's possible that you have a
deviated septum which is structurally.
Would make it difficult for you
to breathe through your nose.
It's possible that you could have polyps,
which would also make it difficult
to breathe through your nose.
Those things can usually be
corrected with pretty simple
procedures to get you back on track.
I've had that procedure three Times
Now and I will say there's no.
I mean, the down time is just.
There's no physical.
You don't see anything.
There's nothing that happens on the outside.
There's no bruising, swelling,
anything like that. It's all in turn.
It's all internal. And go ahead and I
was just going to say.
And then there's some other things
that could cause symptoms like
allergies as well that don't
respond to allergy medications.
One of them is chronic sinusitis.
Yeah, explain that one,
because I also have that yes.
So in chronic sinusitis it means
that the lining of the sinus is is
chronically inflamed and a lot of
times people will have symptoms
of facial pressure or pain.
They may have thick drainage
congestion and that typically.
Doesn't always respond to the
over the counter medications.
It really can't do enough, right?
Correct? Can allergies present?
Can allergies in COVID?
I should say present in the same way
because I know that some people are
sneezing and you go, yeah, I'm not.
It's not COVID I swear, but can they?
Yes there there.
I mean there are some symptoms
that overlap runny nose congestion,
sneezing, typically with COVID you
would have more symptoms than that.
You may have a fever feel unwell.
Things that you might
not have with allergies,
but given the situation that we're in,
if you ever have a question,
it would be a good time to take a
COVID test to make sure that it's not.
That's good. It's good just to be safe, yes.
So when if someone has done
all the things they've tried,
all this praise and the pills
and it's not working,
they come to any NT you know,
isn't throat doctor and
then what happens next?
Well, typically we would do an
examination of the nose to make sure
that there's not something structurally.
Abnormal deviated septum.
Sometimes the turbinates,
which are the fleshy structures
in the nose, can be enlarged,
and that can cause problems,
so there'd be an exam.
The other part is that oftentimes
will get a CT scan of the sinus
is to see if there is chronic
inflammation inside the sinus is,
or if you might have polyps in the sinus is
it's all important to know is there
anything else that I haven't asked?
That's important to share 'cause
I know it's all connected.
I mean I lose my voice a lot,
it's 'cause of this.
It's 'cause of that,
it's all connected. Right
it it is, and even just allergies
can cause a lot of these symptoms
that affect other parts of your body
in terms of sore throat, feeling,
fatigue and those kinds of things.
But if you're trying over the counter
things and they're not doing the trick,
it it really could be something
more that any NT would be able
to take a look at and diagnose.
Dr, HT. Thank you so much for your time
and for taking this time to explain
to us what really could be going on.
We appreciate it. You're welcome.
Thank you for having me, of course,
and to learn more about what we
talked about today to get in touch.
With Evergreenhealth,
just visit the website on your
screen or the link that will
have up on new days website.
Well it is
a month of reflection for
Muslims across the world.
Ramadan is here and one of our
interns will share more on the
meaning of the festivities and the
sacrifices made in the month of April.
When we come back.
This portion of New Day Northwest
is sponsored by Evergreenhealth.