If you take a step outside right now, it’s going to feel a lot more like December or January than it does March. That’s just how cold of a winter we’re having here in Michigan. But sooner or later, that snow is going to melt, flowers are going to bloom, and the sun is going to stay up later in the day. If you’re dead tired of the winter this is a joyous thought. But for many people, it comes with a price: allergies.
Allergies are known as “damaging immune responses by the body to a substance, particular food, or dust, causing the body to become hypersensitive.” Notice the definition does not say that weather is a direct effect of allergies in Garden City, Wayne or other surrounding Wayne County MI cities. But even when the weather hops up from 5 or 6 degrees to a still-chilly 30 or 35 degrees, that’s enough of a temperature fluctuation to send some people into a sneezing, congested fit! But why is this?
When you experience stuffiness, sneezing, congestion, or other allergies we tend to think of as synonymous with the winter-to-spring weather change,most of the time, the emergence of pollen is to blame. It is known as allergic rhinitis when pollen, dust, or animal dander causes inflammation to the nasal airways. Many studies conducted over the years reveal an uptick in the number of both children and adults who visit emergency rooms during seasons in which the pollen counts increase. But that doesn’t mean that weather change is off the hook as a cause for allergies.
There is also non-allergic rhinitis, which tends to get people mixed up because it generally occurs at the same time of year that allergic rhinitis does, when pollen makes its yearly debut. Non-allergic rhinitis comes with chronic sneezing and a congested, runny nose. People of all ages are prone to it, but it is more commonly found in adults over the age of 20. It’s not dangerous as much as it is an annoyance. People with non-allergic rhinitis don’t have a problem with pollen, but rather certain odors, changes in weather, as well as some medications or foods. Chronic previous health conditions also tend to trigger it. If you visit your doctor, many times a diagnosis of non-allergic rhinitis is confirmed once an allergic cause is unable to be detected. Skin or blood tests sometimes need to be conducted in order to come to this conclusion.
We strongly recommend doing just that and getting a diagnostic test run in Wayne or Garden City MI at Westland Clinic to get to the bottom of what is causing your aches and pains, headaches, sneezing, or congestion. Contact us today so you can enjoy all the good that the springtime brings without any strings attached!
