Sneezing, nasal congestion and runny nose, is it a "cold"?

Comics/Yu Ning Shan

Changsha Evening News all-media reporter Yang Weiran correspondent Song Xi Yang Ling

Entering the winter festival, the temperature dropped, most of the citizens felt unwell, some had symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, and nasal itching, and the number of patients who went to the hospital outpatient emergency department to see a "cold" suddenly increased, including children and the elderly.

If you have symptoms of itchy nose sneezing and runny nose, is it necessarily a cold? Zhang Junjie, director and chief physician of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery of Changsha First Hospital, said that not necessarily, sometimes it may be allergic rhinitis. According to statistics, the current prevalence of allergic rhinitis in China is 11%, and the total number of patients exceeds 150 million. For allergic rhinitis that is difficult to cure, prevention is the key.

A child's "cold" does not heal is allergic rhinitis

Zhang Junjie introduced that on Monday, his outpatient clinic received a child who came to see a "cold". As soon as she entered the consultation room, the child's mother asked: "Doctor, my son Xuanxuan (pseudonym) has always had a cold in the past six months, is he not in good health?" I took him to the community hospital to see, cold medicine has been taking, just no effect, why is this? Hearing Xuan Xuan's mother's words, Zhang Junjie had a little doubt, is the child really cold? Are there any other diseases? After detailed inquiry, it turned out that the children were nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose every time they were sick, sometimes they would have a little nasal itching, and there was no headache, fever, cough and other related symptoms, and the symptoms were more obvious when they got up in the morning, and they were basically relieved at noon. When tested for allergies, the child does not suffer from a cold, but with allergic rhinitis.

"The child is ten years old, why wasn't he allergic before?" Xuan Xuan's mother still had doubts. Zhang Junjie explained that the onset of allergic rhinitis is related to a variety of factors, such as sunlight, hot and cold, climate change and air humidity changes, which can induce allergic rhinitis; hyperglysis and severe mood swings caused by various causes can also induce allergic rhinitis.

"Xuan Xuan also has a younger brother, will allergic rhinitis be transmitted to his younger brother?" Xuan Xuan's mother asked. "Allergic rhinitis is not contagious and does not infect others, but allergic rhinitis is related to heredity." Zhang Junjie said that from a clinical point of view, patients with allergic rhinitis are often accompanied by obvious family history, and Xuanxuan's younger brother may have allergic rhinitis in the future.

Allergic rhinitis is mostly without systemic symptoms

Autumn and winter are the season of high incidence of allergies, especially the weather is cool, the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, the weather is dry, and the nasal cavity is susceptible to the influence of foreign irritants, resulting in the occurrence of allergic rhinitis. Zhang Junjie introduced that allergic rhinitis is a disease that produces allergic inflammation of the nasal mucosa after susceptible individuals contact allergens, and the main cause of the disease is that allergens enter the body, common allergens include pollen, dust mites, molds, domestic pets, etc. If left unnoticed, allergic rhinitis will extend deeper, further triggering asthma, sinusitis, secretory otitis media, etc.

There is a difference between allergic rhinitis and a cold. Colds are commonly known as "colds", mostly caused by viral infections, also known as acute rhinitis or acute upper respiratory tract infections, is one of the most common infectious diseases in humans, mostly in winter and spring, no allergic reactions, mostly sporadic, can be small-scale epidemic when the climate is abrupt, and the symptoms are mostly sneezing, nasal congestion, runny water nasal discharge, etc., some of the symptoms are similar to allergic rhinitis. However, most of the colds are also accompanied by cough, dry throat, itchy throat and burning sensation, and even a feeling of drip behind the nose, and in severe cases, there are fever, mild chills and headaches. Colds are contagious and are mainly transmitted through the air through sneezing and droplets containing the virus, or through contact with contaminated hands and utensils.

Allergic rhinitis is mostly not accompanied by systemic symptoms and is not contagious. According to the duration of the onset of the disease each year, it can be divided into perennial allergic rhinitis and seasonal allergic rhinitis. Perennial allergic rhinitis, the annual onset of symptoms lasts for more than 9 months, mostly caused by indoor allergens, such as dust mites or their feces; seasonal allergic rhinitis, every pollen spread season begins to onset, the annual incidence of the season is basically the same.

Allergic rhinitis is mostly related to genetic and environmental factors, mostly children and young adults, there is no obvious difference in the incidence ratio between men and women, the typical symptoms are mainly continuous sneezing, a large amount of watery discharge, followed by nasal congestion, nasal itching, itchy eyes, some patients have decreased sense of smell but temporary. The disease can also be complicated by bronchial asthma, allergic laryngitis, allergic conjunctivitis and other diseases. If children often rub their eyes and noses, they should consider allergies.

There are also differences in treatment between the two. If a cold is diagnosed, antiviral, anti-infective drugs should be used according to symptoms, and attention should be paid to rest, nutrition and exercise should be strengthened; if allergic rhinitis is anaphylaxis, local or systemic anti-allergic drugs can significantly change symptoms.

For allergic rhinitis that is difficult to cure, prevention is the key

"The main thing about this disease is to avoid contact with allergens." Zhang Junjie said that for example, people who are allergic to pollen should reduce going out and wear masks, glasses, etc.; people who are allergic to dust mites should keep the indoor environment clean and dry, ventilate and ventilate in time, clean the sheets and covers regularly, and reduce dust mites; people who are allergic to animal dander cannot keep pets. Nasal or oral antiallergic drugs are used as directed by the doctor when symptoms are obvious, immunotherapy may also be used, and patients who seriously affect work study can be treated surgically.

In addition, in the prevention and treatment, it is necessary to avoid falling into the misunderstanding of allergic rhinitis. For example, some people think that only children will suffer from allergic rhinitis, in fact, no matter what age group people may suffer from this disease; mistakenly treat allergic rhinitis as a cold treatment, not only the symptoms will not be alleviated, but also delay the treatment cycle; the appearance of allergic rhinitis symptoms, some patients will use a large number of decongestants, etc., to quickly alleviate the symptoms of nasal congestion, in fact, this type of drug is used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, can improve the ventilation of the nasal cavity in the short term, the clinical continuous use time is generally not more than 7 days, long-term continuous use is not only ineffective, It may also cause drug-induced rhinitis.

"For allergic rhinitis that is difficult to cure, prevention is the key." Zhang Junjie said that at present, there is no complete cure for the disease, and only through drugs or surgery can improve symptoms or reduce the frequency of symptoms. There are many ways to treat allergic rhinitis, in addition to drug treatment, you can also carry out non-drug treatment such as traditional Chinese medicine external treatment, surgery, and desensitization treatment. Prevention is the most critical, in the prevention of allergic rhinitis, the most critical point is to stay away from allergens; pay attention to changes in temperature, keep the nose warm during the season; rinse the nasal cavity regularly, flush out the particles that may cause allergies out of the nose, reduce allergic reactions; you can also prevent allergic rhinitis through traditional Chinese medicine non-drug therapies such as acupuncture point patches.

【Source: Changsha Evening News】

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