It’s time for river trips, patio dinners, barbecues and lazy days on the beach. Few things will derail your plans faster than having to deal with your child’s allergies.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, approximately 40 million Americans have indoor/outdoor allergies, and the number is only going up. Luckily, all is not lost and with a few simple steps, you can mitigate or even avoid the perils of allergies and let your child get back to building sandcastles and let you get back to working on your suntan.
Fight Your Allergies. Save Your Summer
To start, The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology offers these suggestions. If you know your child suffers from allergies, you should start giving them allergy medication before symptoms start, when the medication is much more effective. Wraparound sunglasses will help keep pollen out of eyes. By staying in the middle of wide open spaces, you will avoid any poison ivy around the perimeter.
If your child still gets hit by hayfever or another allergy, all is not lost. As Dr Gavin Ralston, Chair of Birmingham CrossCity Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Summer can be often a difficult time for those suffering from respiratory allergies, but fortunately there are many effective over-the-counter remedies that your local pharmacy can offer to help ease the symptoms and enable you to get through the summer months.”
Is Medication Always the Answer?
As Chris Molnar found out, medication may not be the best way forward. He recalls that allergy medications made his daughter sleepy (Benadryl) or irritable (Children’s Claritin, in our case).
“Then my daughter would perk up – when half the day was gone and our plans had already been canceled. No matter: she was due for another dose of her 8-hour allergy medication by then and was bound to be sleepy anyway.
A whole day was shot. Our doctor told us that side effects from allergy meds that would otherwise be optimal for our child may only last 30 minutes to six hours. Her recommendation? A 24-hour allergy medication, taken at night rather than in the morning.”
If you are concerned about your child and their allergies, you should consult your doctor and find what works best for you and yours.
Does Your Child Suffer from Allergies?
Children suffering from allergies often exhibit the following symptoms: sneezing, itchy eyes, and headaches. This can affect all aspects of their life including the family summer vacation. If your child is suffering from allergies, you should consult an allergy doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will be conduct physical examination and skin tests, to determine exactly what allergens specifically affect your child, in order to prescribe the proper treatment.
For more information about allergy treatments for children, contact Dr. Nguyen and book an assessment.
