Content
One of the most common in the office of an allergist is a complaint about poplar fluff. Patients suffering from allergy attacks are unaware that the term poplar fluff allergy does not exist as such. In vain do people blame this tree for their troubles. Fluff itself is harmless. But its light texture allows you to carry the notorious allergens: the pollen of other plants. Simultaneously with the poplar, birch, alder, as well as meadow herbs bloom. This is where the root of evil is hidden. All sorts of pollen sticks to the down fibers, which causes allergies. In medical circles, pollen allergy is called hay fever. But we will still use the term Allergy to poplar fluff, which is accessible to everyone.
White fluffy clods scatter everywhere. Picked up by the wind, they end up in apartments, house entrances, and offices. Nowhere to hide from fluff during the flowering of poplar. This disease is seasonal. From mid-May to July, white clods of fluff flying along the roads can be observed in different regions. Poplars grow mainly near highways, which aggravates the harmful effect of pollen by the presence of road dust and chemicals emitted into the air by vehicles.
How to recognize the first signs of the disease
Before starting treatment, you need to make sure that the diagnosis is correct. This type of allergy has its own symptoms. Consider the symptoms of an allergy to poplar fluff:
- Lacrimation and conjunctivitis
- sneezing
- Nasal congestion (rhinitis)
- Difficulty breathing
- Edema of mucous membranes
- Coughing fits (similar to asthmatic)
- Urticaria and itching
- Dizziness
- Suffocation
- Nausea
Allergy manifestations will make themselves felt as soon as the pollen gets on the skin or when you involuntarily inhale it. Each organism reacts to fluff in its own way. Someone tolerates the disease more easily, bypassing antihistamines . But there are times when hospitalization is required if the body's reaction is too sharp. Rejection of pollen leads to anaphylactic shock .
Signs of a reaction to poplar fluff at first are similar to the onset of a cold. If the symptoms appear within a week and there is no improvement, most likely it is an allergy. In the warm season, rhinitis (nasal congestion) is more often due to allergies.
To avoid any allergy, including poplar fluff, allergists advise to completely exclude contact with the allergen. In this case, with pollen and spores of various plants. The best option would be to go to places where there is no pollen. If this is not possible, then the following tips will save you from aggravation:
- Take a shower when you get home
- Wash with cold water
- Change into home clothes
- Close windows to prevent pollen from entering the apartment
- It is advisable to use an air conditioner or an air filter
- Install mosquito nets on windows
- When driving in a car, do not open the windows, but use the air conditioner
By following these simple rules, you can help your body cope with this problem much faster.
Treatment
The treatment of allergy to poplar fluff has long been of interest to scientists. Modern medicine is struggling with pollinosis by various means. But are they really that effective?
The main assistants in the fight against allergic exacerbation are drugs such as Suprastin, Tavegil, Loratadin, Cetirizine. These medications relieve the first symptoms of allergies, but before taking them, you should carefully study the side effects and contraindications.
It is also necessary to remember about the possibility of preventing exacerbation of the disease. What do experts advise?
So, two weeks before the start of flowering of poplars, choose a drug for yourself that contains cromoglycic acid and immediately start taking this remedy. This will prepare the body for the onslaught of the disease. A few words should be said about cromoglycate.
Cromoglycic acid (or cromoglycate) is an antihistamine antiallergic agent that is used in an acute attack of asthmatic cough, stops asthma attacks, restores breathing, and helps to eliminate allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis. Used to prevent and treat allergies to food and pollen. This tool is available both in the form of powders and capsules, and in the form of inhalers and solutions. Available drops for the eyes and nose, capsules for oral administration and solutions for inhalation.
Folk remedies
If you are a supporter of traditional medicine, then the next section is just for you. In the course of observation by our ancestors, it was noted that blue cornflower tincture copes well with seasonal illness. To make the product, you should take 3 tablespoons of dry petals, brew with boiling water, let it brew for about half an hour, then make a compress on your eyes. According to the "experienced", this will relieve swelling and eliminate conjunctivitis.
Also, traditional medicine advises to give up tea and coffee for the duration of the attack, replacing these drinks with a decoction based on a series.
How to help a child
There is nothing more precious to parents than the health of their own child. When children suffer from allergies, you need to act immediately. In this case, a doctor's consultation will help the child. Parents of an allergic child should also be savvy in these matters themselves and know how to provide first aid to the baby.
The characteristic signs of childhood allergies are the appearance of itching on the hands, rashes on the skin of the hands and face, less often the head. The general condition of the child is also deteriorating. The kid, not knowing what is happening to him, begins to act up. In infancy, most allergic reactions appear on the face. Any change in the color and texture of the baby's skin should alert attentive parents. Of course, in order to know what causes an allergic reaction, you should donate blood for allergy tests . But it will be useful for you to hear the expert opinion of a specialist:
It makes no sense to do allergy tests for children under three years of age, as the immune system continues to develop, and it is not possible to identify the cause of the allergy. After reaching the age of three, you can be tested for allergens
Parents need to take into account that they need to feed an allergic child in a special way. To date, a huge number of diets have been developed that exclude all dangerous foods, but nutrition must maintain a high calorie content and saturation with vitamins necessary for the growth and development of the child's body.
There is a technique for effective treatment of childhood allergies by introducing small doses of the allergen into the blood. So the immune system learns to fight the disease, carrying out an independent search for the necessary substances in the body without medical intervention. With the help of this method, tolerance is developed to one or another allergen, in particular to the pollen of harmful plants, and there is a chance that your child, having matured and strengthened, will no longer suffer from attacks of allergy to plant pollen.
