Remember, if you are unsure about your diagnosis, or which treatment to use, consult a doctor or pharmacist for advice.
Advice and Treatment
First time sufferers
Use your military intelligence to identify the enemy!
Virtually any area of the body can be affected by an allergy and symptoms can be diverse, so do some detective work to help your doctor or pharmacist make a diagnosis.
Common allergic symptoms for Allergic Rhinitis (inflammation of the lining of the nose):
- Runny & itchy nose
- Sneezing (usually in bouts)
- Itchy ears & roof of mouth
- Dark circles around the eyes
They often go together with the common allergic symptoms for Allergic Conjunctivitis (inflammation of the delicate lining of the eyelids):
- Constantly itchy & watering eyes
- Swollen & painful lids
- Blood shot eyeballs
Know your enemy
Once you've been diagnosed - do your research! It's amazing how many things can be linked, for example: Allergic to horses? Watch out for horsehair upholstery. Don't put horse manure on your garden. Double check any vaccines - some are based on a serum taken from horses.
Is it Contact Allergic Dermatitis?
A skin allergy to nickel could make some watch straps, jewellery and belt buckles danger zones. Your watch strap may be stuck on your wrist but your immune cells aren't. Before you know it, they could travel around and make your whole arm sore. And some coins have nickel, so pretend you're the Queen and stop carrying money!