Perennial rhinitis is year-round inflammation of the sinuses caused by allergies. It is often misdiagnosed as a series of colds, but can be treated with medication or allergy testing to identify and eliminate allergens. Symptoms include chronic congestion and other allergy-type symptoms.
Rhinitis is inflammation of the sinuses that usually causes symptoms such as nasal congestion or a runny or stuffy nose. When people have conditions like hay fever that cause these symptoms for part of the year, this might be called allergic rhinitis. If congestion and a runny nose are almost always present, it can be called perennial rhinitis or perennial allergic rhinitis. Year-round allergies to the substance are a primary cause.
People may not realize that constant congestion is perennial rhinitis. Instead, the condition is often misdiagnosed as a succession of colds that can very frequently present with sinus infections. Doctors are likely to investigate frequent “colds.” There are also conditions that a doctor may want to rule out and these could include the presence of nasal polyps, a deviated septum, a reaction to certain medications, and chronic infection.
When there are no other causative factors, the diagnosis of this type of rhinitis can be made based on the symptoms. These include chronic runny nose or congestion and other allergy-type symptoms such as itchy eyes. Most often, the nasal tissue is most affected and nasal congestion is the predominant symptom.
There are several ways to treat this condition. The most direct of these is to offer medication to treat symptoms. Medications might include daily use of antihistamines or prescription nasal sprays that contain antihistamines or corticosteroids. These can start to have an immediate effect on symptoms, reducing nasal congestion. However, they leave out the underlying cause of allergic reactions, which may be important to consider.
Instead of just prescribing antihistamines or steroid treatments, some doctors recommend that people undergo allergy testing to determine which substances cause chronic rhinitis. It’s true that the most common allergies that cause this condition are to things like pets or dust mites, but there could be other causes. Exposure to certain identified allergens could be partially or totally eliminated, making the use of daily medication unnecessary. This possibility suggests that it might make sense to try to determine the cause of the allergies.
People who have chronic rhinitis may also suffer from seasonal allergies or hay fever. Signs of this could include increased sinus symptoms during times of peak hay fever. Alternatively, some people maintain the same symptoms year-round without aggravating nasal difficulties at any time. Either way, nasal sprays or antihistamines address both seasonal and perennial rhinitis.
It can be said that chronic congestion is not a “just normal” behavior of the nose. It’s usually not even a series of colds. This symptom deserves attention and fortunately if perennial rhinitis is diagnosed, there are many effective treatments. These can significantly increase comfort or completely eliminate problems.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
