According to Dr. Peng, “sometimes the first, easy way to tackle your allergies may be simple changes at home that don’t involve medicines or breaking the bank. For instance, if you keep your windows closed, you can keep the pollen out of your bedroom and in the great outdoors where it belongs! You can also try using allergy covers on your mattress and pillows which will help limit dust exposure. It never hurts to try these measures to avoid allergens.”

The next thing that you can do for your nose allergies is to open up the nasal passages with a nasal spray. Drugstore allergy pills (oral antihistamines like cetirizine, loratadine, etc.) can help you feel less itchy, but don’t actually make the inflammation any better. We believe that the best and most effective medicine for nose and eye allergy symptoms will ALWAYS be a nasal spray. 

The most common drugstore nasal sprays are the anti-inflammatory or steroid sprays, like fluticasone and triamcinolone. These medicines are important for preventing the inflammation that causes your allergy symptoms, however, they usually need to be used daily for at least 2 weeks to make a difference—and that might feel like forever when you need immediate allergy symptom relief!

At Allermi we recommend a nasal spray that combines fast-acting ingredients like prescription azelastine (for immediate relief) with preventative slower-acting ingredients like triamcinolone or mometasone (for long-term relief).