allergy season Archives - Elite Care Family Medicine

Springtime is here. With it comes beautiful spring foliage, fresh grass and pollen, all which can be triggers for seasonal allergies and asthma. Spring is peak season for allergy and asthma. It’s no wonder the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America considers May Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. Asthma is often triggered by environmental allergies, which are themselves triggered by environmental elements such as grass and pollen. The cycles trigger a domino...

Spring is always torture for people with allergies. Usually sometime in March or April there’s a sudden shift away from wintry weather that encourages plants to release pollen into the air. Windy conditions then send that pollen into our noses, throats, and eyes. The pollen trigger allergy symptoms that range from congestion, sneezing and itchy eyes to headaches, diarrhea, and even depression. So what can you do if allergies are hitting you hard this year? Determine...

Every year millions of children are on a quest to find their decorated Easter eggs, candy and gifts. As parents we can't help but give our children a little better challenge each year, sometimes not thinking of the safety factor. So before you start getting out your 24-foot extension ladder or unscrewing that 100 watt light bulb and replacing it with an egg, the USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) has a few great safety tips to help you have a fun and safe Easter. General...

E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid that contains nicotine, other chemicals, and flavors. Heating the liquid turns it into a vapor which is what the user inhales and exhales. They’ve been advertised as an alternative to tobacco products. They’re growing in popularity among smokers who want to quit, but there are hazards associated with them as well. Vaping may damage the heart Because they do not burn tobacco but infuse water vapor with nicotine, people who vape...

Many say smoking is a bad habit, but it’s not. Smoking is more than a bad habit. It’s a chemical dependence on nicotine. Chemical dependence is a condition in which a person experiences physical withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking certain drugs. If you’ve ever tried to quit smoking before and experienced irritability, anxiety, depression, impatience, insatiable hunger, weight gain, difficulty concentrating, or difficulty sleeping, you experienced nicotine...

One minute you’re fine and the next a steady stream of blood is gushing from your nose. A nosebleed occurs when one of the many fragile surface blood vessels in the nose break. Even if the particular cause of a nosebleed is unknown, most cases are minor and treatable from home. Patients experience two kinds of nosebleeds. An anterior nosebleed occurs when the blood vessels in the front of the nose break and bleed. A posterior nosebleed occurs in the back or the deepest...

Since a cold and a sinus infection share similar symptoms. Knowing the difference and being able to tell which one you have can be tricky. We’ll make it a little easier on you with these questions you need to ask. What is a cold? A cold is a virus in the upper respiratory system. The common cold can be caused by many different types of viruses. A cold is usually harmless and symptoms usually resolve within two weeks. Symptoms include runny nose, nasal congestion,...

So it hits you right in the middle of the day. You start feeling sluggish. You get chills and a headache. Maybe you feel a little bit irritable. You reach for the thermometer, stick it under your tongue, and sure enough it reads 100.0° Fahrenheit. You have a low-grade fever. But what causes a fever? What is Fever? Fever is a natural response that helps fight off foreign substances such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxins. Body temperature is set by the...

When cold weather hits or allergy season comes around, you can hear it. The sound of countless people hacking up a lung. While coughing is a pain, its purpose is to protect you. It’s a reflex that rids the body of things that don’t belong in your respiratory system like inhaled dirt, food, germs, and excess mucus. Many things can trigger a cough, but here are a few of the most common. Viruses Cold and the flu are the most common causes of a cough. The purpose of...

Have you had your flu shot yet? The flu season is in full swing, and while this season has been well below epidemic levels Mississippi has still been one of the states hardest hit this year. According to the CDC, Mississippi had an influenza-like illness rate of 6.1% well above the national average of 2.3%. The nation has experienced a mild flu season overall as of the week ending December 2, 2017. However, the disease has caused hospitalizations and casualties this...