Does the baby often sneeze and rub their eyes? Could it be hay fever?
It's possible. Generally, allergic rhinitis is divided into intermittent and persistent types. If a child frequently experiences nasal rubbing, sneezing, a runny nose, and nasal congestion for four weeks or more, with symptoms recurring four days or more per week, they may have persistent allergic rhinitis. Many children initially have intermittent allergic rhinitis, but if it's not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, it can worsen into persistent allergic rhinitis.
Babies with allergic rhinitis can experience...
Besides causing frequent illness symptoms in daily life, allergic rhinitis can significantly reduce children's sleep quality, leading to insufficient daytime concentration, listlessness, reduced learning ability, and even affecting children's brain development. Therefore, early treatment is essential.
How to treat a baby's nasal allergies?
Currently, there is no cure for allergic rhinitis (hay fever) in medicine, but there are reliable treatments to control it. The most basic method is to rinse the nasal passages with saline solution, which comes in spray and direct-rinse forms. Additionally, oral antihistamines can alleviate symptoms such as itching or a runny nose. Second-generation antihistamines generally cause less drowsiness, preventing excessive sleepiness from affecting children's daytime learning ability. If the rhinitis is more severe, nasal steroid sprays are recommended to reduce inflammation in the nasal passages.
Finally, identifying and avoiding inhaled allergens, and considering immunotherapeutics for desensitisation, are the most effective fundamental treatments for minimising the impact of allergic rhinitis.
