If your sinus infections seem to show up every summer, allergies may be playing a bigger role than you think. During the summer months, trees, grasses, and weeds release pollen into the air, and continuous exposure can keep the sinuses irritated for weeks at a time. That ongoing inflammation can make congestion, headaches, and facial pressure much harder to shake, and may eventually cause sinusitis.
Sinusitis and Allergies
Sinusitis, or a sinus infection, can occur all year round and causes symptoms like:
- Facial pressure (especially around upper cheeks and nose)
- Headaches
- Fever
- Postnasal drip and/or green or gray nasal discharge
- Congestion
- Cough
Symptoms occur because the hollow cavities in the face – the sinuses – become inflamed and cause extra pressure behind the eyes, nose and cheeks. The cause can be anything from a regular bacterial cold, to a viral infection, and oftentimes, allergies.
When pollen is circling the air, you breathe it in through the nasal cavity and into the sinuses. If the body sees it as harmful, it will release histamine into the bloodstream and cause inflammation in the affected areas. With the long lengths of exposure during allergy season, trapped mucus can cause an infection and lead to a case of sinusitis.
Summer Triggers
There are three main allergen seasons in the summer months that cause allergy symptoms: trees, grass and weeds. Trees and grass cause symptoms in the early months of summer, and weeds cause symptoms into fall. This Pollen Allergy Season Map shows what allergens are in bloom, and when, in your area.
There are other factors – like weather patterns and summer irritants – that can cause an increase in allergy symptoms. With more exposure to allergens, there is more time for the sinuses to flare and cause further sinusitis symptoms.
Options for Relief
There are different routes you can take to get your sinusitis under control, and avoidance with symptom control is the most common route. People who suffer from sinusitis due to allergy can avoid their symptoms by spending more time indoors, keeping windows closed, and washing clothes in hot water.
Symptoms can be reduced with antihistamines, nasal rinses, pain relievers, and other over the counter solutions. Symptom relievers will have to be taken consistently, and likely every year if sinusitis continues to pop up seasonally.
Another option is to treat the cause of the underlying allergy. Allergy drops train the body to not react when exposed to allergens, so that the symptoms and the residual effects like sinusitis are less. Over time, the body learns that the allergen is not harmful, and many have reduced – or eliminated – symptoms.
Find a provider near you that offers allergy drop treatment to find relief from your allergies and sinusitis, too.
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