Knowing the main types of allergies, what can trigger allergic reactions and what symptoms can appear is super important, as the body can react in a mild or more harmful way when going through an allergic attack.

Want to learn more about it? So, read on and get your doubts cleared!

Types of Allergies

The three main types of allergies are skin allergies, respiratory allergies and food allergies. Although they are of different types, there are similar symptoms between them, which can sometimes cause confusion in the diagnosis. Understand more about each of the types below, and know how to differentiate them.

Skin allergies

Most of the skin allergies are characterized by a skin rash and intense itching. They have a variety of causes, which can involve contact with mites, food, medication effects, insect bites, latex, pollen and more. Even stressful situations can interfere with its emergence.

Some types of skin allergies are:

• Hives

  A famous form of allergy that forms reddened patches and papules that are very itchy and tingling;

• Stings

  The more sensitive the person is to the insect’s saliva, the more extensive and intense the allergic reaction will be, which can lead to lesions that last for a long time.

• Angioedema

   Affects the deeper layers of the skin, causing swelling around the eyes, lips, tongue and sometimes the glottis;

• Contact eczema (or contact dermatitis)

  Occurs when a person comes into direct contact with a particular substance that causes them an allergy. The main symptoms being itching and redness restricted to the affected region;

• Atopic dermatitis

   an inflammatory process with periods of improvement and worsening, very common in children, which causes the skin to dry out and can be caused by food, mites, animal hair, perfume and even sweat itself, and can also be triggered or aggravated by emotional aspects;

Respiratory allergies

Rhinitis is one of the most common respiratory allergies. It causes nasal obstruction, sneezing, runny nose, difficulty sleeping and fatigue. Despite manifesting at any time, in certain situations or climates it can intensify, even evolving into asthma. It is quite common for it to occur with animal fur, dust and sudden changes in temperature, due to dust particles that stay suspended in the air.

Allergic sinusitis is another very common condition. Generally, these are seasonal episodes that are also linked to substances suspended in the air at certain times of the year.

Food allergies

Allergies that start with some type of food are an increased reaction of the immune system against some proteins in food. This type of allergies can be and can be IgE-mediated, non-IgE-mediated or mixed.

Food allergies are more common in babies and children. Childhood food allergy, like any food allergy, is a reaction that occurs when the immune system perceives a substance in the food as a foreign agent and starts to attack it as an enemy. Among children, the main causes of food allergy are cow’s milk, egg, wheat and soy.

This type of reaction can appear at any age, not just in babies or children. That is why we need to keep an eye on every type of reaction in our body that seems weird or irritating. Keep reading to understand how you can identify the symptoms of some allergy.

Allergy symptoms

Symptoms are different depending on the type of the allergies. In allergic rhinitis to dust or pollen, for example, you will probably experience sneezing, a runny nose, nasal congestion and itching in the nose. Sometimes even itching and having tears in the eyes are common. In the case of allergic asthma, coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing when breathing, tiredness with exertion are evident. 

In cases of food or medication allergy, the patient often has red spots on the skin with associated itching, although other symptoms may be included. In severe cases people can even have anaphylactic shock.

How to properly treat allergies

Sometimes it is possible to identify the cause of the allergy quickly, when we consume a different food than what we are used to, insert a different medication in the routine or even realize when we have been bitten by an insect that caused an allergic reaction in the body. The important thing is to understand what happened. Therefore, if the cause of the reaction is not known, the ideal is to do clinical tests for identification.

Treatment for each type of allergy may vary.

There are several drugs that can alleviate symptoms, but in the case of respiratory allergies the most effective treatment is specific immunotherapy that works like a vaccine and allows you to go several years without symptoms of allergies. There have been significant advances in efficacy and safety, even with the development of more concentrated treatments that allow mixing of different allergens.

IV Therapy is also a super effective treatment option that boosts the immune system response and gives the body strength. The good side of this type of treatment is that the absorption of nutrients is almost absolute, since they are injected directly into the bloodstream.

Contact us and schedule an appointment! Here in BCW, finding the cause of your pain and health problems is what we do best.