Embrace the Day With Help From Middle Georgia’s Select Allergists

When spring rolls around, your seasonal allergies can flare up and last throughout the summer or fall. Don’t let warm-weather allergens win; fight back with allergy treatment from Langford.

We treat all seasonal allergy types, including:

• Pollen allergy
• Grass allergy
• Ragweed allergy
• Outdoor mold allergy

Common Seasonal Allergy Symptoms

Patients with seasonal allergies can experience:

• Congestion
• Excessive coughing
• Excessive sneezing
• Fatigue
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Scratchy throat

If you experience seasonal allergy symptoms during the spring, summer, or fall, Langford Allergy can provide effective treatment and lasting relief.

Allergic rhinitis, also called hay fever or nasal allergies, can occur as seasonal allergies that flare up only in the spring, summer, and fall. However, if your allergies are triggered by additional year-round allergens, they can recur throughout the year.

Typical hay fever allergens include:

• Tree pollen
• Grass pollen
• Ragweed pollen
• Pet dander
• Dust mites
• Indoor and outdoor mold spores
• Roach or mouse droppings

Common Hay Fever Symptoms

Hay fever often causes patients to feel as if they have caught a cold. Symptoms can fade once you’re no longer exposed to the trigger, or you can experience symptoms for days or even weeks following exposure.

Hay fever symptoms can include:

• Congestion
• Excessive coughing
• Excessive sneezing
• Facial swelling under the eyes
• Fatigue
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Itchy nose
• Postnasal drip
• Runny nose
• Scratchy throat

Whether your hay fever is seasonal or lasts throughout the year, Langford Allergy can help soothe symptoms, reduce flare-ups, and start you on the path toward lasting relief.

A food allergy can range from mild to severe, depending on the trigger and the body’s reaction to it. Food allergies can be frightening, as they are the allergies most associated with anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention.

Technically, any food can cause an allergic reaction since all foods are partly made of protein, the substance in foods that causes allergies. However, nine foods are identified as the most common triggers for most food allergy patients:

• Eggs
• Fish
• Milk
• Peanuts
• Sesame
• Shellfish
• Soy
• Tree nuts
• Wheat

Common Food Allergy Symptoms

Depending on sensitivity levels, a food allergy can cause mild to severe:

• Breathing difficulties
• Congestion
• Coughing
• Dizziness
• Facial swelling
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
• Skin rashes or hives
• Tingling of the mouth, tongue, lips, and throat
• Wheezing

Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is the most extreme reaction your body can have to an allergy trigger. A patient with a severe allergic reaction to a food trigger can experience:

• Drop in blood pressure
• Extreme congestion
• Extreme swelling
• Loss of consciousness
• Narrowed or closed airways
• Rapid heartbeat

If you or someone nearby experiences anaphylaxis, use an epinephrine injection (EpiPen) if available and seek medical attention ASAP.

Food allergy patients can rely on Langford Allergy for the utmost in allergy care. We can conduct thorough testing to determine what you are allergic to and provide the treatments, management solutions, and educational information you need to eat with confidence.

Do you experience itchy, watery eyes whenever you are exposed to allergens or irritants? Eye allergies, also called allergic conjunctivitis, can lead to irritating, painful sensations in the eye that can’t easily be blinked away.

• Pollen
• Dust
• Pet dander
• Mold spores
• Air pollutants (smog, cigarette smoke, chemicals in the air, etc.)

Common Eye Allergy Symptoms

Eye allergies create the same or similar symptoms as pink eye (bacterial or viral conjunctivitis). The only difference is that eye allergies are not contagious like pink eye.

Symptoms often include:

• Swollen eyelids
• Gritty sensations in the eye
• Itchy eyes that scratching cannot resolve
• Eye redness
• Light sensitivity
• Excessive eye watering

If you suffer from eye allergies at any time of the year, the allergy specialists at Langford Allergy can provide lasting relief with eye drops and other forms of treatment.

Skin allergies, also called contact dermatitis or contact eczema, often result in a painful itch that does not fade with scratching. Skin allergies are extremely common and can affect anyone sensitive to a particular substance or allergy trigger.

• Airborne allergens, such as pollen, pet dander, and mold spores
• Foods, such as citruses, spices, and products containing gluten
• Medications, such as prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and antibiotics
• Metals, such as nickel
• Substances, such as lotions, soaps, cosmetics, and chemicals
• Sweat and sweat residue
• Plants or plant substances, such as poison ivy, poison oak, or natural latex

Common Skin Allergy Symptoms

A skin allergy flare-up can lead to a variety of symptoms, including:

• Bumps and blisters
• Thickened skin at the rash site
• Oozing skin or dry, cracked skin at the rash site
• Swelling at the rash site
• Itchy, burning sensations at the rash site
• Hyperpigmentation at the rash site

If you experience flare-ups on your skin whenever you are exposed to an allergen or irritant, the team at Langford Allergy can help you clear your skin, ease the itch, and find effective solutions to treat skin allergy breakouts in the future.

No one wants to get stung by a bee or bitten by an ant, but those with an insect allergy really don’t want to experience the side effects of an allergic reaction to insect venom. Insect allergies can cause mild to severe reactions, including anaphylaxis.

• Fire ants
• Bees
• Wasps
• Hornets (a type of wasp)
• Yellowjackets (a type of wasp)

Common Insect Allergy Symptoms

It’s normal to experience pain, swelling, and redness at the sting or bite site. However, insect allergy patients can experience:

Moderate Reactions

• Welting at the bite or sting site
• Itching or burning at the site
• Redness and swelling that may spread out about an inch or two in radius from the welt
• Swelling and pain that lasts between five and ten days following the bite or sting

Severe Reactions

Severe reactions include all the symptoms of a moderate reaction, along with:

• Clamminess
• Dizziness
• Hives
• Increased heart rate
• Loss of consciousness
• Nausea
• Swelling in the lips, tongue, and throat
• Wheezing

Severe reactions are signs of anaphylaxis, which requires immediate medical attention. If you or someone nearby experiences anaphylaxis, use an epinephrine injection (EpiPen) if available and seek medical attention ASAP.

At Langford Allergy, we help insect allergy patients embrace the great outdoors through effective insect allergy treatment, management solutions, and educational information about how to minimize the likelihood of getting bit or stung.