Allergic rhinitis, often called allergies or hay fever, occurs when your immune system overreacts to particles in the air that you breathe-you are allergic to them. Your immune system attacks the particles in your body, causing symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose. The particles are called allergens, which simply means they can cause an allergic reaction. People with allergies usually have symptoms for many years. You may have symptoms often during the year, or just at certain times. You also may get other problems such as sinusitis and ear infections as a result of your allergies.
Key points for TCM diagnosis
(1) Symptoms: The patient has paroxysmal nasal itch, persistent sneezing, profuse nasal discharge, nasal obstruction and anosmia. The onset mostly lasts about 15 minutes to half an hour. The disease may occur once or several times a day. The time duration and frequency of onset are determined by the severity of the state of illness.
(2) Examination of the nasal cavity: During the attack, the nasal mucosa is mostly pale with edema, mainly the enlargement of inferior and middle nasal conchae. At the intermittent stage, edema of the mucosa is relieved, hut the mucosa is still pale. For a small number of patients, the mucosa is reddish. The secretion is clear, thin and profuse in the nasal cavity.
(3) The patient has the history of allergic reactions like urticaria and allergic asthma.
(4) The smear of nasal secretion sees a large number of eosinophilic cells.
(5) Elevation of blood serum IgE is found.
Four syndromes of allergic rhinitis categorized in TCM diagnosis
Syndrome of wind and cold invading the lung
Syndrome of internal accumulation of heat in the lung
Syndrome of qi deficiency of the lung and spleen
Syndrome of yang deficiency of the kidney