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Managing seasonal allergy symptoms

What exactly do those allergy meds do, and what can you do to minimize symptoms in your kids down the road?

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – Allergies are not fun at all and finding ways to treat them can be a little much to handle sometimes.

“It can be pretty dizzying when you walk down the pharmacy aisle,” says John Doric, pharmacist at HealthPartners. “Even me as a pharmacist, I'll sometimes go try to pick out something and it's hard for me to find something I want to use.”

Doric says seasonal allergies, or “allergic rhinitis” as he calls it, tend to flare up in the spring, summer and fall. He says nasal glucocorticoids are the best medications to treat them. They include Flonase, Nasacort and Rhinocort - all available over the counter and as a generic.

“Nasal glucocorticoids are anti-inflammatory steroids. They help produce the body's immune system in the nose specifically and this helps to reduce a lot of the effects of allergic rhinitis when the immune system is attacking what they perceive as a threat – which is usually like a pollen or something like that,” Doric says.

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If you've tried those and they aren't working, or your symptoms are severe, it's probably good to check with your doctor about things like allergy shots.

To keep your kids from battling allergies too much down the road, Doric says it's important not to shield them.

“Try to get your kids outside when they're younger,” he says. “A lot of times exposure to allergens at an early age can reduce the severity and percentage of people who actually get allergies later in life.”

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