Flowering trees and grass can cause pollen allergies (allergic rhinitis). It is easy to find on the internet how much pollen is present in the air (e.g. on www.weeronline.nl, www.buienradar.nl, or on various mobile apps). Complaints consist of a watery runny nose, sneezing and sometimes itchy and watery eyes, but also nasal congestion and fatigue.
Patients can be given the following lifestyle advice: keep windows and doors closed and go outside less if they have many complaints. Especially in the morning and on sunny days, there is more pollen in the air. In addition, we recommend giving patients a corticosteroid nasal spray and/or antihistamine. A combination preparation (azelastine/fluticasone nasal spray) has been on the market since 2015. If complaints are not under control with this, we would like to see patients on the ENT outpatient clinic from Medical Center Jan van Goyen, also to exclude other underlying pathology. If bothersome nasal passage complaints persist, surgical intervention can be considered.
