PERENNIAL RHINITIS — CONSTANT RUNNY OR CONGESTED NOSE
Hay-fever sufferers may feel sorry for themselves as the summer months approach, but they are envied by those afflicted with perennial rhinitis, who have to endure similar symptoms all year round. In their case it is usually airborne allergens, such as mould spores or house dust, which trigger mast cells in the nose. If the eyes are also affected this will cause conjunctivitis. It is almost always airborne allergens that affect the eyes, but the nose is also susceptible to allergens from other sources, including food. For the full range of allergens that can provoke rhinitis.
Problems caused by rhinitis
The nose is intimately linked to several other organs and problems here are likely to have effects elsewhere. Because the nose is connected to the middle part of the ear by a tube (the Eustachian tube), perennial rhinitis can affect the ears as well. The Eustachian tube’s function is to drain any fluid from the ear and allow air to get into the ear so that the pressure on either side of the eardrum is equalized. If the tube becomes blocked with mucus from the nose, air can no longer reach the middle ear and the air already there becomes replaced by a thick, sticky secretion produced by the ear itself. This mucus sticks to the delicate bones that play a vital role in our hearing, and thus causes deafness. The condition is known as chronic secretory otitis media (CSOM) or glue ear, and although it may be caused in other ways this is undoubtedly an important one. The problem is particularly common in children.
Children suffering from this problem are likely to complain of popping or itching in the ears, or say that their ears feel ‘blocked up’. The first signs of deafness are sometimes mistaken for disobedience because they fail to do as they are told. In younger children there may be little outward sign of the problem, although some shake their head in a characteristic way or repeatedly scratch at their ears. Deafness may result in the child being slow to begin speaking – often the first indication that anything is wrong. Needless to say, there are a great many other reasons for delayed speech, and it would be a mistake to jump to conclusions on this basis alone.
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Tags: Allergies . This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:50 am and is filed under Allergies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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