How to Diagnose Allergic Rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis can be caused by pet dander, mold, grasses and pollen. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis can be mistaken for other conditions, so an accurate diagnosis needs to be made before a treatment plan can be instituted. Although not considered a serious medication condition, symptoms can be intrusive and necessitate a proper medical diagnosis and intervention.
- See your doctor. To accurately diagnose allergic rhinitis, you will need to visit your doctor. He will take a detailed medical history and may even refer you to an allergist. An allergist may recommend a series of scratch tests to determine the cause of your allergic rhinitis before he recommends a treatment plan.
- Pay attention to your symptoms. If you experience a runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing and watery eyes when you're around an allergen, chances are you have allergic rhinitis. This is especially true when your symptoms appear soon after you come in contact with an allergen, and disappear soon after the offending allergen is removed.
- Visit allergy-related websites. Although a medical website should never take the place of going to your doctor, reputable ones can be helpful in providing accurate medical information. Reputable medical websites such as those provided by Mayo Clinic and the University of Maryland Medical Center can provide you with the signs of symptoms of allergic rhinitis so that you can evaluate how your symptoms related to those on the website. If your symptoms match or are very similar, chances are you have allergic rhinitis and may need to be treated with an over-the-counter antihistamine that may help with your runny nose and sneezing.