New Ways to Stay Sneeze-Free

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Get the right meds

By Aviva Patz
From Health magazine

Although more and more treatments are available over-the-counter, if you’re really suffering, it pays to see an allergist to get a treatment plan tailored specifically to you.

The gold standard of allergy care is a combination of oral anti-histamines, such as Zyrtec, Claritin, or Allegra (taken at night, since pollen counts peak in the a.m.), and histamine-blocking eye drops and nasal sprays (there are now both prescription and OTC versions). The big guns are intranasal corticosteroids such as Flonase and Nasonex—prescription steroid sprays that reduce symptom-causing inflammation in your nasal passages.

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