Three Reasons You Should Not Just Ignore Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
If you get stuffy or develop a sniffle when the pollen starts to fly, you may be tempted to just power through your symptoms and wait for them to subside. However, ignoring seasonal allergy symptoms could have a negative impact on your dental health and on your overall health. Here are three reasons why you should talk to your doctor about allergy treatments rather than just ignoring your seasonal allergy symptoms.
If you breathe through your mouth, your teeth and gums may suffer.
Many seasonal allergy sufferers with untreated symptoms breathe through their mouths because their noses are too stuffed up. Long-term mouth breathing is terrible for your dental health. It dries out your mouth, altering its pH, which allows oral bacteria to multiply excessively. Oral bacteria cause an array of issues including bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease. Thus, if you've been breathing through your mouth due to allergy symptoms, it's wise to see your dentist to ensure you don't have any resulting issues that need treatment. By seeking treatment for your allergy symptoms, you'll be protecting your oral health going forward. For more information, contact Hart Dayton DMD or a similar dental professional.
Your symptoms may impinge on your sleep, leading to an array of other issues.
When you're stuffy and your eyes are red and itchy, you generally don't sleep well. The lack of sleep that results from untreated allergy symptoms can wreak havoc on your life. It can lead to trouble keeping up at work, and it can make you more susceptible to colds and the flu by weakening your immune system. Treat your allergy symptoms, and so many aspects of your life will improve – just because you'll be able to get better sleep.
What you think are allergy symptoms may in fact be caused by something more sinister.
Generally, people assume that cold-like symptoms that last for weeks or months and happen to appear around the time that pollen counts are high are caused by allergies. However, there's a chance that your symptoms appearing at this time is a coincidence. What if they're being caused by a more severe ailment, such as a bacterial or fungal infection of the respiratory system? The only way to know for sure that your symptoms are caused by allergies is to seek treatment from your doctor. He or she will make sure there's nothing more serious wrong with you and get you the treatment you need.
If you're suffering from what seems to be seasonal allergy symptoms, don't just wait them out. Talk to your doctor – and your dentist – to ensure you avoid long-lasting consequences of untreated allergies.
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