Hay fever linked to facial pain
Friday October 3rd, 2008
Researchers have found that children who suffer from hay fever are also more likely to experience headaches, facial pain and ear aches.
Improved treatment of hay fever and allergic reactions can help relieve a range of symptoms, which may include migraine and depression, researchers said.
A team led by Dr Jennifer Derebery of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, surveyed the parents of 500 children with hay fever and 504 without.
They discovered that children with hay fever had an increased rate of headaches - 55 per cent compared with 19 per cent of children without hay fever. The children were also more likely to have facial pain or pressure (29 per cent versus three per cent), and ear pain or pressure (23 per cent versus five per cent).
These other problems were described "moderately or extremely bothersome" by more than half of parents and older children.
The experts presented their results recently at the world's largest Ear, Nose and Throat meeting in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They explain that hay fever (or allergic rhinitis) is mainly caused by airborne particles of dust or plant pollens. Symptoms include congestion, runny noses, itchy eyes, and cough.
Analysing the findings, Dr Derebery and her team say: "The results of their study suggest facial symptoms associated with allergic rhinitis may be under-appreciated sources of discomfort for many children."
They add: "The failure to recognise these additional symptoms may reduce diagnoses and effective treatment of nasal allergies in children."
Dr Derebery has previously found that people with hay fever are more likely to suffer from conjunctivitis, ear infections, sinusitis, migraine and depression. She believes that better treatment of hay fever would reduce the other illness suffered by patients.
Derebery, M. J. et al. Facial Symptoms Related to Allergic Rhinitis in U.S. Children. Presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on September 21, 2008.
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