Could Your Chronic Headaches Actually Be Allergy Related?

Could Your Chronic Headaches Actually Be Allergy Related?

Fresno and nature go hand in hand. From life near the Sierras to gorgeous city parks and walking trails, there’s loads to explore. Yet residents also experience the downside, including constant frustrations with heavy tree and grass pollen, dust from the area’s farms, orchards, and vineyards, and inversion layers that trap particles near the ground.

Despite the area’s beauty, many Fresno residents live with chronic allergies. For some, these allergies lead to headaches that don’t subside. Are you experiencing chronic, crushing, throbbing headache pain? You’re not alone, and it could easily be tied to your immune system’s response to allergens.

Why Fresno Allergies Are So Frustrating

Before we even dive into why you may experience chronic headaches with your seasonal or chronic allergies, you have to look at allergies themselves. Fresno’s specific geography presents challenges for anyone dealing with allergies.

Think of the Central Valley as a big fish bowl. You have the towering mountain peaks surrounding the valley. When it’s hot, or winter’s temperature inversions kick in, temperature differences trap fine particulates such as vehicle emissions, agricultural dust, and pollen near the ground. 

As the air quality index (AQI) worsens, you may experience difficulty breathing or worsening allergy symptoms. People with asthma may find themselves relying on their rescue inhaler more. Pollen counts also skyrocket.

• March to May: Cottonwood, Mulberry, Oak, and other tree pollens increase.
• June to August: Bermuda, Johnson, and other grass pollen levels increase, and the heat traps vehicle emissions and ozone closer to the ground.
• September to November: Agricultural dust increases with the harvesting season. Weed pollen, especially ragweed, also increases.
• December to February: Tule fog traps industrial pollution and fireplace and woodstove smoke nearer the ground. Plus, you spend more time inside, where dust mites and mold thrive.

Why Allergies Trigger Head Pain

Allergies are your immune system’s overreaction to an allergen. Instead of seeing something like a particle of pine dust as simply pollen, your immune system sees it as an invader and wages war. Inflammatory chemicals, specifically histamines, are released to flush out those invading particles.

A chain reaction happens next. The inflammation triggers blood vessel dilation, causing your mucus membranes to produce more mucus. That mucus fills the small sinus cavities, triggering sinus pressure, a common cause of allergy headaches, but there’s a second type of allergy headache, too.

Sinus Pressure

Everyone has eight sinus cavities in their head. They’re in pairs, with one on the left and the other on the right.

• Ethmoid Sinuses: Much smaller than the other sinus cavities and sit between your eyes against the top of the bridge of the nose
• Frontal Sinuses: Located above your nose, behind your forehead.
• Maxillary Sinuses: Next to your nostrils.
• Sphenoid Sinuses: Deeper in your head, behind the ethmoid sinuses.

When particles are suspected to enter your airways, the membrane in your sinuses releases mucus to flush them out. When inflammation from the histamine response sets in, the sinus membrane swells, blocking mucus drainage. That pressure creates the dull, chronic headache you’re feeling.

Trigeminal Nerve Headaches

As your body’s allergic response kicks in, the inflammation can impact the trigeminal nerve. This is the nerve that sends pain signals from your face to your brain. It creates an allergic migraine that’s more common in people who already experience migraines.

Sinus Headache vs. Migraine: Tips for Identifying What You Have

As the headache hits, how do you determine what type of headache you’re dealing with? Should you see your doctor for that headache? 

We feel that any chronic headache should be professionally diagnosed. One medical study found that migraines were misdiagnosed as sinus headaches 81.5% of the time. Knowing the differences can help you provide your allergist or primary care physician with the information needed to correctly determine the type of headache you have and find an effective treatment.

• Activity: Sinus headaches feel worse when you bend down or lie flat. Allergy-triggered migraine pain increases when doing something as simple as climbing stairs.
• Additional Symptoms: A sinus headache often accompanies thick mucus and a reduced sense of smell, while a migraine often accompanies nausea and sensitivity to noise and sunlight.
• Intensity: Migraine pain is throbbing and pounding, while sinus headaches are a dull ache with pressure.
• Pain Location: Sinus headache pain is primarily behind the eyes, across the foreheads, and in the cheeks. An allergy-triggered migraine is often focused on one side of the head.

There’s another issue that arises that can pose problems. Fresno’s soil is known for having a fungus (Coccidioides) that causes Valley Fever. Each year, hundreds of residents breathe in these spores and develop a fungal infection. Symptoms include chest pain, a dry cough, fatigue, and severe headaches. This is another reason to see a doctor to have your headache diagnosed.

How Fresno Residents Can Battle Headaches

When you’re dealing with chronic headaches tied to the AQI and allergens, the best defense is to make small changes to your daily routine and home environment.

Clean Your Indoor Air

Start your battle against allergy-related headaches and migraines at home. Keep your windows closed. Don’t allow pollen and agricultural dust to come inside.

Run a HEPA air purifier every day in key areas of your home, specifically your bedroom and main living area. When possible, use a filter with a MERV rating of 13 or higher. 

Change your air filters more often. Hold your filter up to the light and see if you can see through it. If not, it’s overdue for a change.

Don’t Bring Pollen and Dust Inside

Sticky pollen spores cling to your hair and clothing when you’re outside. Do everything possible to keep it outside. Change your clothing before entering your main living areas. Shower, wash or rinse your hair, and put your outdoor clothes in the wash. 

Shower at night to keep allergens from getting into your bedding and on your pillows. Once you’ve showered, use a saline nasal spray or nasal irrigation to flush allergens from your sinuses. You’ll go to bed breathing easier and lowering the risk of a nagging headache keeping you awake.

Take Medications as Directed

Ask your doctor if you’re safe to take over-the-counter allergy medications. Sometimes, they’re not advised for people with kidney disease or high blood pressure. If you can use them, you have a couple of OTC allergy medications to choose from.

• Decongestant Sprays: Nasal decongestant sprays offer rapid relief but aren’t designed for long-term use. If you keep using them for more than three days, you can end up with rebound swelling that worsens your headaches.
• Oral Antihistamines: These medications target the histamine response before it happens, stopping your sinus tissue from swelling.
• Steroid Nasal Sprays: These sprays reduce inflammation when sprayed into the nasal passages. They take time to build up and work effectively.

Prescription medications are another option. They are a good choice when OTC allergy medications no longer provide the relief they once did. You could also consider immunotherapy, such as allergy shots, which take longer to work effectively but can help control your allergies over time.

When to Schedule an Appointment With Our Allergist

When should you make an appointment with Dr. Sabry at Premium Allergy & Respiratory Center? If you’ve improved your indoor environment and find that OTC allergy medications are simply not working for you, it’s a good time to make an appointment.

After blood or skin-prick tests, Dr. Sabry identifies the exact allergens that trigger your inflammatory response. Once that information is known, immunotherapy can help gradually expose your immune system to small amounts of the allergen. This gradual exposure retrains your immune system to avoid an overreaction.

Nagging headaches don’t have to keep you from enjoying all that Fresno offers. Feed giraffes at Fresno Chaffee Zoo or spend the day with friends at Woodward Park. Chronic allergy headaches don’t have to limit your time outside anymore. Make an appointment with Premium Allergy today.