I know it's difficult to believe when our low is 17 degrees tonight, but the season when yellow dust takes over Raleigh is almost upon us. So, today, a few words about spring allergies in kids. The first question: is that runny nose, sneeze and cough a cold or is it allergy? Remember that spring allergies are not common in kids under 18 months, so if your little one is really little, it may just be a cold. But in older children, red eyes, sneezing, itching, and runny nose as we enter late March and early April may well indicate spring allergies. Watch pollen counts on online weather reports, and remember to wash your child's face and hands, and maybe change their shirt, when they come home sneezing and itching after a high pollen day. The best medicines to try first would be cetirizine, loratadine, or fexofenadine syrups (generic names for Zyrtec, Claritin, and Allegra), because they don't make kids sleepy and last longer than Benadryl. For itchy eyes, we find Zaditor eye drops to be very helpful as well. If that's not enough, come and see us and we'll talk more about the next steps.

Happy spring,

Dr. Nechyba