vasomotor rhinitis
Dear Ciara,
I am allergic to the cold. It is something that people struggle to understand, especially people I meet who are from or live in colder climates. "How could you possibly be allergic to the cold?" It isnât a known allergen in the way pollen or dander is, and I admit: theyâre technically not wrong. Iâm not literally allergic to the cold. However, I have come to learn in the last few years (after endless research) that I likely suffer from something called vasomotor rhinitis. Not that I necessarily condone self-diagnosis, but it is the most accurate diagnosis I have found that describes my symptoms.
Vasomotor rhinitis is a form of non-allergic rhinitis. The symptoms closely resemble hayfever; however, they are actually caused by hyperreactive blood vessels and nerves in the sinuses. Symptoms are triggered by environmental irritants or shifts in the autonomic nervous system. For me, my main triggers are the cold and dry air (lacking humidity).
A bit of context: having grown up down south, winters brought nighttime temperatures close to 0 degrees. All throughout my childhood and adolescence, I spent at least half the year (if not more) with a permanent sneeze, post-nasal drip and a bright red, puffy nose. My school friends would teasingly call me âRudolphâ as the external body of my nose was permanently red with irritation. My parents would scold me for rubbing my nose, but Godâit was always so itchy and sore! It caused them endless amounts of grief and money. Over the years, I was in and out of specialists, where I tried a variety of medication, trialled diets, and I even had my tonsils removed (although, that was also partly due to recurrent bouts of tonsillitis).
For most of my life, my sinuses where shredded. And then, in my adulthood, I moved north. I left temperate Greater Sydney with its cold winters and moved to Tropical Queensland, where for the most part, the temperature never descended below 16/17 degrees. For the first time in my life, my sinuses just stopped being sore. My nose stopped running. The endless warmth and high humidityâwith or without sunshineâsoothed the temperamental lining of my sinuses. It was this change in climate that prompted me to do my research, and I now believe that I was never allergic to anything at all; my sinuses are just prone to weather-induced irritation. Cold, dry weather causes the nerves and blood vessels to go haywire.
While there is no cure, some medications can help. I am lucky that I mostly donât need medication (unless Iâm travelling) due to my warm climate. Despite this, I am currently suffering with a bout of it. My new house doesnât have as much insulation as the last, so the unusually low nighttime temperatures weâve been experiencing are reviving my dormant âallergiesâ. I will be alrightâthe hot days eventually dissolve my symptomsâand I will make sure to rug up more at home over the next few weeks until this cold weather passes.
Regardless, I am grateful to finally have a theory as to why my body behaves the way it does. How an ENT specialist never managed to catch this, Iâll never knowâŚ
The song for today is:
Oya â Ibeyi
Iâd forgotten about this song, but it randomly came on the other day when I was listening to my library on shuffle. Itâs nice to revisit forgotten music; the nostalgia they evoke is always a delicious treat.
Love,
The Gardener