First aid for allergies

In order to understand how first aid is provided to a patient with an allergy, it is necessary to understand what the main symptoms of typical allergic reactions are observed in an allergy sufferer.

When an allergen enters the body, there are two types of allergic reactions:

• fast, sharp, lasting for about fifteen minutes;
• slow, do not appear immediately, but, as a rule, within 24 hours.

With slow reactions, it is more difficult to identify the causes that caused them, and, naturally, it is more difficult to find the necessary medications to eliminate the effect of the allergen in the body. But delayed reactions take less severe forms and often do not pose a danger to life, unlike fast ones.

But acute forms of allergic reactions can cause the development of anphylactic shock, urticaria and Quincke's edema, and such a development of events can become very dangerous for the body, so the patient needs immediate first aid.

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Main types of allergic reactions

One of the most severe allergic conditions is Quincke's edema. Its danger is that swelling of the skin of the face and neck can lead to suffocation and death.

Symptoms of Quincke's edema:

• breathing becomes wheezy and difficult;
• the skin of the neck, face and limbs becomes covered with severe hyperemia;
• the patient suffers from severe headaches;
• swelling is accompanied by hoarseness of the voice;
• the skin turns blue and pale;
• the patient is suffering from fever.

Urticaria is slightly less dangerous than anaphylactic shock and Quincke's edema. It is caused by the same allergens. When the allergen cannot be determined, urticaria could well be caused by nervous disorders, stress, or anxiety. Then they practice taking sedatives based on natural herbs until the symptoms disappear.

Symptoms of urticaria:

• bright pink blisters appear, causing itching and burning;
• after two or three hours of blisters, they then become paler and disappear completely;
• fever and headache are observed in parallel;

Such a process can last or occur in periodic outbreaks for several days and in some cases even several months.

First aid for allergies

Naturally, your first action, if one of your loved ones has the above-described symptoms, should be to call an ambulance and call the doctors. Panic in this situation is unacceptable, you must ensure that the victim remains conscious until the doctors arrive.

Basic steps to take before the ambulance arrives

The patient should no longer come into contact with the allergen that caused the allergic reaction. If a person has been bitten by an insect, the poison must be removed from the wound, most likely by squeezing or sucking it out, and the faster the better. When the reaction is provoked by taking medications or food, a gag reflex is needed, a cleansing enema and gastric lavage will also help the patient. In situations where the allergy was caused by a smell, the best solution is to ventilate the room.

The first signs of allergic reactions should be eliminated with some antiallergic antihistamine medication: in such cases, suprastin, diazolin, fenkarol, telfast, loratadine, zyrtec, tavegil and many others are used.

The patient urgently needs a comfortable position: most likely, the victim should be laid down, provided with a pillow under the head or a small bolster - this will provide blood flow to the organs. In addition, it is important for the victim to ensure maximum air flow to the lungs. If you apply cold to the area of contact with the allergen, this will help slow down the immune reactions.

If breathing stops, the patient needs immediate artificial respiration.

If the heart stops, immediate indirect cardiac massage is required.

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First Aid for Food Allergies

The peculiarity of first aid for food allergies is that in order to eliminate the effect of the allergen on the victim, in addition to stopping the use of the product, it is also necessary to wash the stomach. In addition, you need to drink plenty of fluids - water, tea, alkaline mineral waters will do. A useful solution would be to take a sorbent, for example, activated carbon. It will help eliminate from the digestive tract and stomach those substances that caused allergic reactions.

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