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The Health Blog
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ALLERGIC REACTIONS: PHLEBITIS AND POST-NASAL DRIP
Phlebitis
Phlebitis is an inflammation of a vein or veins, usually in the legs, and it hurts like the dickens. In some cases, a tender, cordlike lump forms under the skin. When deeper veins are affected, a clot can form, blocking circulation and causing swelling and fluid retention. (At that point, the condition is known as thrombophlebitis.)
The pain and swelling make phlebitis very disabling. And the tendency to form clots makes it potentially life threatening – a clot that travels to the heart can cause a heart attack. Bed rest, anticoagulant drugs and sometimes surgery are standard medical treatment. Once the tendency towards phlebitis exists, however, the problem is apt to return. But for some people, a new approach may provide permanent relief.
A cardiovascular surgeon in Texas discovered that a number of his patients experienced total freedom from phlebitis when suspected allergies to environmental chemicals were diagnosed and controlled. William J. Rea, an associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, says the pain and swelling were so bad in these people that they couldn’t even walk across a room. Anticoagulants and bed rest did no good. All were suspected of being allergic, and were divided into two groups of ten each. Those in the control group continued standard therapy, while those in the experimental group (all of whom were live-in patients in Dr Rea’s allergen-free ‘environmental unit’ at the hospital) were tested for reactions to specific foods and chemicals. Tests revealed sensitivity to formaldehyde, phenol, chlorine, petroleum products and pesticides – all common household pollutants.
People in the experimental group were then told how to cut down their exposure to those items by making certain changes in their homes and, once their phlebitis cleared up, were sent home.
The chemical cleanup worked. Among all the people treated for chemical sensitivity, there were only two episodes of phlebitis over the next five years. In fact, not only could they all walk painlessly, but some of them could bicycle up to six miles at a clip!
In contrast, the people not treated for allergy suffered a total of 101 episodes of phlebitis and clotting, forty of which landed them back in the hospital.
Dr Rea credits the home oasis for continued relief in the treated group.
‘In spite of being constantly exposed to higher pollution . . . on the job and … in society, it was clear that if the patients would have at least ten hours in their less-polluted oasis at home they could remain phlebitis free,’ he says. The patients in the control group continued to be miserable and did not function well. They developed a chronically ill attitude . . . looked on life as hopeless . . . and lay around their homes and did little constructive work.’
Dr Rea is convinced that phlebitis is environmentally induced (or aggravated) in some individuals, and he speculates that irritation of blood vessels and clot formation are just two more possible manifestations of chemical sensitivity.
When that same mechanism affects the small capillaries, people may bruise easily or spontaneously. When the coronary arteries are affected, heart spasms may result.
Post-nasal drip
Do you clear your throat constantly? Think carefully. You may not even be aware that you’re doing it. Throat clearing is an involuntary attempt to clear away mucus that’s dripping down into your throat from the inside of your nose. Nasal or sinus congestion is the usual problem; when mucus can’t flow freely out the front, it’s forced to detour.
Post-nasal drip is often caused by allergies. But it can also be provoked by related irritants – such as cold weather, spicy food, odours, fumes, cigarette smoke and even anxiety and other strong emotional reactions.
Aside from steering clear of those triggers when you can, you can also exercise to clear up post-nasal drip. By stimulating mucus flow in the nose, exercise unclogs the congestion that forces secretions to trickle down the throat.
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