What you need to know--medications for rhinitis--uses and abuses.

Giving medications is only one of several options in the management of rhinitis. Before deciding on the most appropriate medication to prescribe, you will first have to determine the cause of rhinitis: allergic, non-allergic, infectious, occupational, hormonal or drug induced. After that, you decide if there are any non-drug and non surgical methods that may be used to alleviate the symptoms. For example, if a patient is allergic to house dust mite, or cat’s dander, he should be encouraged to clean up his bedroom environment or to keep the cat out of the bedroom. Besides avoidance and environmental control measures, there is also surgery, immunotherapy and neutralisation therapy to help in resolving the patient’s symptoms.