Understanding Child Environmental Allergy Symptoms

In the broadest sense, child environmental symptoms are caused by any type of allergen in the child's environment. Environment being part of the world the child lives in, environmental allergies can be those that are

• Outdoors
• Inside
• In school
• In the home
• Anywhere the child spends time

That's a lot of area to cover. But when child environmental allergy symptoms are present, each of those areas may need to be examined as harboring the allergens causing the reaction. It could be that all of those places harbor allergens harmful to the child.

While some descriptions of child environmental allergies are broadened to include pollen and seasonal outdoor allergies like hay fever, here the focus is on more chemical, pollutant, and artificial allergens found in the child's environment (be it home, school, or geographical). These are the substances that are being closely researched as child allergy and illness numbers increase-asthma has grown by more than 200% over the past two decades.

Many professionals do not characterize a lot of chemical and environmental child sensitivities as allergies; like food intolerances, many just do not fit the narrow definition of an allergy resulting from the production of the immune antibody immunoglobulin E, or IgE. There are a few names that child environmental allergy symptoms and reactions might be called; these include child environmental illness, sick building syndrome, chemical sensitivity, chemical intolerance, multiple chemical sensitivity, and others.

Semantics aside, if you are a parent with a child who is suffering some unknown reaction, you're going to want answers, and you're going to want to know what to eliminate to stop adverse reactions and environmental allergy symptoms in your child. Whether you call it a sensitivity, an illness, or an allergy, the first step toward relief is identifying the symptoms so that you and your child's doctor can develop a plan to manage them.

Environmental allergy symptoms in kids can look exactly like an allergy of a more typical variety. Child environmental allergy symptoms may include one or more of the following:

• Congestion
• Stuffy nose
• Sinus pressure
• Itchiness
• Sneezing
• Watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Skin rash
• Hives

Very commonly, child environmental allergy symptoms involve breathing problems such as asthma and systemic reactions, including eczema. But a number of other, less common child environmental allergy symptoms may be present as well. Other conditions that might be present and attributable to child environmental allergies include:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Light headedness or faintness
• Confusion
• Trouble concentrating
• Sore, irritated throat
• Difficulty with memory
• Muscle or joint pain
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Mood changes

When any of these symptoms are present parents and doctors need to search for the cause. Often, the search will start by eliminating the most obvious and most likely common child allergies first.

In addition, the search will need to focus on where the reactions are starting; this can be difficult if child environmental allergy symptoms are present most of the time, or if more than one location appears to bring on a reaction. The possibility of an inhalant or other allergen staying in the child's system or a common factor between locations needs to be explored.