Child sneeze a lot after waking up from air-con room

Question

My child has a tendency of #sneezing a lot whenever she wakes up from an air-conditioned room (she can’t sleep in too hot place and her school also air-coned one). Every wake-up she uses up a lot of tissue paper to clean the runny nose. We see doctors and was told this is recurrent allergy rhinitis. They prescribed her some steroid nasal spray. When the spray is used her condition will improve. When spray used up, her condition will go back to same state. I’m wondering if anyone is trying out some at-home herbal solutions for more longer term remedies at home to help? Or recommendation of paediatrician who knows better on this?

Jan Samson · Answer

Hi mum, I went through something similar with my child also, especially those morning sneezing and runny nose when exposed to air-con. If doctor already diagnosed allergic rhinitis and the nasal spray helps, it usually means the inflammation is controlled only when medication is used, so stopping it will make symptoms come back quite easily. At home, what helped me a bit was reducing triggers like regular washing of bedsheets in hot water, using dust mite covers, and keeping the room temperature not too cold. For long term, I would honestly rely more on follow up with PD or ENT rather than herbal remedies, because allergies in kids tend to be more about control than cure, and the doctor can adjust treatment if needed.