Metro Lex News

As the spring season approaches, pet owners who suffer from seasonal allergies may be wondering if they are also allergic to their pets.

According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies. If your allergy symptoms worsen around pets, you probably have a pet allergy.

Dr. Daniel Mongiardo of Dr. Daniel Mongiardo Sleep & Sinus Center explained how allergy patients can determine specifically what they are allergic to.

"Allergy testing, a lot of times, will tell us what people are allergic to," Mongiardo told Metro Lex News. "And if we know what they're allergic to, we can come up with ways to try to avoid (those things)."

In the U.S., as many as 30% of people with allergies experience reactions to cats and dogs, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Suffering a reactoin to cats is about twice as common as suffering a reactoin from dogs.

Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science found that more than half of households have a dog, a cat or both.

Unfortunately for sufferers, the idea of "hypoallergenic pets" is a myth. Mayo Clinic reports that there is no true allergy-safe pet. Even hairless cats and dogs can trigger reactions. It would be more accurate to say that some people are more allergic to particular breeds of dogs or cat than other breeds.

A 2011 study by the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy concluded that the level of dog allergens found in homes with hypoallergenic dogs was no different than the level of dog allergens found in homes with other types of dogs.

In adults, chronic sinusitis most often is linked to nasal swelling, which can cause facial pain and is caused by allergens, according to Harvard Medical School.

If you're interested in evaluating your sinus or allergy symptoms and are considering seeing a doctor, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.