Resource | Allergies

Have you ever suffered from seasonal allergies like hayfever? 🤧 We have a video explaining all types of allergies, including the how and why, if you’re curious to learn more! You can watch it via the Auslan Resource Library on our website now.

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We consulted with the community about what kinds of information you would like access to, and have started publishing videos on topics like finance, government systems, technology and more.

Visual description of the thumbnail:
Title reads “Auslan Information Resource Hub: Allergies” and shows a person with curly hair signing the letter “A” as in allergies. It includes a note “Produced by Deaf Connect” and the background is a light, abstract pattern.

Transcript:
[Presenter is standing against a plain grey background and wearing a black professional shirt. On the right side of the screen, there are graphics relating to the topics being discussed.] This video has been produced to help guide you, in learning more about allergies. For some people they may never experience an allergy or allergic reaction. For others these can happen suddenly and severely affect their body. This is called an allergy.
There are different types of allergies, these include: hayfever, asthma, eczema, hives, and food allergies. Symptoms from an allergy can range from no pain, to severe. Severe reactions are very serious, they are known as anaphylaxis. This is a reaction where you are unable to breathe and have severe swelling. People can die from an anaphylactic reaction. An adrenaline autoinjector is needed in these situations to save someone’s life. If you were to have an anaphylactic reaction it is important afterwards to see your doctor or attend a hospital to receive a check up.
For minor allergic reactions there are effective treatments you can access to manage the reaction. The symptoms of an allergy vary, some of these include: swelling of the lips, face and eyes, sneezing, runny nose, irritation, redness or watering of the eyes, difficulty breathing or persistent coughing, swelling of the tongue or tightening of the throat, severe headache, rash, stomach cramps and pains – this is particular for insect allergies, and vomiting – also particular for insect allergies.
Common allergic reactions occur from: Food, including – seafood, eggs, fish, milk, different types of nuts – including tree nuts, soy products. Plants like grass, flowers and other things that contain pollen. Medicines, including prescription medicine like penicillin or over the counter medicine like aspirin or herbal supplements. Insects, like dust mites, venom from a bee or wasp sting, ticks and ants. Mould from consuming mushrooms or mould that grows on walls that is then inhaled. Animals from fur, or dander from cats and dogs. Chemicals, either industrial like acid, or household chemicals like bleach, kitchen or bathroom products. This also includes latex like latex gloves.
It is worth being mindful of others that might have allergies and ensuring they are kept safe and don’t have any symptoms of an allergic reaction. If you suspect you have a form of an allergy don’t test this yourself, please seek medical advice with your GP or at an allergy clinic. It is life threatening to test this yourself. The health professional will do a range of tests to assess if you have an allergy or not. These tests range from creams on your arm, different tapes on your arm to see which ones you react to, taking medication, eating certain foods, and blood tests. It is important you trust the medical professional in giving you their professional diagnosis, they will share treatment options if you were to have an allergic reaction. The doctor will know what is best for you.