[Allergic rhinitis--is allergen elimination a useful form of therapy?]

Therapy of allergic rhinitis consists of allergen avoidance, pharmacotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery or a combination. One aspect is the allergen avoidance. The present review discusses some topics and the usefulness of this simple and basic therapy basing on own experiences. When possible, environmental control measures for indoor allergens should be applied if their efficacy is not complete. They may generally improve the patient and reduce the need for pharmacologic treatment. Furthermore, even the allergen source such as a pet is removed from a patients environment, the benefit may take several weeks or month to be perceived. Mite avoidance can be attempted by several methods: reducing the amount of house dust, reducing indoor humidity, by use of miteproof covers and by the application of acaricides. It is more difficult to reduce exposure to pollen and outdoor allergens.