Self-Diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis
Based on ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) guidelines — the globally accepted clinical standard for classifying allergic rhinitis by symptom duration (intermittent vs. persistent) and severity (mild vs. moderate-severe). Answer all questions honestly for an accurate result.
What Is Allergic Rhinitis? And Do You Have It?
Every morning it starts the same way: a sneeze. Then another. Then four more in quick succession before you've even opened your eyes properly. Your nose starts running before you've reached the bathroom. By the time you sit down for breakfast, you've already blown your nose six times and your eyes are itching.
If this happens most days, or every time there's dust, or every monsoon season without fail — you almost certainly have allergic rhinitis. Understanding exactly what type you have is the first step to treating it effectively.
What Is Allergic Rhinitis? Modern Medicine vs Ayurveda
How modern medicine defines it
Allergic rhinitis is IgE-mediated inflammation of the nasal mucosa triggered by an allergen. Your immune system misidentifies a harmless particle — dust mite, pollen grain, pet dander, mould spore — as a pathogen, produces IgE antibodies against it, and on the next encounter triggers a cascade of histamine release and inflammatory mediators.
Classic symptom complex: sneezing · watery discharge · nasal blockage · itching of nose, eyes and palateHow Ayurveda defines it
In Ayurveda, this same condition is called Pratishyaya — a disorder of the upper respiratory tract caused primarily by imbalance of Kapha and Vata doshas. The classical description in Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam maps remarkably closely onto the modern ARIA classification of allergic rhinitis, including its sub-types and severity stages.
Root cause: Kapha–Vata dosha imbalance triggering upper respiratory hypersensitivityAncient texts and modern science — remarkably aligned
The classical Ayurvedic description of Pratishyaya in texts over 2,000 years old maps onto the same sub-types and severity stages that the modern ARIA guidelines formalised in 2001. Two systems, one condition — and one effective path to treatment.
According to the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines, allergic rhinitis is classified by symptom duration (intermittent or persistent) and severity (mild or moderate-severe). Intermittent rhinitis involves symptoms for less than four days per week or four weeks, while persistent rhinitis lasts longer. Symptoms are considered mild if there is no impairment in daily activities, sleep, or school/work, and moderate-to-severe if any of these areas are impacted.
