There are hundreds of allergens that can trigger allergic reactions, including the most common: plant foods, medicine, pollen, household dust, animal dander, mold, and insect stings. Generally, the skin, nose, sinuses, eyes, throat and lungs are most often affected by an allergic reaction, but they can occur anywhere on or in the body.

Allergies can affect anyone of any age, gender or gender. While most often, they occur in children, adults can experience allergens for the first time later in life or have a recurrence of a pre-existing allergen. Some risk factors for allergies include: heredity, stress, hormones, smoke, fragrances or other environmental irritants.

The most common allergies include:

Food Allergies

Food Allergies are most common among children and affect up to 50 million Americans. Food that most often trigger an allergic reaction includes peanuts, shrimp, fish, eggs and milk. Some food allergies, such as peanuts, can lead to anaphylaxis and be life-threatening.

Environmental Allergies

This type of allergy includes airborn substances such as pollen from trees, grasses, weeds, dust, mold and animal dander. The best way to avoid having an environmental allergic reaction is to control your environment (like the amount of dust in your house) and limit the amount of exposure (for instance, how much are around dogs and cats).

Skin Allergies

Your skin that is commonly not covered – your hands, face and neck – come in contact each day with several different elements and toxins that can cause an allergic reaction. Hives, rash, swelling and itching are just a few of the symptoms experienced with an allergic skin reaction.

Allergic Rhinitis

Commonly known as hay fever, and has symptoms of nasal irritation or inflammation that result in itchy, runny nose, sneezing and stuffy nose because of congestion. More than 40 million Americans are affected by hay fever.

Stinging Insect Allergies

These allergies are less common than others, but roughly 5% of Americans suffer from severe allergic reactions due to the venom in bee stings, ant bites, mosquito bites, etc. Symptoms can include shortness of breath and severe swelling. If a person has a serious allergic reaction to an insect bite, seek treatment as it could be life-threatening.