How to Combat Hay Fever

As the pollen chart shows below, hay fever, or allergic rhinitis to use its proper name, can cause issues for people throughout the year, but now we’re in the height of summer that most people seem to suffer the most.

For some, the symptoms can be terrible, make you irritable, reduce your energy and affect your performance at tasks. Hay fever is caused by your immune system identifying the airborne matter as a harmful substance and then releasing chemical to try and ward off what it thinks is a dangerous substance; this then causes hay fever symptoms.

It is possible to develop hay fever at any age, but it usually begins during childhood or puberty and tends to be more common in boys. However, after adolescence, females are more likely to develop symptoms. Those with a family history of allergies, asthma, and eczema are also more likely to suffer, as are those exposed to cigarette smoke during the early years of their lives.

We’ve already looked at the role of the gut and allergies in our blog post ‘Allergies and the Gut’. However, for those that still struggle we have come up with range of ways to treat the symptoms. Here are some tips and tricks to help reduce your hay fever symptoms:

• Take Hay fever tablets. It’s worth trying different types with different ingredients to find which one works best for you.
• Use a nasal spray.
• Use eye drops.
• Put Vaseline around your nostrils; this can help trap the pollen before it enters your nose.
• Vacuum and clean the house regularly.
• Keep doors and windows shut when possible.
• Shower and change your clothes when you come in from the outside.
• Change your bed regularly.
• Wear sunglasses. Ones that wrap around your eyes are best at keeping pollen out.
• Avoid cutting and walking on grass if possible.
• Don’t keep fresh flowers in the house.
• Avoid being around smoke.
• Use an air filter if possible.

The above tips will generally help those with all but severe hay fever allergies. If you still suffer from bad symptoms, it’s worth talking to your doctor to look at other treatment options. Having a test to discover which pollens your allergic to can be helpful so that you’re aware of when peak season is for your allergies and allows you to pre-prepare.