Hay Fever Symptoms & Alternative Treatment
What is Hay Fever?
Hay fever is a common allergic reaction which occurs at particular times of the year. It is known as seasonal rhinitis, sharing symptoms with perennial (year round) allergic rhinitis, but occurring as a reaction to pollen from grass, trees and weeds during the early spring and summer months. It can affect both adults and children.
What Causes Hay Fever?
It is caused when the body makes allergic antibodies (IgE) to certain substances, such as pollen, house dust mites or mould, which are known as allergens.
Grass pollen is the most common allergen (May to July), but tree (February to June) and weed (June to September) pollens can also cause the allergic reaction we know as hay fever. In perennial allergic rhinitis the symptoms continue all year round and usually relate to indoor allergens, such as house dust mites, pets, including birds, or moulds.
What Are Hay Fever Symptoms?
Itchy eyes/ throat
Sneezing, blocked/runny nose
Watering, red eyes (allergic conjunctivitis)
Headaches, blocked sinuses
Shortness of breath
Tiredness
The sensation of mucus running down the back of the throat, which can also be a symptom, is called ‘post-nasal drip’. These symptoms may become more severe when the pollen count is high.
What Hay Fever Medications Could I Use?
The treatments prescribed for allergy control the symptoms and reactions; they do not cure the condition. Find out more about treatments from our fact-sheet.
Antihistamines are probably the best known type of allergy medication, and most are readily available from a pharmacy without prescription. However, there are a number of different types of antihistamines; some have been used for many years, some are improvements on old drugs, and new antihistamines are being developed all the time. While antihistamines used to have a reputation for making people drowsy, more modern antihistamines only occasionally have those side effects. These can be used on their own for mild hay fever or in combination with an intranasal steroid spray for moderate to severe symptoms
How Do I Manage Hay Fever?
These unpleasant and sometimes debilitating symptoms can be relieved by avoidance of the allergic triggers and the use of antihistamines. Find our 3 top tips below:
Monitor pollen forecasts daily and stay indoors wherever possible when the count is high (generally on warmer, dry days). Rain washes pollen from the air so counts should be lower on cooler, wet days on high pollen days, shower and wash your hair after arriving home and change your clothing, avoid drying washing on a clothes-line outside when pollen counts are high. Apply an effective allergen barrier balm around the edge of each nostril to trap or block pollen’s and other allergens and help prevent a reaction.
How can Salt Therapy support Hay Fever Symptoms?
Hay fever is one of the most common allergies affecting people. It can cause a lot of discomfort through running nose, watery/itchy eyes, coughs and blocked sinuses. Salt therapy can effectively help reduce these symptoms.
Salt's anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, mucolytic effects help target symptoms of hay fever and reducing the impact on the patient.
By reducing inflammation, salt helps the patient to breathe more easily and to reduce the discomfort of swelling (e.g. itchy eyes)
Salt helps to lower IgE levels, which helps the patient build up their natural resistance to hay fever
Reduce dependency on antihistamines and/or other drugs used to treat hay fever
One of our clients who suffers with Hay Fever in Birmingham wanted some additional support and treatments to help ease there symptoms this is what they had to say
““I work as a golf professional and spend a lot of time outdoors. I suffered with severe hay fever through certain times of the year which made my work virtually impossible at times.
It was also impacting on my family life as I never enjoyed going outside in the summer for fear of an attack. My eyes and nose would stream, I would have constant sneezing fits and get pressure headaches. I tried every hay fever solution that was recommended to me but nothing worked.
I resigned myself to the fact that this was just something that I was going to have to put up with. That’s when I heard about Halo Salt Centre after the very first session, I experienced a noticeable improvement. I didn’t have a single attack in that first week and I could breathe again. I then signed up for a course of treatment and I have not had a bad day since.
I started off by going to Halo Salt Centre in the West Midlands twice per week initially to build up a tolerance and I have now managed to bring that down to once per week.
I can now work without the worry of having an attack and enjoy going outdoors with my family on a sunny day. To say that salt therapy has changed my life is no exaggeration.
Thank you.”
”
If you suffer from Hay Fever and want to try an alternative treatment to help relieve your symptoms book yourself in for your first FREE session if you haven't used us before