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How to better manage, deal with and live with hay fever!
Hay fever for many people is an outright nightmare every year. Hay fever is also known as allergic rhinitis and millions of people around the world are affected by it.
Hay fever is caused by an immune system reaction to the airborne allergens which comes from grass, weeds and trees. You may know it as pollen. The symptoms that sufferers suffer, range from very uncomfortable and disruptive to extreme sneezing, nasal congestion, dripping runny nose, running eyes, itchy eyes, throat irritation and then fatigue.
Suffering hay fever is not life threatening but it can ruin and destroy your daily lifestyle, your work and sleep quality. Because it’s a persistent and relentless barrage of symptoms. Better understanding on how to manage and live with it can make a big difference in your everyday comfort and overall well-being,
The most commonest question asked about hay fever is, can it be permanently cured? For many it cannot be permanently cured, but it can be very well managed and improved significantly. And the first steps are in identifying the specific triggers that you suffer from as each person will suffer the same, as migraine triggers. What triggers one person will not trigger another and so on.
It’s important to understand what pollen is. Please do your research on pollen and understand that pollen levels vary by seasons and specifically in locations. Different locations will have different effects, so keeping a track on where your symptoms fire up will definitely help you determine what types of pollen are responsible for your reactions and symptoms.
You might want to first check out some Facebook groups in your area regarding hay fever sufferers and people gathering information on their location, what to avoid and places to avoid.
The pollen that comes from trees is common in spring. And the pollen that comes from grass in late spring to early summer. And even weed pollen in late summer and early autumn have different effects. Additionally for some sufferers, and this doesn’t apply to everyone, dust mites, pet dander and mould can make symptoms worse. So, knowing your triggers allows you to plan your day better by reducing the contamination and your exposure to the nasties.
Hay fever sufferers don’t need to be told or advised to stay indoors as much as possible during mid-morning and early evening when pollen counts can be at their worst. But by keeping your windows closed in your home and car and obtaining an air conditioner with regularly cleaned filters will all help and reduce the amount of pollen entering your homes space, where you relax.
A lot of sufferers wear sunglasses when they’re outside, so if you don’t do that, you might want to consider obtaining a set to protect your eyes, also changing your clothes more regularly and showering after spending some time outside. Which helps to reduce the pollen from hanging around on your skin, on your body and clothes and then subsequently landing in your room space.
Over the counter medications from your chemist can be effective for many for controlling hay fever symptoms. Antihistamines reduces sneezing and itching, also a runny nose by slowing down or blocking the effect of the histamine which is the chemical that actually triggers your allergic reactions.
Make sure if you’re buying over the counter medications that you obtain non drowsy versions for daytime use, also nasal sprays can be used to reduce inflammation up your nose and eye drops can be used for allergies which can alleviate the itching and the wateriness forming in your eyes.
Other people who suffer hay fever on the extreme end of the spectrum, might need to see health care professionals to provide prescription medications which include stronger antihistamines called leukotriene receptor antagonists along with a combination of other treatments, that may also be recommended. You can also obtain certain tablets, discuss it with your doctor and these pills can reduce the sensitivity to specific allergens. But that can take time as adaption would be required as this approach requires ongoing commitments but it can provide long term relief and reduce the reliance on your daily medications.
Consult your GP first before making any changes or purchasing any medication as this article is just information to those who are new to suffering hay fever symptoms.
You might also want to look at all the theories and ideas on YouTube videos and check out Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches or complementary and alternative approaches, you might be surprised. Also look at your diet and whatever else that could be lowering or weakening your immune system as anything you can put into your body to give you the best, most powerful immune system. High quality food and removing or reducing unhealthy processed foods would really make a difference in boosting your immune system.
I’m not saying it will stop the hay fever. I’m saying it will make your immune system stronger in handling the symptoms and then the psychological and the mental effect that it has on you. Let’s be honest, how many sufferers of hay fever haven’t burst into tears with frustration and even despair, having to put up with this every day. Boosting your immune system with a high-quality diet and also removing anything else that is not healthy to you.
A diet which is really rich in antioxidants and quality vitamins and minerals will also strengthen your immune system, preferably through food as opposed to synthetic or tablet form.
Lots of quality fresh salads and fruits. And foods which are high in Omega 3 fatty acids all have anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce allergic responses. You also might want to look at drinking large amounts of juiced watermelon to provide adequate hydration as this helps keep nasal passages moist and the body and running correctly. At a cellular level. most people do suffer from dehydration and the one food that hydrates you and helps your nervous system is watermelon.
Whilst I’ve veered off into a diet, I can’t stress enough how the quality of a diet can make all the difference by improving your immune system. Only when people suffer symptoms do they realise that all the junk food eating and no healthy food really is making people ill.
Also, regular exercise can improve your health and immune system. Although you may not want to go out running, which in itself is a contradiction of the advice being given. You can purchase a treadmill and run indoors.
By joining a Facebook group in your area, you may be able to better monitor the pollen forecasts and the things that other people have found out that you don’t know about can be little gems in building effective strategies around Improving your reactions.
Bearing all this in mind, it’s important to keep a symptom diary and you’ll start to see a pattern where you were worse on Tuesday and then again you were worse on Saturday, but you were OK-ish the other days. Then two weeks later you were worse again on Tuesday and then worse again on Saturday. And then you’ll see what you did on Tuesday and Saturday or where you went. And you’ll notice connections to other things.
Better home ventilation and air conditioning with plenty of quality filters to reduce the presence of the airborne nasties, pollen and dust indoors.
I can tell you now from years of experience as a therapist. Stress management is also essential. Whatever you want to define as stress, any negativity can influence hay fever symptoms. I’m not saying it directly, I’m saying it in an indirect way and high stress levels where cortisol is in your blood or worry or anger floating around your body and mind will worsen allergic reactions and make symptoms either worse or feel more severe.
Whether it’s feeling it, believing it or physiologically experiencing it, boils down to the same thing. So, anything that reduces stress levels. And this is the area, including diet that most people will overlook because they can’t see a connection. I am advising that there is a connection just check out the YouTube videos from people reporting their success they’re having by doing things differently and by looking at complementary and alternative approaches also.
Listening to other people’s successes in videos will give you ideas, that often do work!
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