If you are vulnerable to hay fever, you are probably very familiar with many of the symptoms – like repeated sneezing and coughing, a runny or blocked nose and itchy eyes and throat.
These symptoms tend to worsen during the warm, humid and windy period of late March to September, which is consequently often dubbed “hay fever season”. Sadly, hay fever can last for months at a time and has no cure – but you can act to alleviate its symptoms.
The DIY approach to treating hay fever
Pollen has been identified as the cause of hay fever since scientist Charles Blackley made this discovery in 1859. Today, 90% of hay fever sufferers are allergic to grass pollen, which reaches its highest concentrations from mid-May to July each year.
Therefore, one simple way of alleviating hay fever symptoms is staying indoors as much as possible. If you do need to go out, you should wear wraparound sunglasses to prevent pollen from entering your eyes – and, after you return home, it would be a good idea to shower and change your clothes, as pollen could otherwise be left on your body.
If you’ve got Vaseline, the NHS recommends putting this around your nostrils, as doing so could help you to trap the pollen. However, if your hay fever symptoms persist, you may need additional medical advice our pharmacists would be able to provide.
Discuss your hay fever symptoms with our pharmacists
Hay fever is easy to mistake for a cold. However, unlike a cold, hay fever is likely to evidence itself for longer than a couple of weeks, while – ironically, given the name – hay fever does not usually produce a fever. Hence, you should let us know what your symptoms are when you contact us.
Using this information, we could suggest a suitable remedy from the range of hay fever treatments we have available. For example, if you are over 18 and have nasal symptoms, we might advocate a nasal steroid, which would reduce inflammation in your nasal passage and possibly your eye area.
However, if you are blighted by itchy, watery or red eyes, we may also suggest mast cell stabilisers – or eye drops, to use the less scientific term. Oral antihistamines are another option for keeping pollen-induced allergic reactions at bay.
It’s easy to contact us for expert advice on hay fever medication, such as by phoning 01207 520 365 or emailing info@lanchesterpharmacy.co.uk.
