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Hayfever

Hay-fever pollen allergy causes:

Blocked nose:  from swelling of the nose lining and, more especially, nose turbinates, the soft ‘shelves’ inside the nasal cavity.

Sneezing:  as the nasal lining swells it becomes irritable and peppered with tiny blister-like swellings.

Runny nose:  the swollen and irritable nasal lining oozes clear mucus.

Sinus pain/congestion:  when the openings from nose to sinuses become blocked there is a pressure discomfort along the forehead and cheek bones.

Reduced sense of taste and smell: as the allergic challenge worsens increased swelling of the turbinates in the upper parts of the nose squeeze the nerve endings for taste and smell located there.  First to go is the awareness of smell.  Bizarrely bad smells fade first; you don’t notice the whiff off toilets but can appreciate perfume bouquets.  However, by the time you realise you’re not getting any smells your sense of taste is probably diminished.  The flavour for spice fades first.  As foods taste bland unwittingly you add more salt and pepper to flavour dishes.  You tolerate more chillies and spicy foods than others when dining.

Reduced hearing an intense itch in the ears and ear popping:  further swelling involves the back of the throat and Eustachian tube, a narrow channel that connects to the inner ear.

Cough, wheeze and shortness of breath:  as the nose and sinus inflammation irritates the lungs. 

Eyes redden, itch, water and swell:  as pollen grains attack the eye lining the skin underneath the lower eye lids fills with fluid making them puffy.  In severe hay-fever, especially with children, the lining of the eye can be damaged from constant rubbing to relieve the intense itch.  Sometimes the inner surface of the upper lids distort with what look like ‘cobble-stone’ bumps. 

Itchy mouth and throat or oral-allergy syndrome:  Some hay fever sufferers experience itch and swelling along the inside of the mouth, lips and tongue when they eat certain foods, especially fruit and vegetables, during the pollen season.  This is due to cross sensitivity of food proteins and some pollens.  For example if you’re allergic to birch tree pollen you may also react to celery, curry spices, raw tomato, raw carrot, apples, pears,  cherry, hazelnut, almond and kiwi fruit.  If you’re allergic to grass pollen you may react to oats, rye, wheat, kiwi fruit and raw tomato.  Ragweed pollen allergy may trigger symptoms when eating banana, cucumber, melon, zucchini/courgette, sunflower seeds, chamomile tea or Echinacea. 

If even 50% of these symptoms occur hay-fever sufferers feel exhausted and drained of all energy.

Hay-fever is usually a seasonal (mid-summer) problem but can start earlier and even drag on until late autumn.  Most sufferers are troubled with grass pollen only (10,000 pollen grains fit on the tip of a pin) but a significant number are troubled with a combination of tree and grass pollen allergy.  Their season starts in early spring with mild nasal irritation.  By the time the summer months arrive they are already compromised so that even small amounts of grass pollen can trigger quite aggressive hay-fever.  If the summer is especially warm and sunny with high surges of pollen, then those three to four months can be a write-off.  For those with the extra burden of mould spore allergy hay fever misery can drag on through the autumn/fall months.

Symptom summary:

• Sneezing

• Blocked and runny nose

• Sinus congestion with headaches, especially along the forehead

• Itchy, red and watery eyes

• Puffy eyes and lower eyelids

• Cough and occasional wheeze

• Ears popping with occasional hearing impairment

• Diminished senses of taste and smell (severe hay-fever sufferers)

• Itch along roof of mouth and back of throat when eating certain foods

• Feeling of intense lethargy

Self-help tips: 

• Download Hay Fever Relief app (www.hayfever-relief.com) and check your score every day throughout the pollen season and use the tips to stay well.  It’s a 3D interactive dramatic imagery concept that’s received wide praise.

• Avoid areas of lush grassland

• Keep house and car windows closed during peak pollen hours of late morning and late afternoon

• Wear wrap-around sunglasses to reduce pollen grains affecting the eyes

• If you can, avoid being outdoors late morning and late afternoon

• Don’t smoke and keep away from smokers (passive smoking aggravates all allergies)

• Get someone else to mow the lawn or wear a face mask if you have to cut the grass.

• Choose seaside breaks for holidays as off shore breezes blow pollen away

• Check TV, radio and newspapers for the next day’s pollen count and plan your schedule accordingly

• Put a smear of Vaseline inside each nostril to ease the soreness and to capture pollen entering the nasal passages.

• Never sleep with the bedroom window open.

• Don’t drive with the window open.

• Put used tea bags in the fridge.  They make great soothing compresses to relieve swollen or puffy eyes.

• Keep an antihistamine handy for sudden allergy attacks

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