Hay Fever Symptoms

Hay fever was at first thought to be caused by exposure in the countryside to hay. Charles Blackley, was not convinced of this idea.. .and he was an English Doctor and liked to do his own experiments. In 1873 he sent experimental balloons high into the atmosphere to collect samples.

He proved that pollen is the problem. Hay fever then is really an allergy to pollen and is best caused “pollinosis“. The most common name for hay fever is “allergic rhinitis”, a name which focuses on the scientific word for the nose, rhino. The fact is that hay fever symptoms can appear in various parts of the body and not just in the nose.

The symptoms of hay fever are typical of allergy symptoms and include

• Eye symptoms – itchy, bloodshot, bleary or teary
• Nose Symptoms – blocked, itchy and running with a watery discharge
• Headaches – in the forehead region are common, likely caused by blockage and inflammation in the sinuses

Sneezing, coughing and a watery nose are the body’s way of trying to get rid of the irritating pollen particles and if you have asthma the high pollen season will make it worse.

Pollen Season

Trees, flowers and grasses release their pollen in the season that best suits their local climate and latitude. That’s why hay fever is also called seasonal allergy. Each season will have various pollen producing plants for example…

• January to April – tree pollens are released
• May to August – grass is growing strongly and releasing pollen
• Autumn / Fall – late flowering plants. In addition some fungi release spores and outdoor and even indoor mould / mold can trigger the same symptoms.

Pollen Count

Since hay fever is an allergy to pollen, hay fever symptoms are going to be worst when the amount of pollen is highest. Plants will release most pollen early in the morning and the pollen count is highest in the evening. Dry windy conditions encourage pollen to spread easily while showery weather washes pollen out of the atmosphere

Why This Doctor Tells us to Take Showers and Wear a Hat – but not at the same time…

What Else Can You Do to Reduce Hay Fever Hassle?

Elsewhere in this website I discussed the idea used by many Doctors who specialise in environmental issues, of Total Body Burden. Simply put this means that the body is doing all kinds of things already – coping with bacteria, viruses, pollution…and along comes an allergen on top of that adding to the total histamine level in the bloodstream.

Taking any part of the burden away will help the body cope and your symptoms may well reduce as a consequence.

This means that by reducing your exposure to dust your hay fever could reduce or even vanish; by reducing your consumption of allergy causing foods your hay fever could be milder or even vanish.

Reducing your exposure can mean avoiding places like lawns and gardens where you may get allergy triggers but you can focus on the home with air filters such as HEPA filters and doing as much as possible to keep the home dust free and pets out of bedrooms.

Treatment Options
Conventional drugs act to control symptoms and sometimes add their own symptoms. So many folks like to Natural Remedies instead. The simplest one to mention is vitamin C at the correct dose. Scientific studies have shown histamine control and reduction by taking one gram of vitamin C, so that seems a good dose to try. Check this out with a Nutritionally aware Doctor to get dosage for your unique circumstances.

And by all means read more about taking action to fix your Hay fever. I took action to fix my asthma and I suggest trying Natural Remedies to other folks wanting to live healthier, happier lives.