Professor Cathy Jackson, University of Central Lancashire’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health and Campus Development, offers advice for sufferers
Now that the temperature is just a little bit warmer, many of us are looking to spending more time out of doors enjoying the many benefits that fresh air can bring. Not everyone looks forward to this time of year though, some see it as the beginning of a miserable few months of sneezes, itchy eyes and wheezing as the hay fever season is well and truly upon us.
The hay fever season is actually quite a long one and it depends on what plants people react to as to just when the symptoms might begin. Tree pollen actually appears a lot earlier than you might imagine with a number of trees actually flowering before they are in full leaf.
About a quarter of all hay fever sufferers react to tree pollen and for them the season begins in early March and goes through until late May depending on where in the country they live.
The majority of people though will react to either grass pollen or flower pollen and for them the season begins later, normally early May to late July or early August. Typically, sufferers will follow a similar pattern every year, which is helpful as it means that treatment can be timed well to drastically reduce symptoms.
Thankfully there are now many very useful ways of reducing the misery and most are available at low cost and to buy directly from a pharmacy, online or even at a supermarket without the need for a prescription.
"If you don’t know where to start or what to take, your local pharmacist can provide helpful advice to meet your particular needs"
— Professor Cathy Jackson, University of Central Lancashire’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health and Campus Development
The most important factor in reducing the misery is not to wait until the symptoms begin, but to start taking regular treatment before you expect them to happen, ideally six weeks before you would normally develop symptoms for best effect.
Treatments range from antihistamine tablets to nasal sprays and eye drops. Whichever you need, make sure you take them regularly, every day during your hay fever season to make sure you keep the misery away. If you don’t know where to start or what to take, your local pharmacist can provide helpful advice to meet your particular needs, especially if you are on any other medication or you need more than one form of treatment.
A very small number of sufferers who have used everything available from the pharmacist may need to seek further advice from a GP as to whether further medication, available only on prescription, might be needed. However, this is very unlikely if you are taking the other medications every day on a regular basis.
For some, the season appears to last all year round, this is then not true hay fever but is a condition called perennial rhinitis, which just means essentially a runny nose all year. The cause then is likely to be to something other than pollen, and most often it is due to house dust mite. The treatment remains much the same though and once again your local pharmacist will be able to provide very valuable advice.
Enjoy your summer and don’t let hay fever get in the way of making the most of the good weather and long daylight hours.