Around two hundred years ago hay fever was unheard of, we didn’t need any hay fever hacks.
Hayfever is quite a modern allergy, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
In it’s ‘heyday’ (excuse the pun), you’d be smoking tobacco or inhaling deadly ammonia chloride to try and relieve your symptoms and it was thought to be an anglo-saxon derived condition.
A trip to the seaside for a dose of fresh sea air was also a popular remedy back in the day – while a tub of vaseline and packet of tissues is the more modern hay fever fix of today.
Hit by Hay Fever Symptoms
“Bless you”
“Your eyes look a bit red”
“Have you got a cold?”
Of all the things we love about summertime, hay fever certainly isn’t one of them.
I remember coming across a few UK news articles warning of a looming wave of intense hay fever symptoms that were on the way due to a mix of windy and humid weather.
In some ways, hay fever is worse than a cold – at least a cold usually makes sense and you know it’ll be over in a few days. Hay fever can be less predictable and more unbearable – when your throat and eyes are both itching and nothing brings relief – that’s torture 😷
For those who suffer badly with hay fever, I sympathise deeply, the red eyes and runny nose in the heat of summer is a real struggle.
Different remedies work for different people, but maybe some of the following tips might help!
Antihistamine Tablets
I’m not a fan of turning to drugs – unless nothing else seems to be working, but I guess sometimes quick relief is needed. Antihistamines are available over the counter and supposed to be handy for relieving a range of allergy symptoms.
Put a Curtain Up
It might help to have a tightly woven voile in your windows to catch pollen particles when you open the windows (rather than a more porous net curtain or nothing at all).
Dairy Products
Time and time again I keep coming across advice and recommendations to reduce dairy products, particularly cows milk/cheese, for all manner of illnesses, not to mention hay fever.
Don’t Peg It Out
Avoid hanging washing out to dry when the pollen count is high, check it on a weather forecast for your area.
Herbal Help
There are lots of websites all offering tips and tricks to deal with hay fever; a common herbal remedy seems to be nettles, which have anti-allergenic properties.
I’m guessing drinking nettle tea is the best way to get this into your system.
Liquorice tea is also said to be helpful and Olbas oil is a great natural decongestant that contains eucalyptus.
I also remember reading something about lavender essential oils…..
Wash it away
Have a shower, wash your face, hair and change your clothes immediately after you’ve been outdoors – wash the pollen off your person.
Vaseline
Rub some around the insides of your nostrils to catch pollen particles before they get any further up your nose and into your throat.
Natural beeswax will do the same thing – a bit more organic and complimentary to health.
Don’t Stress
Studies show that stress can make your allergies worse and highly stressed populations tend to suffer with more allergies, so chill, relax, breath and find your ‘happy place’.
Modern Therapies
Salt therapy is a new one to me – but apparently it’s pretty effective.
For readers in the UK, the Allergy & Free From Show takes place every year featuring lots of top allergy experts, it might be worth checking it out!
Good luck to us all over the coming weeks – tissues at the ready.
What are your 21st century tips and tricks for tackling hay fever – please do share below?
I’ve found wearing a facemask helps!
#hayfever
#hayfever Weleda have a natural remedy which my GP recommended
Starting eating locally produced honey as soon as the hay fever season starts!!
Find someone that sells locally produced honey (and I mean local) – it really does work.
put vaseline inside your nostril
#hayfever local honey and lemon drink also take your antihistamines early enough so in your system.
Vaseline under your nostrils
#Hayfever You can now buy allergy wipes which my husband has found really helpful this year.
#Hayfever A teaspoon of local honey every day through the year, helps lessen the attacks, if been outside chuck clothes straight into washing machine and have a shower
Antihistamine tablets work well for me 🙂
mine has got better the fitter I am. weirdly since i took up running, its not as bad.
Interesting article. Dairy free is good I believe but if you can’t manage that, goats milk can be better for people with allergies than cows milk
Put a bit of Vaseline under your nostrils to stop hayfever particles entering #hayfever
I put slices of cold cucumber from the fridge on my eyes and lay on my bed listening to soothing music which helps me relax while the cool cucumber soothes my sore eyes #hayfever
I put slices of cold cucumber from the fridge on my eyes and lay on my bed listening to soothing music which helps me relax while the cool cucumber soothes my sore eyes
Buy locally produced honey to build up immunity to local pollen
#hayfever I started drinking liquorice tea because I really like it, and I’ve realised that it’s also keeping my hayfever at bay. Win/win! x
Strong antihistamines from the doctor!
#hayfever eat local honey before hay fever season to build immunity to local pollen
#hayfever I find using antihistamines work for me.
keep your windows closed when the pollen count is high and vaseline under your nose can help
#hayfever an antihistamine tablet
#hayfever take a spoon of local honey daily
Putting a small amount of Vicks in each nostril is a great help.
Anti-histamines first thing and I wear sunglasses when outdoors.
The masks that we’ve been having to wear were a very good remedy in the fight against hay fever this time last year!
Local honey helps, take a couple of teaspoons a day & cucumber slices are very cooling on itchy eyes 😊
I have to resort to anti-histamines to try and control it, but local honey also helps.
#hayfever Beconase nasal spray twice a day! Honestly life changing!
#hayfever local honey for breakfast helps my hubby, but having a mask and using Vaseline too really works.
Chamomile tea
#hayfever I try not to dry bedding outside in case it picks up the pollen and I also eat local honey regularly as I’ve read it can ease hay fever symptoms.
#hayfever I always use over the counter antihistamines as they’re stronger than what is on the shelf. I’ve also been advised to occasionally change the active ingredient as your body gets used to the drugs. Also always wear sunglasses outside and put vaseline around your nostrils.
Start eating local honey well before the hayfever season starts. The more local the honey the better! It really does work for some people.
Vaseline round the nostrils #hayfever
little bit of vaseline at the end of your nose #hayfever
Applying a wee touch of Vaseline or similar helps me
Replace the car aircon pollen filter at the beginning of the season.
I use Beconase and Opticrom. #hayfever
I love to put cucumbers on my eyes before bed after having hayfever all day, although it doesnt rid me of hayfever it does relax my eyes and make them less puffy!
Best hay-fever remedy I’ve found is drinking a fresh fruit smoothie infused with local honey every morning when the pollen count is high #hayfeverhacks
I wash my & dry hair before I go to bed and change my pillowcase every day too because I noticed my hay fever got worse when I got into bed, it made a huge difference. Give your brushes and combs a wash too after brushing or combing pollen out of your hair or you’re just putting the pollen back in!
Hayfever Wipes have literally changed our lives! 🙂
#Hayfever
I find a spoonful of honey 🍯 each morning helps
I use hay fever wipes to remove pollen, but it comes back very quickly. I take anti-histermines to help ease symptoms and that seems to do the trick. #hayfever
Eating manuka honey seems to work!
#hayfever A teaspoon of Manuka Honey works wonders
A teaspon of manuka honey always works wonderful for me.
Steam inhalations
Getting a Hepa air filter really helps to clear the air in any room and remove pollen #hayfever
I have a friend who says eating local honey works for her.
Antihistamines help me and staying indoors when the pollen count is very high x
Always local honey,and start taking hayfever medicine,when the weather starts to get warmer,even if you have no symptoms yet
local honey.don’t hang washing out,on high pollen days,under nose barrier ointments
Antihistamines usually work well
#hayfever eat honey and use a saline spray
A few things worked for me as prevention such as……….
-Local honey
-Washing my hair every night
-Daily antihistamine in the morning and night during peak seasons.
Then when i’m having major trouble with itchy eyes I purchased an eye cool pack….absolute magic.
Local honey worked for me, although I couldn’t find any science behind it. #hayfever
#hayfever I run an air purifier by my bed for several hours before bedtime and it really helps – I don’t wake up with a runny nose even in peak hay fever season!
eat more citrus fruits which are natural antihistamine #hayfever
eat more citrus fruits which are natural antihistamine
I have been taking antihistamines for years and even had injections when I was younger which helped for a while, but now I don’t get it quite as bad as it was. I had a lot of time off work and used to stay indoors if the pollen count was high, it was like a very bad summer cold with the runny eyes, sneezing and sore throat – I try and buy local honey, coat my nostrils with Vaseline, wash my hair every day, change my clothes regularly, wash the sheets every day and take a couple of antihistamines every day if I feel any symptoms, but am always on the lookout at new pills and medicines on the market.
Keeping my hair tied back during the day and at night back seems to help as well, hair picks up a lot of pollen and dust from the air. #hayfever
Nose spray to coat the inside of the nostrils
Forgot to add #hayfever
I always do the vaseline trick! Sometimes nasal spray is really good to help clean out my airways and I will change clothes if I’ve been outside all day as I just end up continually sneezing otherwise.
vaseline around my nostrils
#Hayfever eat local honey
hay fever tablets are great!
Quite topical……wear a facemask! So far, I’ve not been hit by the dreaded hayfever 😮😮
I find hay fever tablets help
My mum wasn’t able to find anything that worked so looked at Chinese medicine. I wasn’t sure about it but it worked for her! #HayfeverHacks
Antihistamines tend to work for me, but when not I do us the Vaseline trick
vaseline around the nostrils works very well!
Green tea is great for hayfever sufferers, in the short term at least. Giving a break from meds.
Local honey works absolute wonders! It’s the only thing that has ever worked for me, as I get hay fever so severe it’s ruins my life. It has to be local though otherwise it won’t work! #HayfeverHacks
one a day tablets work for me
try and take a tablet when you wake up or after breakfast
wear a mask!
Drinking a ‘cleansing’ tea, such as peppermint.
Dose yourself up with anti-histamines!
I always try and take a hay fever tablet as soon as a wake up, or if I get up to the loo early morning, take one then to get a head start!
Take a cold and flu tablet as soon as you get up, it really helps me!
Thanks for the tips. I have always had horrible allergies and California had an incredibly wet winter so things are blooming like crazy. I will try the Vaseline. That’s new to me.
Fingers crossed for you, hope it doesn’t get too bad – if you find anything that seems to work well for you let me know 🔆😊 🌻
I have been diligently using Vaseline as you suggested and if nothing else, it is keeping the inside of my nose from being constantly raw and in pain. Yay!
Glad it’s helping – hayfever is torture!
Yep, I’m one of them! 🙁
Fingers crossed for a low pollen count!! 😷
👍