Hay Fever Hacks for the 21st Century

14May

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!

daniel-watson-8vBpYpTGo90-unsplash — Avoid freshly cut grass

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.

Nettle and Licorice tea Hayfever DSCN5251

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’.