Epsom and St Helier doctors urge you to take care if you suffer from hay fever

As the pollen season gets into full swing and temperatures rise, the misery of hay fever begins for some people – prompting doctors at Epsom and St Helier hospitals to issue some advice and top tips for hay fever sufferers.

Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) is one of the most common forms of respiratory allergies. For many sufferers, it’s a harmless but unpleasant inconvenience. However, for others it can be more serious and cause a significant impairment to their home, school or work life.

Hay fever affects up to 30% of adults and 40% of children and for most people it means itchy eyes and ears, a runny nose, and uncontrollable sneezing. Other symptoms include:

Red and watery eyes which can sometimes be swollen
Facial itching and especially with sweating
Headache and earache
Loss of smell
Disturbed sleep and tiredness with impaired concentration at work or school.

Consultant Immunologist, Dr Amolak Bansal said: “The symptoms of hay fever can be truly unpleasant, but sadly are quite common. For hay fever sufferers who also have asthma, the symptoms can be more severe and can often lead to tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and wheezing and coughing. There are a number of things you can do to help lessen the symptoms, such as wearing wraparound glasses to keep pollen out of your eyes, drying bed linen indoors during the pollen season and keeping the windows closed if at all possible. Nasal air filters (an air filter designed to fit inside the nostrils to prevent nasal inhalation of allergens, pollutants, and irritants), applying Vaseline around your nostrils and using a cellulose based nasal spray can help.

“If you are feeling worse for wear then I would recommend speaking to your pharmacist. They can give advice and suggest the best treatments, like antihistamine tablets, anti-allergy eye drops and/or steroid nasal sprays. If your symptoms get worse or do not get better after taking medication from your local pharmacist, get in touch with your GP.”

For more information, please visit NHS Choices for more details: www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/.