9 Simple Ways to Stop Hay Fever From Ruining Spring

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The sun is shining, flowers are blooming—and your nose won’t stop running. You’re not alone.
About 400 million people worldwide suffer from allergic rhinitis, a condition in which the nasal passages become irritated by environmental allergens, especially pollen. When this condition happens seasonally, it’s called hay fever, or pollinosis.
Recent shifts in the climate have increased the number of people with hay fever and made symptoms worse, the BBC reports. As a result, researchers are developing more effective treatments.
Here are 9 tips for reducing the misery of seasonal allergies.

1. Choose a nasal spray over pills

For treating hay fever, oral pills are less effective. Like all oral medicines, they get digested and distributed throughout the body, which limits the amount of drug that actually reaches nasal tissue.
Nasal sprays are a different story. They deliver medication right where it’s needed and, unlike oral drugs, act directly on inflammation. That’s why doctors often recommend nasal sprays as a first-line therapy.
Experts say the most effective option in the past decade has been a combination spray that includes both corticosteroids and antihistamines.
Nasal sprays usually relieve eye symptoms. But if eye symptoms persist, you can use eye drops that contain olopatadine, says Stephen Durham, emeritus professor of allergy and respiratory medicine at Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital.

2. Skip nasal decongestant sprays

Decongestant sprays that contain oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, or xylometazoline constrict blood vessels and reduce the volume of nasal tissue. But after more than five days of use, those blood vessels can become dependent on the drugs, and if you stop using the spray the vessels rebound and swell excessively.
That rebound causes even worse nasal congestion. A patient who doesn’t recognize what’s happening can get stuck in a vicious cycle and start using more of the spray. There’s even a risk of damaging nasal tissue and developing dependence.

3. Use second‑generation oral antihistamines

That means second‑generation drugs such as cetirizine, loratadine, or fexofenadine. They work better and cause less drowsiness than first‑generation antihistamines.
You might be tempted to take an oral antihistamine and use a nasal spray at the same time. But that’s wasteful, says Glenis Scadding, vice president of the allergy research nonprofit Euforea.

4. Start treatment before allergy season begins

Don’t wait for symptoms to appear before you start a nasal spray. Begin using it a few weeks before the season starts.
A recent study found that hay fever patients who began intranasal corticosteroids four weeks before the pollen season had better outcomes than those who started the spray after symptoms appeared.

5. Use the spray even when you have no symptoms

“When people say treatments aren’t working, they either use the medicines incorrectly or use them irregularly,” Durham says.
Use the medication every day at the same time, regardless of symptoms. Follow the dosing instructions.

6. Learn the correct way to use nasal sprays

Even if you choose an effective spray, many people apply it incorrectly.

• Common wrong approach: you push the bottle as far as possible into your nostril, tilt your head back, spray, and then inhale. That sends the medicine to the back of your throat instead of into the nose.
• Correct approach: insert the nozzle into your nostril about 6 mm, tilt your head slightly forward, and spray, trying not to sniff. This method lets the drug reach the areas where it works best.

7. Learn the correct way to use eye drops

Many people tilt their head back and try to drop medicine directly into the eye. That often backfires: instead of spreading evenly, the drops run out immediately.
Experts Scadding and Durham recommend tilting your head to the side, putting one or two drops (as prescribed) into the inner corner of the eye, and then blinking. The medicine will then spread evenly.

8. Reduce exposure to allergy triggers

Minimize contact with potential allergens that tend to stick to your hair and face. Those allergens not only keep irritating your skin but also get transferred to furniture and bedding. So:

• Keep windows closed.
• Wear sunglasses or a mask when you go outside.
• Wash thoroughly after being outdoors (ideally, take a shower).
• Dry laundry indoors.
• Use an air purifier.

9. Don’t put off seeing a doctor

Many people treat hay fever as a routine spring nuisance. That attitude is careless, because pollinosis affects the respiratory system, sleep, and overall quality of life.
“Hay fever is often dismissed as ‘just a runny nose.’ But if you suffer from it even three months a year, it’s serious,” warns Barry Cohen, a pediatric allergist from New Jersey (USA).
Start by seeing your family doctor. In some cases the issue may not be hay fever at all but asthma or another respiratory condition. If that’s ruled out, see an allergist.

Photo: Openverse, Unsplash