Hay fever Ihu pāwera

When pollen comes into contact with the wet surfaces of your body (eyes, nose, and mouth), your body recognises it as being foreign.

In most people, the body ignores the pollen, but sometimes the body releases chemicals, one of which is called histamine. This causes:

• inflammation
• swelling
• itching
• redness of the nose and eyes.

Symptoms of hay fever include:

• a runny or blocked nose
• sneezing
• itchy, red or watery eyes
• itchy throat.

Most people develop hay fever in childhood, but it can also start when you are an adult.

Although not serious, hay fever can impact your quality of life by making it hard for you to sleep, concentrate at school or work or enjoy being outside.

If symptoms are not seasonal and occur all year round, even in the winter months (perennial allergic rhinitis), you may have an allergy to house dust mites or to pets (animal dander).

Good preparation and treatment can help. This is particularly important if you also suffer from asthma. Hay fever symptoms can make your asthma worse (80% of people with asthma also have hay fever).

Asthma

It is important to prepare early for hay fever season by starting treatment 2 or 3 weeks before the season begins.

Common treatments include:

• antihistamine tablets and nasal sprays
• corticosteroid nasal sprays
• decongestant nasal sprays (for short-term use)
• eye drops.

You may need to use a combination of these treatments daily to keep your symptoms under control. Steroid injections are not recommended for managing hay fever because the potential risks outweigh the benefits.

Desensitisation treatments, known as allergen immunotherapy, are sometimes used for severe hay fever that will not clear up using other treatments.

Pollens

• Consider staying inside when pollen counts are high, such as in the morning, on windy days and after thunderstorms.
• Splash your eyes with cold water or shower after any activities that expose you to a lot of pollen.
• Avoid mowing lawns, raking leaves and open compost bins.
• Avoid drying your washing outside, especially before 10am when pollen counts are higher.
• Wash your hair before bed so any pollen on it does not get transferred to your pillow.

Daily pollen forecast information for your area is available on the MetService website.

MetServiceexternal link

Pets

• Ideally, do not have a pet.
• If you do, keep your pet outdoors and out of bedrooms.
• Wash them regularly with water or wipe with a damp microfibre cloth, especially if they have been outside in pollen season.
• Wash your hands after touching your pet.
• Keep your house well ventilated.

Dust mites

• Keep your house well ventilated to avoid a build-up of moist air inside the house. House dust mites thrive in damp conditions.
• Wash sheets, pillow cases and other bedding once a week in hot water to kill house dust mites and wash the allergen away. If you can only do warm or cold washes, add a little tea tree oil to the wash or put the washed, dried sheets in a hot tumble dryer for 10 minutes.
• Choose vinyl or leather furnishings rather than soft covers.
• Cover mattresses, duvets and pillows with dust mite covers.
• Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA air filter, or if possible, get someone else to do the vacuuming.
• Dust with a damp cloth.
• Wash soft toys regularly in hot water or put them in the freezer for 1 or 2 days.