Sarah’s Health Notes: A-tish-ooo! It’s hay fever season again…
Watching my bulbs coming up is a joy: crocuses this week and also the buds on my magnolias (an old white stellata and two new pale pink Leonard Messel for keen gardening readers…) are just losing their suede jackets. But oh, dear! I know the delights of Spring also presage hay fever with a runny nose, stuffed up sinuses, tickly throat and itchy, watery eyes.
No mystery about the causes of seasonal allergic rhinitis, as it’s properly known. Pollen is the arch villain, in tandem with other airborne allergens like fungal spores – the fungi equivalent of seeds in plants – which also comes from mould in any form. (And with the deluges we’ve been having in the West Country, there’s a lot of mould about.) Some tree pollen is already peaking with more in March, before grass pollen starts causing problems from April to autumn. And don’t mention oil seed rape – I avoid those sunshine yellow fields like the plague.
Pollution makes everything worse – not so much a problem in the middle of the countryside but despite clean air zones still a major factor in urban environments. Not just for hay fever, of course, but also asthma and all respiratory conditions.
So… I’ve started on Aller-DMG, my trusted standby recommended by pharmacist Shabir Daya at Victoria Health for adults and children over 12. This natural remedy contains nutrients shown to help regulate histamine levels, improve breathing and influence the immune system not to over-react to allergens like pollen.
For all ages, Shabir recommends Triple Allergy Defense, a homeopathic remedy, which helps to combat all types of allergy including hay fever. (I’ve been a devotee of homeopathy all my life as my great-great grandfather Thomas Skinner was one of the pioneers in the 19th century. A conventional gynaecologist who had dissed homeopathy for years, he reversed his opposition after a homeopath cured his previously intractable digestive problems.)
Do keep a look out for the Met Office pollen forecast, which goes live in March – find it here.
All the usual advice applies for hay fever sufferers. I find the most useful are:
• Wear big, wrap around sunglasses: glam and effective
• Apply a thin layer of barrier jelly like HayMax round your nostrils
• Dig out your Covid masks and wear them in areas with high pollution, e.g. parks, fields, towns. If you are buying new ones, my top choice are Silver Life Face Coverings
• Treat yourself to local honey: the late allergy expert Professor Jonathan Brostoff recommended this many years ago and I take a therapeutic dose of a couple of teaspoons every day. It’s important that, if possible, the honey is produced locally as it may help to counter local allergens. Some people find Manuka honey helps too.
