Hay Fever
Hay fever affects many of our patients every year. The effectiveness of treatments can depend on when they are started in relation to when you normally experience symptoms and the types of pollen you are sensitive to.
Tree pollen – late March – mid-May
Grass pollen – mid-May – July
Weed pollen – late June – September
It is recommended for adults and over 12s, to start using a nasal steroid at least two weeks before you would typically expect symptoms. To ensure you are using the right technique, see this video – https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/living-with/inhaler-videos/nasal-spray.
When pollen levels are high/very high it is often difficult to achieve satisfactory control of hay fever symptoms. The mainstay of treatment for hay fever is a combination of oral antihistamine, steroid nasal spray and anti-allergy eye drops. These are all items available from your community pharmacy and other retailers. As such, NHS England ask us not to prescribe these products for the treatment of hay fever.
Finding the right treatment for you is often trial and error. Please use the below to consider changing to an alternative product to what you are currently using. Allow at least two weeks to assess how effective the change in treatment has been. Evidence suggests that there is no antihistamine better than another, the effectiveness varies from person to person.
Oral antihistamines – loratadine, cetirizine, fexofenadine, acrivastine, chlorphenamine
Steroid nasal sprays (over 18s) – beclomethasone, fluticasone, mometasone
Anti-allergy eye drops – sodium cromoglicate
You should also try to stay indoors with windows and doors closed where possible, wash your hands and face when coming in from the outside and consider changing clothes. You can also use barrier products like Vaseline around your nose to block the pollen. Other products like sinus rinses and washes can also be helpful. Further information can be found at the websites below.
