Dealing with hay fever
RUNNY NOSE, ITCHY EYES, CONGESTION, SNEEZING, HEADACHE AND SINUS PRESSURE It can affect your performance at work and school and interfere with your life.
Unlike a cold, hay fever is not caused by a virus
Hay fever is an illness that causes cold-like signs and symptoms, such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, sneezing and headache and sinus pressure. But unlike a cold, hay fever is not caused by a virus.
Hay fever is caused by an allergic response to outdoor or indoor allergens, such as pollen, dust mites or tiny flecks of skin and saliva shed by cats, dogs and other animals with fur or feathers.
It can affect your performance at work or school and generally interfere with your life.
To manage it one has to learn to avoid triggers and find the right treatment. The best thing to do is lessen your exposure to allergens that cause your symptoms.
Take allergy medications before you’re exposed to allergens, as directed by your doctor.
SYMPTOMS Hay fever signs and symptoms can include:
Runny nose and nasal congestion. Watery, itchy, red eyes. Sneezing. Cough. Itchy nose, roof of mouth or throat. Swollen, blue-coloured skin under the eyes. Postnasal drip. Fatigue.
Signs and symptoms may start or worsen at a particular time of year. Triggers include:
Tree pollen, which is common in early spring.
Grass pollen, which is common in late spring and summer.
Ragweed pollen, which is common in fall.
Dust mites, cockroaches and dander from pets can occur yearround (perennial). Symptoms to indoor allergens might worsen in winter, when houses are closed up.
Spoors from indoor and outdoor fungi and moulds are considered both seasonal and perennial.
It may be difficult to tell whether you have common cold or hay fever since the signs and symptoms can be similar.
Hay fever normally presents with runny nose with thin, watery discharge and no fever. It begins immediately after exposure to allergens and lasts for as long as you are exposed to allergens.
Common cold on the other hand presents with a runny nose with watery or thick yellow discharge; body aches; low-grade fever, it starts one to three days after exposure to a cold virus and lasts three to seven days.
CAUSES
When you have hay fever, your immune system identifies a harmless airborne substance as harmful. Your immune system then produces antibodies to this harmless substance.
The next time you come in contact with the substance, these antibodies signal your immune system to release chemicals such as histamine into your bloodstream, which cause a reaction that leads to the signs and symptoms of hay fever.
RISK FACTORS The following factors can increase your risk of developing hay fever:
Exposure to secondary cigarette smoke in first year of life. Having other allergies or asthma. Having atopic dermatitis (eczema). Having a blood relative (such as a parent or sibling) with allergies or asthma. Living or working in an environment that constantly exposes you to allergens.
COMPLICATIONS Hay fever and the symptoms can lead to the following complications:
Reduced quality of life. Hay fever can interfere with your enjoyment of activities and cause you to be less productive.
Poor sleep/insomnia. The symptoms can keep you awake or make it hard to stay asleep, which can lead to fatigue and a general feeling of being unwell.
Worsening asthma. Hay fever can worsen signs and symptoms of asthma, such as coughing and wheezing.
Sinusitis. Prolonged sinus congestion due to hay fever may increase your susceptibility to sinusitis – an infection or inflammation of the membrane that lines the sinuses.
Ear infection. In children, hay fever often is a factor in middle ear infection (otitis media).