Hay fever is a common allergy that causes sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes. You cannot cure it, but there are things you can do to help your symptoms, or medicines you can take to help.
Symptoms of hay fever include: sneezing and coughing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy, red or watery eyes, itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears, loss of smell, pain around the sides of your head and your forehead, headache, feeling tired.
Symptoms are usually worse between late March and September, especially when it's warm, humid and windy. This is when the pollen count is at its highest.
Hay fever can last for weeks or months, unlike a cold, which usually goes away after 1 to 2 weeks.
The days are getting longer, the sunny days are returning, it can mean only one time of the year – Exam Time and with it the dreaded “Exam Stress”. For many it can be the all-consuming Leaving Cert, for others end of year or college exams but either way the anxiety exams cause is upon us and our extended families once again.
When winter is finally over, nothing feels better than longer days and spending time outside in the warm spring sun, especially this year after enduring restrictions for what seems for ever. However, for some people it can mean the return of the dreaded Hayfever Season and an extended period of sneezing, puffy streaming eyes, and a runny nose.
So what is Hayfever? What symptoms are involved? How best can it be treated? And is there any way to enjoy summer walks in the park?
According to leading Irish medical experts, “Along with mask-wearing, hand-washing, social-distancing and cough etiquette, taking vitamin D supplements will give the Irish population a degree of protection against Covid19 while the vaccine is being rolled out"