Much and all as most of us love Spring, for some of us, it marks the arrival of the dreaded hayfever.  Over Winter much media attention was focussed on the negative impact of colds, influenza and the resultant ambulance ramping.  Hayfever doesn’t ever seem to attract the same media attention yet it is as negatively impactful in many ways.  The number of “sick days” experienced, particularly in our little corner of the World, is actually higher than that seen from colds and flu’s during Winter.  So, the impact is quite significant. 

In researching the latest on Hayfever to train our staff I’ve noticed a few improvements to the treatment guidelines that may provide better relief to sufferers.  I’ve made a few notes below that may assist in relieving hayfever symptoms:

• Steroid style nasal sprays can be up to 30% more effective in controlling hay fever symptoms than antihistamine tablets.  If you’ve not considered using this type of nasal spray to treat hayfever it may be worth considering.
• Using an antihistamine nasal spray in conjunction with a steroid nasal spray can provide faster and more effective hayfever control.  There is now a combination version of this available over the counter so please have a chat to one of our pharmacists.
• Antihistamine tablets, whilst being a very good treatment option, may not provide adequate relief when used alone for up to 1 out every 3 hayfever suffers.  There is a relatively new antihistamine on the market that has been found to be more effective in the most recent research. We can add in additional treatments to make them more effective
•  Ethical Nutrients Sinus and Hayfever relief is a medically proven natural supplement that can help prevent and control hay fever symptoms.  It is a useful alternative or additional treatment.
• Rinsing the nasal passages with a normal saline rinse twice daily during allergy season can reduce symptoms by up to 30%.  Doing this can also make steroid style nasal sprays work much more effectively.

As always, if you would like to know more about hayfever please speak with one of our pharmacists.