With spring well underway that means blossom, warmer weather and ALLERGIES.
For those living with hay fever spring can be most unwelcome as it brings with it uncomfortable and often debilitating symptoms from which there is little escape. Homeopathic treatment can offer you a natural alternative to over-the-counter medications which can often come with unpleasant side effects. I will be sharing with you remedies you can take to ease your symptoms right now and how a long-term approach to homeopathic treatment for hay fever can mean you no longer need to suffer each year. Safe, gentle, natural help is out there.
Hay fever is an allergic condition of the mucus membranes particularly the eyes, nose and air passages typically active during spring, summer and autumn. When you come into contact with a particular substance – pollens from grasses, trees, flowers for example – your immune system interprets these as allergens and responds by producing large amounts of histamine which leads to your body developing your hay fever symptoms.
Symptoms
Typical symptoms include: headache, inflammation of the eyes, nose and throat; difficult breathing with either dryness or production of mucus ranging in colour from clear to yellow to green and in varying consistencies. There can be light sensitivity, sneezing, coughing, tiredness, itching – the face, skin, nose, mouth palate etc. Mucus can be bland and non-irritating to feeling hot and burning which can leave the skin irritated and sore. And symptoms can range from mild to severely debilitating and very intense.
You may experience hay fever to certain “triggers” only – for example just tree pollen, or grass pollen. Or ALL pollens. In addition, you may be suffering with “allergic rhinitis” – this includes symptoms which may not be season specific and more ongoing. Allergen triggers may be house dust, feathers, pet dander, pesticides.
Hay fever – the deeper issue
From a homeopathic point of view hay fever is an indication of a highly sensitized immune system. Your immune system is on high alert ALL the time, and when it comes into contact with a particular allergen your body responds by producing histamine which is responsible for your symptoms. This doesn’t mean the immune sensitivity issue has gone away at other times, it means the particular allergen is not present, which explains why you have hay fever at certain times depending on contact with your “triggers”.
Other sensitivity issues
If you or your child is dealing with hay fever it may also mean you are also living with other signs of a sensitized immune system. Are you also experiencing eczema, asthma, food sensitivities? All of these are your body’s way of expressing the same sensitivity. Your eczema may improve when your asthma or hay fever gets worse and vice versa.
Homeopathy can help you “in-season”
Below you will find some of the most commonly used remedies to help ease the “active or in-season” symptoms of hay fever or ongoing allergic rhinitis. These remedies are a gentle and effective way to ease your symptoms.
Homeopathy can help you long term
To address the underlying reason why you have these symptoms is also possible with homeopathic treatment. It is possible to support your immune system during the non-hay fever months with constitutional treatment. You will find your symptoms ease the following season and improve again the season after that. With each hay fever season you will notice a lessening of symptoms. Depending on your health history and intensity of symptoms you may need ongoing treatment. The end result can be living symptom free and looking forward to the spring blossoms instead of dreading them.
Here are the remedies you need to have to hand to help your symptoms RIGHT NOW.
Read over the remedy description and see which fits your symptoms. There are hundreds of homeopathic remedies which may help you and your family, these are the most commonly prescribed remedies for hay fever. If these descriptions do not fit your individual symptoms please get in touch for an appointment where I can help you find the right remedy.
Allium Cepa
Nose & eyes stream. Acrid nasal discharge. Eye discharge will be BLAND.
Eyes – red, stinging and burning – will want to rub them. Photophobia, itching and swelling of lids
Nose – intense sneezing with increasing frequency. Nose will feel blocked with a nasally voice
Mouth & throat – dryness, tickling,
Lips & nostrils – sore due to acrid discharge
Headache with coryza (inflammation of the mucus membranes)
WORSE – warm room. Spring & August
BETTER – open air, cool room
Euphrasia
Profuse hot/burning discharge from eyes, which can be swollen and red. Frequent blinking, Yellow discharge from eyes
Bland runny discharge from the nose. Inner nose will feel sore and painful
Catarrhal headache
Asthmatic breathing
Cough will feel better for lying down
WORSE for the sun, evenings
BETTER for bathing, open air
Can also be used as an eye wash
Pulsatilla
Fluent yellow bland watery discharge from nose and eyes which may lead to infection
Intense itching and water of eyes which will feel better for cold applications. Eyes will feel sandy and gritty
Wheezing and coughing which will be worse when lying down
Nose blocked in the evening and flowing in the morning
Thirstless
Itching of palate
Better for cold applications to the face
Nux Vomica
Long bouts of sneezing, worse first thing in the morning
Nose stuffed up during the night and runny throughout the day
Nose, eyes, face and throat feel very irritated
Itching of the eyes, larynx and trachea
Generally, feel very irritable
Light sensitive and to the smell of flowers
Arsenicum Album
Airways will feel congested resulting in mouth breathing
Violent and painful sneezing with watery burning discharge. Sneezing does not relieve symptoms
Upper lip and nose will appear red
Burning nasal discharge and the nose will feel runny AND blocked up at the same time OR alternate.
Ulcers and scabs may form in the nose
Dull throbbing frontal headache
Photophobia – light sensitivity
Asthma type symptoms may come on also – asthmatic breathing
There will be restlessness, anxiety and symptoms will be worse at night (usually between 12-2am)
Nat Mur
Eyes streaming, feel sore and burning
Coughing brings on watering from eyes
Copius egg-white type mucus from the nose, with a feeling of obstruction
Loss of taste and smell
Copius sneezing
If prone, cold sores can develop on lips
Inflammation and obstruction can be worse in open air and wind
Sabadilla
Eyes AND nose will feel hot and look red. There may or may not be discharge
Lots of sneezing (especially) near flowers with prickly itching of the nose and pallet.
Copius watery discharge from nose and eyes
Frontal headache will feel severe – with fever, watery eyes in open air and on looking at a bright light, eyelids will be red
Dry mouth WITHOUT thirst
Muffled cough much worse lying down
Generally chilly with heat in the face but with a great sensitivity to cool air. Heaviness in the limbs
Great sensitivity to odors and surroundings.
How to take your remedy
Use 30c potency.
Take 1 dose (1 pill) and observe the symptoms. You can take up to 4 times per day. Stop taking the remedy as the symptoms start to improve.
If the symptoms are VERY intense and come up quickly take 1 dose and repeat hourly until symptoms start to improve.
If symptoms do not start to improve in 3-4 hours assess the symptoms and look for a new remedy.
If you are unsure between 2 remedies alternate these remedies and assess symptom progress.
You can also try
- When you have returned indoors from outside remove all your clothes, shower and wash your hair to remove any trace of pollen and put those clothes in the wash
- A simple addition of wearing a hat can often help to protect your eyes from pollen
- Remove high histamine foods and opt for a low histamine diet (also very helpful for very itchy eczema sufferers).
- HIGH histamine foods include: processed meat, fermented foods, dairy, yeast products, smoked foods, alcohol, gluten, wheat
- LOW histamine foods include: green leafy vegetables, cauliflower, lean protein, good fats – olive oil, coconut oil, hemp oil.
There are comprehensive lists available online. - Local honey. If you are lucky enough to be able to get hold of local honey not only is it usually much more tasty than shop bought, it is also beneficial for hayfever symptoms.
- Quercetin supplement. This is a bioflavnoid with anti-inflamatory, anti-oxidant and anti-histamine properties. Take with Vitamin C which enhances the body’s ability to utilise Quercetin.
