Pollen allergy nose clips help against hay fever

Small filter on the nose reduces symptoms by more than 50 percent
As temperatures rise, millions of people suffer from a pollen allergy, as every year. Often, the typical symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing and red eyes can be alleviated by proven home remedies for hay fever or medications. However, antihistamines can sometimes also lead to unpleasant side effects such as severe tiredness, headaches or dizziness. A newly developed "nose filter" could offer a new alternative, because this is to minimize the symptoms significantly.

Nose clip acts like a filter and repels pollen
A nose clip as a remedy for hay fever? What sounds strange at first might possibly be an effective help for bollard allergy sufferers in the future. As the Danish university Aahaus reports, a recent study has shown that the symptoms could be reduced by more than 50% in this way. The results were recently presented at the annual congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Barcelona.

With a special nose clip, the symptoms of hay fever can be significantly reduced. (Image: Kzenon / fotolia.com)

For the investigation, the team of scientists headed by Torben Sigsgaard and Peter Sinkjaer Kenney from Aahaus University had examined a total of 65 allergic subjects who wore a special nose clip for two days each. It basically works like a filter, with a nearly transparent mesh that prevents pollen from entering the nose, but does not make breathing noticeably more difficult.

Subjects with functional filters experience significant decrease in symptoms
Previously, the researchers had divided the participants into two groups, one equipped with a functional one and the other with an ineffective clip. Torben Sigsgaard and his team spent the next two days watching the symptoms of classic hay fever, such as a runny nose, constant sneezing, or red-hot, burning eyes, and documented their state of mind. The scientists came to a significant conclusion, because those who had a working clamp were doing much better than those with a clean placebo.

Particularly effective as a prevention measure
"The nasal filter more than halved a number of the most common symptoms of hay fever, such as sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes," said Professor Torben Sigsgaard in a statement from the University of Aarhaus. The clip was shown to be particularly effective as a preventive measure: "If the participants started using the filters before the symptom broke out, the effects were even more pronounced. We regard this as an indication of a preventive effect of the nasal filter, "explains Sigsgaard. Anyone who had used the small tool as a preventative measure was therefore free of symptoms such as sneezing and watery eyes throughout the day. After all, there had been a reduction of 84 percent in the running noses compared to the placebo group. Improvements in complaints through the use of small braces are thus greater than those achieved in similar studies in relation to medical treatments, the statement said.

"In addition, the participants with the functional nasal filters felt overall not bad, although the pollen content in the air on the second day was significantly stronger than the first," said Peter Sinkjaer Kenney. This suggests that "the benefits of the pollen filter with the increase of pollen in the air is getting better." In addition, it was found that the brace was apparently able to reduce fatigue by more than 50% compared to the placebo group to reduce.

"This is interesting because drowsiness is one of the most common side effects of some commonly used antihistamines, and the allergy itself can cause fatigue," says Sigsgaard. Thus, the "wake-up effect" for many sufferers could possibly mean the biggest added value of the nasal filter - when this is commercially available, but was not yet clear. Prior to this, another study with more than 1000 allergic patients should bring new insights into the user-friendliness of the clip. According to the researchers, these would soon be published in the journal "Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology". (No)