Dry weather favors pollen

Hay fever patients are particularly affected this year

29/04/2011

The relatively warm and dry weather conditions of the last few weeks result in an extreme pollen load in the air. The clouds of yellowish-green pollen make the stay outdoors particularly annoying for allergy sufferers.

In addition to poplar, willow and ash pollen, the majority of the pollen currently consists of birch pollen, to which many hay fever patients are especially sensitive. The relatively warm, dry weather favors a massive pollen count, which makes the stay outdoors for allergy sufferers a considerable burden.

Hay fever patients hope for relieving rain
Not only the farmers but also the hay fever patients are currently longing for rain. While some fear for their return, others hope for a few symptom-free days, with no itchy eyes, running noses, sneezing attacks, coughing or headaches. Because after the rain, the pollen load in the relatively humid air drops significantly. The water binds the pollen and the allergy sufferers can breathe freely. However, as long as no precipitation falls, the hay fever sufferers must find another way to live with the symptoms of their illness. Or they go into treatment, hoping to conquer hay fever altogether.

Treatment of hay fever symptoms - Protection against pollen
For the treatment of hay fever symptoms serve primarily so-called antihistamines, which largely prevent an overreaction of the body. The causes of hay fever can not be remedied by the use of the drugs and there are also possible side effects. To alleviate the symptoms, according to experts - such as Dr. med. Wolfram Feußner, allergist and specialist for lung and bronchial medicine from Kassel and Prof. Harald Morr from the German Lung Foundation in Hannover - the contact with the allergy-causing pollen in total should be minimized as far as possible. To protect against hay fever, the windows should remain closed during the day and be aired only in the evening or after rain, stressed the experts. In addition, hayfever patients are advised to remove their street clothes in a separate room and not to take them into the bedroom. Increased hair washing and facial cleansing, especially at bedtime, also helps to reduce pollen levels. Allergic persons can also use a nasal shower to gently cleanse the nasal mucosa after a longer stay outdoors and before falling asleep in order to free them from the pollen, said Professor Harald Morr. The insider tip of Dr. med. Feußner for the prevention of hay fever is meanwhile: Rub the nose inside with a few Vaseline and gargle with some cooking oil.

Treatment of hay fever in conventional medicine and naturopathy
However, the causes of hay fever are not resolved with all these methods. From a conventional medical point of view, hyposensitization is the only option for this, in which the patient's immune system slowly becomes accustomed to the allergy triggers over a period of three to five years with small doses of the allergens. If the therapy is successful, the patients will show no allergic reactions. The naturopathic approach of hay fever treatment is based essentially also on a therapy of the causes, for example, with herbal therapies, relaxation procedures, magnetic / bioresonance procedures, autologous blood therapies and self-suggestion, acupuncture and homeopathy promising treatment successes have been achieved. However, if the symptoms of hay fever do not decrease in the course of treatment, it is strongly recommended that the affected allergic patients, a conventional medical treatment of the symptoms claim, as an untreated hay fever, according to the experts in the worst case can lead to asthma and other respiratory diseases. (Fp)

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Picture: Günther Richter