Living With Hay Fever
Understand what triggers hay fever and how symptoms change throughout the allergy season.
Hay Fever Symptoms Causes and What to Expect
Hay fever is a reaction to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. It shows up during specific times of the year, most often from late winter through summer, when plants release pollen into the air.
If your symptoms come back around the same time every year, especially outdoors or after being outside, this is one of the most common signs of seasonal allergies.
Hay fever is very common and has been increasing over the past decades. It often starts in childhood, with many people noticing symptoms for the first time around school age. Symptoms tend to be more noticeable during adolescence and early adulthood, but they can begin at any age.
The trigger is pollen from wind pollinated plants. These plants release large amounts of pollen that travel through the air and are easy to inhale. Once pollen comes into contact with the eyes or nose, it can trigger symptoms such as congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, and headaches.
How to Understand That You Have Hay Fever?
From the beginning of spring until the end of flowering, you notice in yourself.
- nasal congestion, profuse mucous discharge
- severe itching in the nose
- attacks of sneezing, coughing
- itching, burning in the eyes, lacrimation, swelling of the eyelids, feeling of sand in eyes
- photophobia
- chapped lips due to constant mouth breathing
- weakness
- increased fatigue
- drowsiness or insomnia
- constant feeling of tiredness
- headache that can get worse from bright sunlight
- ear pain
- hoarse voice
- hypersensitivity to cold, strong odors, road, and house dust
- wheezing in the chest
- attacks of suffocation (one of the most severe manifestations of hay fever is bronchial asthma)
Rare Symptoms of Hay Fever
- skin rash, itching
- sore throat
- abdominal pain, heartburn
- diarrhea
- heart pain
Symptoms tend to get worse in dry and windy weather, when pollen levels in the air are highest. Rain and higher humidity usually bring relief because pollen settles and becomes less airborne.
When Hay Fever Symptoms Usually Appear
In Atlanta, pollen season starts earlier than in many other parts of the country and can last most of the year.
Most people notice symptoms in predictable waves depending on the type of pollen.
| Season | Main Triggers |
|---|---|
| Late winter to spring (February to May) | tree pollen such as oak, pine, birch, and maple |
| Late spring to summer (May to August) | grass pollen |
| Late summer to fall (August to October) | weed pollen, especially ragweed |
Symptoms can last for weeks or even months if you are sensitive to more than one type of pollen.
For example, someone allergic to both trees and grass may start having symptoms in early spring and continue into summer.
Even outside of peak seasons, symptoms can still occur.
What Increases the Risk of Hay Fever
Hay fever develops when the immune system becomes sensitive to pollen. Some factors make this more likely.
Family History
If one or both parents have allergies, the risk is higher. This does not mean you will definitely develop hay fever, but the chance is increased.
Living Environment
People who live in cities tend to report allergies more often. Air pollution can irritate the airways and make the body more reactive to pollen.
Daily Habits and Overall Health
Diet, sleep, and stress all influence how the immune system responds. A limited diet and constant stress may make symptoms more noticeable or harder to control.
Complications of Hay Fever
Often people are in no rush to visit a physician with pollen allergy symptoms, but this is wrong. Complications of hay fever can develop at any time. Physicians have noticed that without treatment, pollen allergy symptoms become more severe each subsequent season.
Anaphylactic Shock
Anaphylaxis is the most severe type of allergic reaction, but it is not a typical complication of hay fever.
Hay fever usually affects the nose and eyes. However, people with allergies may also be sensitive to other triggers such as certain foods, medications, or insect stings.
In some cases, exposure to these triggers can lead to a rapid and serious reaction that affects breathing and blood circulation. Symptoms may include airway swelling, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and loss of consciousness.
This type of reaction requires immediate medical attention.
Bacterial Complications of Hay Fever
Hay fever does not cause infections, but ongoing inflammation in the nose and sinuses makes the lining of the airways more vulnerable, so bacteria can grow more easily. Because of this, a typical allergic runny nose can change over time. Discharge may become thicker, congestion worsens, and symptoms stop improving with usual allergy medications. In this situation, conditions such as sinus infections or conjunctivitis can develop, and treatment may require antibiotics if a bacterial infection is confirmed.
If inflammation continues for a long time and is not well controlled, structural changes may occur. One of the most common is nasal polyps. These are soft growths inside the nasal passages that can make breathing more difficult and may require additional treatment.
Hay Fever and Bronchial Asthma
After several years of pollen allergy, bronchial asthma often develops. Bronchial asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that disrupts breathing permanently. Asthma attacks are frequent, especially if the patient does not follow the physician's treatment plan.
Cross-allergy
Patients with hay fever begin to notice that their allergies began to manifest themselves not only to pollen but also to completely different things. Since pollen has related cells with leaves, stems, and fruits of different plants and trees. Therefore, a person with hay fever may experience allergy symptoms when eating nuts, apples, kiwi, celery, meat. In case of allergy to cereal pollen, a cross-reaction occurs to bread, flour, sausage, and cocoa. Weed pollen allergies can respond to sunflower seeds, vegetable oil, melons, watermelons, or eggplants.
Prevention of Hay Fever
It is worth thinking about the primary measures for prevention of hay fever for people who have relatives of allergy sufferers or are often sick.
- It would help if you had regular check-ups with your physician.
- Try to adjust your diet so that it contains a lot of vegetables, protein, and complex carbohydrates.
- Control your stress level.
- Go to bed on time and get enough sleep.
And the secondary measures for the prevention of hay fever should be paid attention to those who already suffer from allergies.
- Try to dust off horizontal surfaces every day during flowering periods.
- Choose hypoallergenic household chemicals.
- Before taking a pet into the house, be sure to consult your physician. This step may make your periods of seasonal allergies even more difficult for you;
- Follow the diet prescribed by your physician.
- Install HEPA filters in the supply ventilation as it can remove pollen particles from the air.
- Take dietary supplements approved by your physician.
- Use pollen monitoring if you decide to go on a trip. It will help you track the period and flowering of plants whose pollen is causing allergies in a specific region. Also, you will find out the level of comfort of the environment and, if necessary, start drug therapy in advance.