Spring Has Sprung and that spells bad news for anyone who suffers from hay fever as it means it’s ‘Sneezing Season’ again.  Hay fever sufferers have a bleak choice. Either stay indoors, or take pharmaceutical medication with side effects that really knocks them about! Luckily there are lots of excellent natural remedies for hay fever to reduce your symptoms.

Hay fever occurs when pollen released from grasses and other plants is carried through the air. The pollen causes inflammatory reactions on the mucous membranes and affects the immune system.

With sneezing, itching, runny nose, coughing and congestion, hay fever (or seasonal allergic rhinitis) is enough to ruin anyone’s day. It can affect any of the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, sinuses, throat and palate, or all of them at once.

But it doesn’t have to be like this!

There are many natural remedies  for hay fever that can effectively knock the symptoms on the head by providing natural antihistamines. These include herbs, vitamins, kitchen cures and my favourite, homeopathy.

In addition to actual treatments some precautionary practices can minimize the effect of the allergen on your system. Gifting your liver a Spring clean can lessen the allergic effect. Here are tips to help you gently detox your liver without ‘doing a full detox’.

 Natural Remedies For Hay Fever

Supplements

Supplements can improve your response to allergens. Vitamin C and the bioflavonoid, quercetin have an antihistamine effect, while vitamin A helps maintain healthy mucous membranes. Studies have shown a link between low zinc intake and higher allergy risk so a zinc supplement may help anyone who falls into this category,

Foods

It’s important with mucous membrane aggravation to reduce the amount of dairy food you eat as it increases the production of mucous and exacerbates congestion. Eat less milk, cheese, ice-cream, cream, yoghurt and butter during hay fever season to reduce symptoms. And watch for “milk solids” which are often added to processed foods.

Refined starches also stimulate mucous production. Limiting bread and other baked goods can reduce the severity of your symptoms.

Omega 3 fatty acids help lower the amount of inflammatory chemicals produced when you are exposed to an allergen. Eat more omega 3 foods over the season to help decrease your incidence of hay fever.

Practices

Many alternative treatments, including nutrition and supplements, can alleviate hay fever by strengthening the immune system. However they don’t always give immediate relief in the moment when symptoms strike. Some can reduce symptoms when taken in mega dosage but often need to be taken in combination with others.

Air filters placed over windows and doors can make a real difference by keeping the air inside your home pollen free.

Steaming is an age old practice for breaking up congestion. Add a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to a bowl of steaming water. With a towel over your head breathe in the eucalyptus-rich vapour to loosen mucous and clear air passages. Tea tree is another suitable essential oil.

Many herbs including chamomile, stinging nettle, ginger, and butterbur can block histamine and relieve symptoms. But often their effect is limited to just some of your symptoms, or they can take time to have an effect.

In someone already highly oversensitive to plant material herbs may not be a great choice. They may even exacerbate the symptoms. Stinging nettle is one herb commonly used for it’s antihistamine and anti-inflammatory effects. But it’s not the answer for everyone and can even cause itching and swelling in sensitive people. The crude nature of herbs may actually be too harsh for these highly sensitive individuals.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy has a great track record for the treatment of hay fever. The correctly matched remedy can switch hay fever symptoms off almost immediately. I can personally vouch for this.

In France the hay fever treatment prescribed most commonly by medical doctors is a homeopathic remedy. This remedy trumps pharmaceuticals just because it can be so effective and work so fast.

I’m going to introduce you to some of the more commonly used homeopathic remedies for symptomatic relief. These remedies activate the body’s own system of healing. They’re excellent to quickly relieve the symptoms of acute bouts of hay fever when they’re selected to closely match the individual symptoms being experienced.

To discover homeopathic remedies and other kitchen cures continue reading…

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only. They are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation with your health care provider. Do not use this article to diagnose a health condition. Speak to your doctor if you think your condition may be serious or before discontinuing any prescribed medication. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.