Home remedies for pollen allergy

A pollen allergy, whether with mild or severe symptoms, should always be treated. But sometimes nasal spray or eyedrops for hay fever are not immediately at hand. Then you can relieve the acute hay fever symptoms with home remedies:

• Cooling eye mask: Against severe itching and redness of the eyes helps a cooling eye mask. Alternatively, a damp cloth or washcloth that you put over the irritated eyes is enough.
• Eyebright: The herb does not have its name for nothing, because eyebright (Euphrasia) relieves discomfort at the eyes and inhibits inflammation. Simply brew two teaspoons of eyebright with 200 ml of water, infuse for 10 minutes and place a cloth or cotton pads soaked in it on the closed eyes for a few minutes. Alternatively, the eyes can also be moistened with Euphrasia-containing eye drops, such as HYLO® FRESH.
• Nasal rinsing: A nasal rinsing with saline solution is generally considered a proven home remedy for colds and pollen allergies. Because the saline solution flushes the nasal passages, frees them from pollen and promotes at the same time the blood circulation. Regular nasal rinses can make allergies more bearable and also prevent a cold during cold season.
• Inhalation:What helps with a cold also has a pleasant effect on the nasal mucous membranes during hay fever. Inhaling saline has a decongestant effect, moisturizes the mucous membranes and relieves itching. You can clear a blocked nose after about 10 minutes over the steam bath. To do this, simply stir two teaspoons of salt into a liter of boiling water and inhale the steam.
• Essential Oils: If the nose is blocked by allergy, essential oils such as peppermint, eucalyptus, fennel or dill can have a liberating effect. Simply put a few drops in a small bowl of water and place it next to you on the table. But be careful: essential oils have a high allergenic potential and could further aggravate the symptoms.
• Wash hair: Pollen allergy sufferers should shower in the evening before going to bed and wash their hair thoroughly. Because during the day, the fine pollen accumulate here only too willingly. With freshly washed hair you do not drag the allergens unintentionally into the bedroom and can sleep more liberated at night.
• Drink a lot: Who drinks a lot, moisturizes the mucous membranes from the inside and supports them in the defense against pollen. Water and unsweetened fruit teas are best suited, which at the same time fill up the fluid reservoir when temperatures rise.
• Tea: Nettle tea is said to strengthen the defenses, ginger tea promotes blood flow to the mucous membranes and inhibits inflammation, and the polyphenols in green tea are said to have an anti-allergic effect.
• Nutrition: In the weeks and months in which you suffer from pollen allergy, you should pay particular attention to a vitamin-rich diet. Some foods contain histamines, which can further promote allergy. Even if you do not have histamine intolerance it is better to avoid wine, cheese, bacon, salami, sauerkraut, canned food, tomatoes, bananas and oranges. On the other hand, you may eat berries and vegetables with vitamin C such as black currants, peppers, kale or fennel abundantly. Vitamin C can even slow down the release of histamine in the body.

In the case of very severe symptoms, home remedies alone are not enough. Here, only treatment with medication helps to get the allergy under control. Common are preservative-free anti-allergic nasal sprays or eye drops. These contain an active ingredient from these two groups, which differ in their mode of action:

- Mast cell stabilizers (e.g. Cromoglicic acid in Pollicrom® Nasal Spray and Pollicrom® Eye Drops

- antihistamines (e.g. For example, azelastine in Pollival® Nasal Spray and Pollival® Eye Drops

Antihistamines are also available in tablet form and may be useful if external treatment of symptoms is not enough. Cortisone-like agents are used in medical treatment.

In the long term, specific immunotherapy (SIT) might also be an option. Although the treatment usually takes about 3 years, many allergy patients are almost or even completely free of symptoms afterwards.