What is hay fever?
Hay fever is an allergy that is caused when dust or pollen is inhaled through the nose or mouth and causes inflammation. Hay fever is generally more common during spring time due to an increased amount of pollen in the air so there is more of a chance of it being inhaled. There are many different symptoms associated with hay fever and these are:
- runny nose,
- itchy eyes, mouth or skin,
- sneezing
- stuffy nose
- fatigue
How can I treat my hay fever?
There are many treatments available at Dun Laoghaire Pharmacy for the treatment of hay fever and allergies. Antihistamine tablets such as Clarityn©, Cetrine©, Piriton© or Zirtek© which are excellent products to relieve the symptoms of hay fever in adults. However, these products cannot be given to children. For children over the age of 2, Zirtek© liquid can be given or Phenergan©, this product causes drowsiness so if your child isn’t sleeping properly this might be a good option to give before bedtime.
Itchy eyes can be treated using eye drops, some of the ones we recommend to our customers would be Opticrom© allergy eye drops, Otrivine© eye drops, and Optrex© soothing eye drops for itchy eyes.
Nasal sprays are an excellent product to relieve nasal congestion that is often caused by hay fever and allergies. Otrivine© have excellent nasal sprays which work as decongestants.
I’m using these products but my hay fever isn’t going away!
If your hay fever isn’t going away we recommend that you do go to see your doctor. They can provide you with stronger antihistamines but also, allergies and asthma often occur together and symptoms may be confused. If you or your child experience symptoms such as wheeziness, chest pain or tightening, shortness of breath or quick breathing we recommend that you go to see your doctor as quickly as possible.