Hayfever & Allergies: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments
Hayfever & Allergies
Hayfever and allergies occur when the immune system reacts to harmless environmental triggers such as pollen, dust mites, moulds or animal dander. Hayfever is a type of allergy that is often seasonal, and that mainly affects the nose, eyes and throat, often causing hayfever symptoms like sneezing, congestion and itchy eyes. Mild or severe, seasonal hayfever or all-year allergy symptoms can make your day miserable and sleeping at night more difficult.
What is Hayfever?
Hayfever is the common name for a form of allergic rhinitis. This is where your nose becomes inflamed or irritated by an allergen, such as pollen, causing you to sneeze or have other typical allergy symptoms.
Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common allergic conditions seen in Australia, affecting around 1 in 5 of us.
There are two main types of allergic rhinitis:
- The more common seasonal allergic rhinitis or ‘hayfever’, which is triggered by pollen with symptoms usually peaking in the spring or early summer months
- Perennial allergic rhinitis, which is where allergy symptoms can be present all-year round and is usually triggered by allergens found in and outside the home.
Some people may also have allergies triggered by allergens they are exposed to while at work. This is called occupational allergic rhinitis and can be a common problem for certain workers such as bakers and vets.
What Causes
Hayfever?
When you have an allergy, your body overreacts to something that doesn’t normally cause problems for other people, such as pollen, dust mites or animal dander (skin flakes, hair or fur).
Hayfever symptoms are triggered by pollen which is carried in the air and easily breathed in. Some people are sensitive to particular types of pollen, which is why symptoms can be worse at certain times of year (such as spring or autumn time), or after environmental exposure (e.g. bush walks), and some people may be sensitive to more than one type of pollen, which can make hayfever hard to avoid if these are present throughout the year. Environmental factors, such as the wind, can also have an impact, carrying pollen great distances, which can trigger hayfever in sufferers who live far away from the source.
Allergy symptoms that stick around all year (perennial allergic rhinitis) are usually linked to things found inside the home, such as:
- Dust mites
- Mould spores
- Animal dander (e.g. pet or domestic animal fur and skin flakes)
- Cockroach debris
Other causes of allergic rhinitis can include things such as wood dust, flour dust and latex.
Hayfever & Allergy Symptoms
Seasonal hayfever and all-year nasal allergies can cause a range of symptoms involving not only your nose, but also your eyes, throat and ears.
Common allergic rhinitis symptoms and the areas of the body affected:
- Nose
- A stuffy or blocked nose (nasal congestion)
- A runny nose
- An itchy nose
- Frequent sneezing
- Eyes
- Itchy or watery eyes
- Red eyes
- Mouth and Throat
- Excess mucus in your throat (called postnasal drip)
- A cough or having to clear your throat more often
- Itchy throat or roof of your mouth
- Ears
- Itchy ears
Some allergy symptoms overlap with other conditions such as colds and flu. But unlike colds and flu, when you are exposed to something you are allergic to symptoms usually appear within minutes and tend to continue if not treated.
Other problems associated with allergic rhinitis may include:
- Poor sleep and feeling tired during the day
- Trouble concentrating
- Headaches
- Sinus infections (particularly in adults)
- Frequent ear infections in children
Hayfever & Allergy in Children
Allergic rhinitis is very common in children and often accompanies other allergic conditions such as eczema, or when a parent also has allergic rhinitis.
Children with seasonal hayfever or all-year (perennial) allergies have similar triggers (such as pollen and dust) and similar symptoms to adults, which include:
- A runny nose
- A blocked nose (one or both nostrils)
- Sneezing
- Itchy nose, throat, ears or roof of the mouth
- Itchy, sore or watery eyes
Additionally, allergies in children can cause other symptoms beyond the nose and upper airways, that do not typically occur in adults, including:
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Cough
- Learning problems
Children need to be exposed to an allergen before they become allergic to it and allergies don’t usually develop in children under 2 years of age. Very few infants or toddlers are thought to develop hayfever symptoms before they turn 3 years old, because it is thought that the immune system needs multiple seasons of allergen exposure before allergic sensitisation can develop.
Hayfever Treatments
Although you can’t get rid of hayfever, so to speak, the good news is there are several different management and treatment methods that may help you control allergy symptoms, including:
- Avoiding allergy triggers: Taking steps to avoid or limit your exposure to allergens in the environment, for example by checking the pollen count before going outside, washing bed sheets and drying in the tumble dryer, and keeping pets outside, and minimising the amount of dust in your home.
- Using saline nasal washes and sprays to clear away allergens: Non-medicated saline nasal sprays or sinus washes, such as FLO Saline Plus, FLO Nasal Mist and FLO Sinus Care regularly helps provide relief from allergic rhinitis symptoms. For babies and kids, saline nasal drops and sprays – such as FLO Baby Saline Drops, FLO Baby Saline Spray, and FLO Kids Saline Spray can help provide gentle symptom relief.
- Taking allergy medications such as antihistamines, decongestants and corticosteroids: If reducing your exposure to allergens is not possible or other treatment options are not controlling your symptoms enough, talk to your pharmacist or doctor about medications to help with your allergy.
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FAQs
Hayfever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) symptoms may last for weeks or several months, depending on which plant pollen you are allergic to, where you live and even the weather.
Pollen can be difficult to avoid, so if you are allergic to more than one type of pollen or pollen from plants that produce pollen throughout the year, then you may have hayfever symptoms most of the time.
Hayfever is caused by an allergic reaction to pollen. It is not contagious, so you cannot ‘catch’ hayfever from someone else.
Some of your hayfever symptoms may overlap with other conditions, such as colds and flu that are infectious and can be passed on from person to person.
Hayfever season in Australia varies depending on where you live and the type of pollen you are allergic to.
- For example:
Tree pollen levels are usually high in late winter to early spring1e and grass pollen is around from August. - Pollen from allergenic grasses in the south of Australia usually peak during October to December, while in warmer northern areas grasses flower from January to March.
An allergy is where a person reacts to substances (allergens)in the environment that are harmless to most other people. The term ‘allergies’ covers a broad range of reactions to various allergens such as dust mites, pets, pollen, insects as well as some foods and medications.
Hayfever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) is the common name for a form of allergic rhinitis and is a specific type of allergic reaction caused by pollen and other seasonal allergens.
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