Hayfever season can start in early spring and enter its full flood in the UK with a spell of lovely hot weather.
People who don’t suffer from hayfever have no idea how rotten it can make us feel. The sneezing etc., is very obvious, but the shivers, shakes, and fluey feelings are not visible and just niggle away at us all day.
A pleasant walk in the countryside, a game of tennis, or a brisk cycle ride can all become a big ordeal as copious tissues are used up, and sneezing stops us in our tracks.
I used to wear an anorak and sunglasses in summer to reduce my sneezing until I discovered homeopathy as a complementary approach.
My hayfever started when I was very young. My parents always grumbled about me sniffing in the summer! When I was seven, it became awful. I remember being on the rounders field at school and hardly able to breathe from sneezing. By the time I got home, my eyes were bloodshot, and I was exhausted.
Much time was spent lying in a darkened room with a cold, wet flannel over my nose and eyes (to breathe through to filter out the pollen and to cool my horribly itchy eyes). I have many holiday photos (such as the one above) of me wearing a thick winter anorak (because changes in temperature triggered sneezing) and sunglasses! Awful!
The seaside was OK because there wasn’t much pollen there. Anywhere else was miserable from May through September. Hopefully, schools are a bit more aware of it these days, but my games mistress used to think that if I stayed off the grass, that was OK, so I spent many miserable games lessons outside playing tennis on tarmac courts instead of staying indoors out of the pollen!
I must have taken just about every pill, inhaler, and injection that was available over the years. Frustratingly, many of the drugs that worked for me were withdrawn after some time, so I then had to find something new that worked.
I took a homeopathic approach to managing my hayfever a good few years ago and found it made a real difference to how I got through the season.
It took time for my body to adjust. My homeopath suggested taking remedies during the winter months, alongside summer support to manage the symptoms. Initially, cutting out dairy and wheat did help, but I no longer need to do that.
Standard ‘first aid’ homeopathic remedies for hayfever symptoms
Allium cepa – made from red onion
The person who needs this remedy will have
- Bouts of sneezing
- Burning nasal discharge causing sore nostrils and upper lip
- Itchy eyes, watering profusely, not burning
- Feel better in a cold room or open air
- Worse in the evening
- May have a tickly cough
Arsenicum album:
The person who needs this remedy will have some/all of these symptoms:
- Burning or itching in the nose, eyes, or throat.
- Discharges from both eyes and nose will be burning (but check to ensure that Allium cepa or Euphrasia are not better indicated – Euphrasia has the opposite symptoms).
- Symptoms improve in the open air, although sensitivity to light is usually an indication for this remedy.
Euphrasia
The person who needs this remedy will have some/all of these symptoms:
- Lots of sneezing
- Eyes are severely affected, and the liquid burns the cheeks
- Burning and swelling of the eyelids
- The nasal discharge does not burn
- Headache and aversion to bright light
- Worse for warmth
Nux Vomica
The person who needs this remedy will have some/all of these symptoms:
- Sneezing, streaming from the eyes and nose
- An irritable, nasty mood. (If they are sweet-tempered, it is unlikely to help.)
- Worse in dry air and relieved when the atmosphere is damp.
Pulsatilla pratensis (Puls.)
The person who needs this remedy will have some/all of these symptoms:
- A weepy, needy state of mind.
- Discharges that are thick, bland (not acrid), and green or yellow.
- Pulsatilla frequently has one side of the nose blocked or congested.
Sulphur (Sulph.)
The person who needs this remedy will have some/all of these symptoms:
- Watery, burning nasal discharge or a blocked nose when outside.
- Frequent sneezing.
- Blocking of the nose on alternate sides.
- Burning pain in the eyes.
- Symptoms are worsened by warmth and becoming warm in bed.
- Better for being in the open air.
- The person may be lazy, opinionated, and desire sweets, alcohol, and spicy food.
Note that for a more sustained approach, you should work on this over the winter months with your holistic practitioner to address underlying imbalances. I also offer e-Lybra bioresonance sessions, which many clients find deeply supportive through the summer months.
