Hay fever

Symptoms of hay fever

Symptoms of hay fever include:

• sneezing and coughing
• a runny or blocked nose
• itchy, red or watery eyes
• itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears
• loss of smell
• pain around the sides of your head and your forehead
• headache
• feeling tired

Symptoms are usually worse between late March and September, especially when it's warm, humid and windy. This is when the pollen count is at its highest.

Hay fever can last for weeks or months, unlike a cold, which usually goes away after 1 to 2 weeks.

How to treat hay fever yourself

There's currently no cure for hay fever and you cannot prevent it. But you can do things to ease your symptoms when the pollen count is high.

A pharmacist can help with hay fever

Speak to a pharmacist if you have hay fever. they can give you advice and suggest the best treatments to help with symptoms, such as:

• antihistamine drops, tablets or nasal sprays
• steroid nasal sprays

Some antihistamines can make you very sleepy, so speak to your pharmacist about non-drowsy antihistamines if you need to.

Find out more about hay fever and allergic rhinitis from Allergy UK

Treatments for hay fever from a GP

The GP might prescribe a steroid treatment if you have hay fever.

If steroids and other hay fever treatments do not work, the GP may refer you for immunotherapy.

This means you'll be given small amounts of pollen as an injection or tablet to slowly build up your immunity to pollen.

This kind of treatment usually starts a few months before the hay fever season begins.

Immunotherapy is a specialist service that may not be available everywhere.

Causes of hay fever

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to the fine powder that plants produce, called pollen, usually when it comes into contact with your mouth, nose, eyes and throat.

Find out more about the pollen forecast from the Met Office