We are fast-approaching peak hay fever season. This is when grass pollen is at its highest and 95% of hay fever sufferers are allergic to grass pollen. There are many drug free ways for parents to help their children tackle their allergy symptoms. Airborne allergens expert and creator of HayMax allergen barrier balm, Max Wiseberg, offers his advice to parents of children with hay fever.
Having a child with hay fever can be a struggle.
Giving them antihistamines can cause drowsiness and grogginess, which can be unpleasant to witness in your usually lively and excitable child.
However, there are many more options for you and your child to help prevent and alleviate allergy symptoms.
In the last few decades a lot has changed in the allergy industry, some of it – including the range and effectiveness of treatments available – very much for the better. But not all: both the proportion of people in the general population suffering from allergies, and the proportion of sufferers who are children, have increased.
Of course, whatever the allergy, be it hay fever, allergic rhinitis, asthma, dust, mould or pet allergy, the misery it brings – for the child who suffers, and the parent who suffers with the child – has not changed.
What can parents do to help their children manage hay fever symptoms? Quite a lot, fortunately. As with many other things, prevention is better than cure! Here are some ideas:
• Take your child to the GP, to get a proper diagnosis. If the symptoms occur only in high summer on hot, sunny days, it’s almost certainly hay fever. Although, it could be any number of other allergies and treatment might differ in each case.
• Change your child’s clothes daily and after they’ve been playing outside.
• Wash your child’s face and hair after periods spent outdoors. Pollen sticks to clothing, skin, and hair so symptoms can continue even when indoors. Washing or showering will remove any pollen remaining on skin and hair.
• Encourage them to wear wraparound sunglasses. This creates a protective layer between their eyes and the pollen-laden atmosphere and can reduce symptoms considerably. It also relaxes their eyes, which relaxes your child.
• Wash their bedding frequently. Pollen grains come indoors borne on the air and stick to bedding. That’s why frequent washing of bedding, covering the bed with a sheet – which is carefully folded before they get into bed and stored away from the bed during the night – and turning pillows just before they are tucked in, can all help reduce symptoms.
• Limit their exposure to pollen during peak periods. Pollen is released early in the morning and travels upwards as the air warms up. In the evening, as the air cools, it moves back down again. Symptoms are usually worst during the early morning and evening, when the pollen grains reach nose height, so try to keep children indoors at these times.
• Vacuum your home regularly, especially your child’s bedroom, bed and fabrics to remove pollen particles. And damp dust surfaces – damp dusting helps prevent pollen particles being dispersed back into the air.
• Dry your child’s clothes indoors rather than on a clothes line to prevent pollen particles being blown onto the clothes by the outside wind.
• Make sure your child stays hydrated and eats lots of fruit and vegetables and gets plenty of exercise to stay healthy and support their immune system.
If you would like more ideas, visit HayMax’s Hay Fever Guide at: www.haymax.biz/hay-fever
“Both the proportion of people in the general population suffering from allergies, and the proportion of sufferers who are children, have increased.”
