Why the bee should be your best friend during hay fever season, how honey, a shower and a good room ionizer can help your symptoms.
As a child I suffered terribly with hayfever. I was an outdoorsy kid who liked to climb trees and explore the local woodlands with my best friend, but come summertime that would all change.
I turned into a nightmare child, grumpy, fed up, short tempered and well, puffy.
My Mom would keep me indoors under lock and key to avoid yet another trip to the Doctor, or even the ER.
I was even hospitalized once because my airways and eyes had closed up (admittedly, this was after a particularly fun game of my friends and I throwing freshly mowed grass at each other).
My Mom would have to put drops in my eyes twice a day, which I hated with a passion, petroleum jelly was applied to the inside of my nostrils to trap the pollen, cold washcloths applied to my swollen eyes, and a shower twice a day to rid my hair of the. dreaded. itchy. hellish. forsaken. pollen.
I’ve researched and put into practice some alternative hay fever relief methods, and hardly have to use modern medicine now. My methods work for me, and they may work for you too……
I still swear by a few of the old methods but have cut out a vast majority of the ‘drugs’. I wash my hair twice a day to get rid of the pollen. I keep doors shut to my bedroom to keep the pollen out. Sunglasses are a must-have item, and rather un-glamorously, I still put a but of petroleum jelly just inside my nostrils on bad days.
And this is my best friend.
Click for details on the Honeywell Air Purifier
It is absolutely fantastic for keeping the air in my home free of pollen, well 99% as the product states anyway. I feel a massive difference when I come inside during the summer and I get a great night’s sleep. Something I never did during hay fever season before these were invented. It even seems to cool the air temperature a little too.
I’d like to personally thank the inventor. I love you. I owe so much to you. You are the master at defeating hay fever. That is all.
You can click on the Ionizer image above to see more reviews and why this one gets my vote.
The eye wash and bath still comes out on particularly bad days when I have been outside. On worse days I just do not want to venture outside nor open windows.
Under a microscope, pollen looks charming – little spiky balls like those used in Pilates classes. Up the nose, however, it is such a menace that I dread the coming of summer. Dry, sunny days when the pollen count is high makes my nose run and eyes stream.
Most of the remedies for hay fever aren’t very attractive either. You can lock yourself indoors next to an air-conditioning unit, feel drowsy on anti-histamines, or worry about what steroids are doing to your body. So, swallowing a spoonful of honey, what this ‘pollen’ turns into, is a delightful alternative and nicer than swallowing a pill.
I’ve heard that thousands of people swear by it, saying that a spoonful a day, starting well before the pollen season, has transformed their lives. The principle behind it is desensitization. The pollen that bees collect is the heavy-grained variety that doesn’t cause problems.
But, honey being sticky, it may also contain small amounts of the lighter, wind-blown pollens that inflame the lining of the nose and eyes – euch! These are mainly from grass and trees such as birch, which normally begin to blossom around the third week of April and trigger allergies in a quarter of hay-fever sufferers according to medical statistics. That’s a lot of miserable people then!?
Officially, there is no evidence to back-up the claim that eating honey can reduce the effects of hayfever, but being into alternative therapies and natural remedies, I think there is some benefit. It’s like building up immunity, it may be that the body builds up a reaction to any pollen, or it could be psychosomatic.
I usually put my honey, whether runny or grained on my choice of breakfast. Runny on toast, and grained, sprinkled on cereals. Or add runny honey to your dessert option, and source recipes that call for honey.
Honey and mustard roasted chicken salad anyone?
Honey is also a great sugar alternative for kids too, and it may prove beneficial to add this to their diet to reduce allergies. I wish my Mom had known this way back when….
Most commercial pots of honey contain imported honey – unless stated. But, try to find your local beekeepers, with a little effort you can spot “Honey for sale” signs by the roadside. Farmers’ markets are another good source. Or check out the Beekeeper Association website for your nearest honey-making location.
Don’t worry if you are a city dweller either, it doesn’t matter too much if the hive is on your doorstep, because the flora will be fairly similar throughout large areas and locations.
If you want to see whether it works for you, start now; don’t wait till you start sneezing. And if it doesn’t work, honey can do little harm – except, perhaps, to your waistline!
