10 tips to prevent hay fever at home
Looking to prevent hay fever at home? We know, when you’re suffering from hay fever it can make the spring and summer months unbearable.
It can feel like everything you do makes you a magnet for pollen. You might get sick of explaining that you’re not upset, your eyes are just watering with your allergies! Even if you try to stay indoors away from all those treacherous flowers and plants, you may be feeling that you can’t escape the sneezes.
That’s why we’ve collated 10 simple tips to help prevent hay fever when you’re at home this allergy season. So keep reading to find out what you can do to keep your home pollen-free!
How to prevent hay fever at home
1. Close the windows
One of the easiest ways to prevent that hay fever-causing pollen from entering into your home is to block all of the ways it has of getting in! So, lock the doors and close the windows. This ensures that pollen can’t sneak in through the cracks if there aren’t any open in the first place.
If it's warm, you still have options. Crank up the fan, make a nice cold drink, and enjoy being able to breathe through your nose!
F2. Keep a pollen-free zone
You can’t stay locked indoors for 6 months, but you can still keep pollen out of the house. When you come back inside, the first thing to do is change your clothes and shower. Make sure to give your hair, face, and eyebrows a good scrub so you can remove all of the pollen you’ve picked up outside. If you can, make sure everyone in your household is doing the same thing.
Now all of the pollen is safely contained in your laundry basket and away from your eyes and nose.
3. Your new laundry routine
Now you’ve got all of those pollinated clothes into your laundry basket, it’s time to make sure it doesn’t make its way back into your system.
Throw it all into the washing machine and then get them dry - but wait! We know it’s a lovely day, but don’t you dare put those clothes out on the washing line to dry!
That’s just asking for your allergies to resurface. Nope, it’s time to put up the airer and dry your laundry inside for the foreseeable future. Sure, there might be clothes and towels drying all over your house, but it’s worth it!
4. Do your housework
You’ve probably had enough of chores by now. However, our next top tip is a real winner if you want to keep your home pollen-free.
Make sure you vacuum the house regularly, sucking up any loose pollen that’s been tracked into the carpet. When you’re done, wipe down all surfaces with a damp cloth. This will pick any pollen up from around the house in addition to your house being cleaner while you wait for pollen season to pass!
5. Pet Care
It’s time to tackle the other pollen-carriers in your home - your pets! Every time your furry friends go outside they pick up pollen in their fur. They then bring it home to share with you, how kind!
Bathe your pets regularly. They won’t like it, you won’t like it, but at least you’ll be away from that pollen!
6. Up your sunglasses game
Have you ever owned a pair of wrap-around sunglasses? Wrap-around sunglasses are perfect for keeping pollen out of your eyes if you can’t avoid leaving the house. With your eyes covered from all angles, that pollen will have a hard time making you cry.
7. Vaseline is your friend
Do you have a tub Vaseline in your cupboard? Time to crack it open, because it could be your best friend during hay fever season!
Dab a little Vaseline around your nostrils before you leave the house and throughout the day and it’ll catch pollen that’s trying to get up your nose. This ingenious little trick will prevent you from breathing in all of those little pollen particles that are swirling around, waiting to pounce and kick your symptoms into gear. Who knew Vaseline could be so useful?
8. Stay indoors
If you’re an introvert you’ll be happy to know that the best way to keep pollen away is to stay indoors, especially if the pollen count is high. Tell your friends they can call you if they like, but they aren’t allowed to come over unless they’ve been de-pollened first.
The aim of the game is not to be social, but to stop your eyes and nose leaking, so sacrifices must be made!
9. Take your hay fever remedies
We understand that some people are unable to take antihistamines. However, hay fever medicines really are one of the best ways to manage your symptoms. If you’re able to, we’d recommend taking an antihistamine to manage your symptoms or picking up a hay fever relief syrup to help ease hay fever symptoms in your kids.
If you’re pregnant, you might be able to use a nasal spray or eye drops to ease your symptoms, so make sure to ask your doctor or pharmacist to recommend a suitable treatment if you’re struggling.
10. No smoking
Although this may not be the most obvious way to help manage your symptoms, quitting smoking could help you feel better during allergy season. Smoking can actually make your hay fever symptoms worse, so if you’ve been looking for a good reason to quit, this could be it!
It won’t be easy, but you’ll be healthier and your allergies could be less aggravated, so what have you got to lose?
Those are our top tips about how to prevent hay fever in and around the home, and hopefully, they’ll help you out this allergy season! Remember, if you’re struggling with hay fever and need help, your doctor or pharmacist can help you to find a treatment that will be right for you, but at least these tips should go a little way to keeping you pollen-free before then!
