Hay fever or allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction that occur in eye and nose. It is essentially an allergic reaction on the nasal airways mainly caused by an allergen, mainly pollen.

A healthy system can cope with the allergens, but a stressed, strained or fatigued system doesn’t cope well and an allergic reaction occurs. This allergy might take the form of hay fever. There is a lot that can be done to prevent and help with hayfever in Ayurveda, do read on!

Possible triggers:

• External factors such as pollen, dust, smoke, animal fur or hair etc
• Exposure to humidity dust and cold
• Asthma
• Persistent of disease
• Low immunity
• Sinusitis
• Family history of hay fever
• Low immunity
• Unhealthy lifestyle during seasonal changes

There are different variations of hay fever:

Any Dosha can be responsible for hay fever. If one (or more) of your Doshas are out of balance, hay fever may show up in one of or a mixture of the following ways.

Vata (air and space) is out of balance

• Dry nose, less mucous but it’s sticky and obstructing, leaving you stuffy
• Dry mouth, lips and throat
• Shooting pain headaches
• Hoarseness of voice

Pitta (fire and water) is out of balance

• Burning sensations (irritated eyes, sore burning throat, high irritation in the nose)
• High thirst
• Mucous may be warm and yellow
• Potential fever or sense of being hot
• Possible skin symptoms such as hives

Kapha (earth and water) is out of balance

• Excessive mucous which may be more white and cold, a streaming nose
• Swollen eyes, puffy face
• Heaviness in the head and face
• Itching in the scalp, throat, lips and mouth

Prevention is better than a cure

If you suffer from hay fever, start paying extra attention to your diet and lifestyle a few months before your symptoms would normally start. Keep yourself in balance, nurture your digestive fire to avoid toxins building and make sure you are building a strong immune system or a good store of Ojas (the essence of all the tissues providing immunity and resilience).

Recommendations in the lead up to or during hayfever season. 

FOOD

Try a seasonal cleanse at the junction of winter and spring as this is the best time for this. A mung bean soup and green vegetable cleanse would be ideal.

Eating seasonally is important as the type of foods harvested during any season contain the antidotes to offset the characteristics of the season.

In spring, we see vegetables with more bitter, pungent and astringent tastes and less of the sweet root vegetables which helped us through winter. So, it’s time to up those lighter seasonal green vegetables and have a bit less of the heavier starchy and protein-rich foods which we needed during the winter.

Eat freshly prepared, warm foods and drinks with plenty of herbs and spices – include turmeric and black pepper in your daily diet. Raw unheated honey is great too for dealing with extra mucous – favour a local variety of this.

Avoid cheese, yoghurt, bananas, desserts, sweets and cold foods and drinks if you are suffering from mucous as these encourage its formation.

Avoid alcohol

Avoid heavy, fermented, fried, sour foods 

DRINKS

Enjoy lots of warm drinks. A great tea for hay fever is ginger. You can also choose teas which are best for you using the herbs section below. If adding a little raw unheated honey, wait until the tea has cooled a little as you shouldn’t heat honey.

HERBS

Some herbs that can act as natural remedies and help reduce the symptoms of hayfever include:

• Long pepper or pippali – it is an immunomodulator and has mucus removing properties
• Ginger – it has anti-inflammatory properties and removes congestions
• Malabar nut – it is a Bronchodilator
• Liquorice – it soothes the lungs and throat
• Turmeric – it can prevent the onset of hay fever
• Tulsi (Holy basil) – it is a respiratory system rejuvenator and cures congestion and runny nose

DAILY ROUTINES

Here are a few lifestyle suggestions that will help prevent hayfever or can be done when symptoms occur.

• Nasal Drops. If you prone to hayfever I suggest including this in your daily routine ongoing. Put 1-3 drops of oil into your nose daily. Try cold pressed black sesame oil or medicated Anu Thailum Nasya oil – which is infused with specific medicinal herbs.
• Do steam inhalations. Holding your head over a bowl of boiled water with a few drops of tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil in it. Follow with the nasal drops suggested above, to avoid drying out the nasal membranes to much – which will make you more irritated.
• Gandoosh. Swish cold pressed black sesame oil in the mouth daily for about 5mins and then spit out.
• Gargle ¼ teaspoon of ground turmeric and salt in warm water in the morning, to clean out mucus, phlegm, and any irritants.
• Home remedy:
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamon
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tbsp honey or enough to make a smooth paste
  • Take ¼ tsp 2 x daily or as often as needed. Follow with a sip of warm water.

TREATMENTS

An in-clinic Nasya treatment is a more intense version of the home nasal cleansing which would be especially helpful if the hay fever was leading to a lot of blockage or sinus problems.

Head and face massages are great for relieving stuffiness and headaches. Shirodhara is also amazing for this.

For any herbs, remedies, formulations or questions please don’t hesitate to contact the clinic.