Hay fever misery for thousands in Stockport

18th April 2019

While most of us will be delighted to see the sun out for Easter spare a thought for people with asthma and hay fever sufferers for whom the misery has just begun.

Experts say hay fever season has landed 3 weeks early after an unusually warm winter with a “pollen bomb” about to hit us – the Met Office says the count this weekend is set to be very high.

Trees have been releasing their pollen for a few weeks but the hotter than usual weather over the Easter weekend is going to make pollen levels spike.

Stockport has around 20,000 residents with asthma and a further 15,000 people suffer with a tree pollen-based hay fever. Both groups can be badly affected by a high pollen count so take care.

If you’re already getting symptoms, it’s not too late to help yourself stay well.

Take your prescribed preventer medicine to soothe your irritated airways so you’re less likely to react to the pollen trigger.

Use hay fever medicines such as antihistamines as they help to stop the allergic reaction that triggers asthma symptoms and keep itchy eyes and runny noses at bay.

Anyone with asthma should keep their blue reliever inhaler with them at all times in case of an emergency.

A further 45,000 Stockport resident are allergic to grass pollen and their hay fever season is likely to start earlier than normal as well with it building up steadily throughout May.

Both types of hay fever can cause sore eyes, a constant runny nose, and headaches as well as making your asthma worse.

But there is no reason to suffer in silence, as your local high street pharmacists have a range of treatments to help ease your symptoms.

It is sometimes possible to reduce the symptoms of hay fever by taking some basic precautions, such as:

• wearing wraparound sunglasses to stop pollen getting in your eyes when you are outdoors

• changing your clothes and taking a shower after being outdoors to remove the pollen on your body

• staying indoors on days when the pollen count is high (over 50).

You would normally only need to see your GP if you can’t reduce your symptoms by using over the counter medicines or you experience persistent complications of hay fever, such as worsening of asthma or repeated episodes of sinusitis.