Seven tips on how to cope with hay fever at work

Wellbeing

Do you dread the onset of pollen season? Discover seven tips to help you manage hay fever symptoms at work.

A recent study has found that hay fever is on the rise in London. The tree’s pollen count for London ion March was as much as 422 PPM, which, according to tissue brand Kleenex, is classed as high.

This means that those who suffer with seasonal hay fever will most likely experience symptoms earlier this year as the weather starts to warm up – and with a heatwave on the way this could be very soon.

Experiencing hay fever in the office can be a huge inconvenience, not only to the person suffering but also those around them. To help, Parvinder Sagoo of Simply Meds Online, reveals seven tips for coping with hay fever while you’re at work.

1) Use a balm

The main cause of persistent sneezing is usually from pollen particles entering and settling in your nasal passage and causing a tickling sensation which causes you to develop short bursts of sneezing. Try dabbing a little bit of balm, this can be Vaseline or any other type of balm textured product, around the opening of each nostril on your nose.

This should help to essentially trap pollen particles before they are able to enter your nasal passage after travelling from outside and into your home. You should re apply a balm throughout the day to ensure that the particles are able to stick properly to the area, as it most likely will be wiped away especially if you find you are sneezing quite a lot or touching your face in general.

2) Keep office windows closed

The easiest way for pollen particles to make their way into a building is from windows, doors and ventilation. If you are able, try and ask your superior if there is any chance of keeping office windows and doors closed and perhaps turning on the AC earlier instead.

Worst case, you can always keep windows open a crack however opening them too wide will allow an increased amount of particles to enter and this will wreak havoc on your allergies. Not only this, these particles will then settle and it could be difficult to remove them from the area, especially in a bigger office with many smaller objects.

3) Keep your workspace clean

Keeping your workspace clean is imperative for keeping allergies at bay. Objects like the keyboard, mouse, monitor, pens, pads and drawers should be wiped down daily to ensure that no particles are sitting on them. Touching these objects throughout the day and touching your face could promote a hay fever attack so ensuring that first and foremost your immediate area at work is clean and free from particles and dust is imperative.

4) Keep well stocked on anti allergy products

You may be well stocked at home, but that won’t help you when you are in the middle of a sneezing fit at work or your eyes are streaming.

Keep a drawer at your desk free for where you can keep products such as soft tissues, vaseline or some sort of balm, eye drops and nasal spray, not to mention more antihistamines. This means that if you do find your hay fever triggered, you will have the products on hand ready to ease symptoms and keep you from looking like an itchy, sneezing mess in front of your co-workers.

5) Try natural home remedies

Honey is a natural remedy for hay fever because the bee pollen in honey can actually desensitise your body to other pollen, so increasing your daily honey intake should actually reduce hay fever symptoms significantly. I would advise either having a spoonful or two per day right out the jar, or adding to your morning porridge or granola prior to coming into the office.

6) Keep your work clothes clean

Pollen particles can actually sit on clothes and other such surfaces for quite a long time so even if it starts to rain and the pollen count decreases you may still find you are suffering with symptoms and this is most likely because you are wearing clothes with particles sitting on them.

I would advise keeping yourself and your clothes as clean and fresh as possible. You want to ensure you are washing enough throughout the day to keep your hands and face free from any lingering pollen particles which may travel up into your nose, mouth or eyes.

Wash your face twice daily with water, ensuring you’re are allowing water to enter your nose and eyes to wash out any pollen, this is important if itchy or watery eyes are a symptom for you as the eyes will need to be thoroughly rinsed with warm water to ensure all particles have left the tear duct region.

7) Buy medication to help with symptoms

If you find that your allergies are becoming pretty bad in the office and perhaps your co-workers feel uncomfortable sitting near you, you may want to try and fully curb symptoms and purchase some anti-allergy medication and relieving products such as tablets, sprays, balms and eye drops.

Read more hay fever tips

You can read more tips on managing your hay fever symptoms in these articles:

Simply Meds Online is now offering a same day delivery service for all purchases made before 3pm.

Photo by Brett Jordan