Once you know what you are allergic to, you and your healthcare provider can create a treatment plan for reducing or eliminating hay fever symptoms. Several allergy medications can improve symptoms and help you cope with your hay fever. If you do not have very severe hay fever, medications that can be purchased over the counter can be sufficient for relieving symptoms. While medications cannot treat hay fever, they may reduce symptoms effectively, and their side effects are usually well-tolerated.
Corticosteroids may reduce inflammation and prevent symptoms of hay fever. Corticosteroids are better than antihistamine tablets in preventing and relieving symptoms in the nose, including sneezing and congestion. Antihistamine tablets, syrups, nasal sprays, and eye drops (not sedating) are helpful for relieving symptoms (sneezing, itchiness, and red eyes).
Antihistamine eye drops may be useful for controlling watery eyes caused by allergies. Eye drops contain antihistamines that may help symptoms like itching, redness, and watering. The drops contain antihistamines, such as azelastine and olopatadine, to decrease inflammation in the eyes, thereby relieving symptoms.
They generally work well at relieving symptoms such as runny nose, itchiness, and sneezing, but will not clear blocked sinuses. Nasal decongestants may lead to drier, more irritating nose passages, which may worsen the symptoms of congestion (this is known as rebound congestion, or rhinitis medicosa). Nasal saline rinses can prevent and treat the nasal stuffiness (congestion) and the itchy, running nose caused by hay fever.
If you have extreme symptoms of the nose, you may want to use nasal sprays to help lessen symptoms. If your symptoms cannot be controlled by simply avoiding your triggers, your allergist can recommend medications to help decrease congestion, sneezing, and an itchy, running nose. If your allergy symptoms show up at work, or appear to worsen there, ask your allergist to help you identify possible triggers and create a treatment plan. Anything you can do to prevent pollen from entering your nose will help to prevent symptoms of hay fever.
Honey may help desensitize your body to other pollens, reducing other symptoms of hay fever. Cromolyn sodium may help alleviate symptoms of hay fever by blocking histamine release.
If itchy eyes are one of your symptoms of hay fever, a proper shade pair may help keep the pollen at bay. A mask also helps keep hay fever-induced runny noses or itchiness at bay.