Hay fever solutions
How many times are hay fever sufferers imprisoned in their homes or cars, well away from the dreaded pollens that plague them? The streaming, itchy eyes, constant sneezing and persistent heavy cold-like symptoms make the summer months a natural torture for those with the allergy.
Conventional treatments include antihistamine tablets, nasal sprays, eye drops, even steroids and immunotherapy. Unfortunately, some medications may result in drowsiness and should be avoided when operating machinery or driving. For those who wish to take a complementary approach, several options are available.
- Food rich in anti-histamines and anti-inflammatories:
- Peppers and chillis – contain capsaicin – good for congestion
- Brightly coloured vegetables & tomatoes – contain carotenoids – reduce inflammation
- Raw onions – contain quercetin – natural antihistamine and anti-inflammatory
- Camomile, peppermint or green tea – antihistamine and anti-inflammatory action – pour boiling water on the bag, squeeze out the liquid and use cold, refrigerated tea bags as an eye compress
- Preventatives
- Vaseline around the nostrils to block some of the pollen particles
- Sunglasses to avoid itchy eyes
- Hypnosis and self-hypnosis
- All hypnosis is actually self-hypnosis, but a session with a hypnotherapist should give you the tool-kit to reduce symptoms by yourself, using suggestive language and compelling visualisations. For example, researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland found that visualising pollen-free environments, such as ski slopes (imagine “glittering snow crystals”), reduced congestion. Read more about this study
- NLP (neurolinguistic programming)
- An NLP Master Practitioner can help you to alleviate the symptoms by having you ‘anchor’ a similar, but non-allergic, substance to pollen in your mind. As you contemplate the safe substance, you anchor it by touching your knuckle. Then, through a series of visualisations, you are gradually able to imagine a pollen-containing environment, with no allergic trigger. (The mind is unable to distinguish a memory from an imagined event, so this is a good rehearsal.) To embed the new mindset, any fears or limiting beliefs about the allergy returning can also be removed.
- If your Master Practitioner is ABNLP-trained, they will have studied how to remove hayfever using a Perspex shield method, which suggest to the mind that you are separated at all times from pollen by a Perspex plate.
If you’d like to know more about alleviating hay fever using hypnosis or NLP, get in touch here or fill out the form below!
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