Posts filed under 'Hay Fever'
What is Hay Fever?
Hay fever is caused normally in a pollen season. Hay fever is an airborne allergy, mostly caused because of pollens and mould spores. The other name for hay fever is seasonal allergic rhinitis and pollenosis.
From studies it is found that around 20% of the UK population suffers from Hay fever. It is believed that Hay fever runs in families. People can be affected with Hay fever at any age. It is observed that a person having hay fever has 10% chance of also developing asthma. Children having hay fever normally have the same allergen for both the conditions. The symptoms of hay fever are found very extreme, either it would be very mild that the sufferer may not even notice that he is affected with hay fever, he may not even sneeze to pollens, or the symptoms would be so severe that the patient or the sufferer have to go through misery during the pollen season.
The pollen grains are airborne, so if those pollen grains somehow gets in contact with your body like while breathing, it gets trapped by the sticky mucus. The lysozyme a kind of enzyme present on the body’s tissue, these tissues digest the substance present on the layer of the skin. These enzyme releases the protein which causes the allergic reaction. So, hay fever can also cause an allergic reaction.
This reaction may cause the nose to watery secretion and there is a possibility that this watery secretion may enter the food pipe or throat from back of the nose, this is known as the “post nasal drip”, and the other name for it is catarrh. If action not taken at the early stage then the mucous membrane in the nose and throat may swell to such an extent that the eustacian tubes may get blocked. Eustacian tubes are the equalizers of the ear drums. Blocking of eustacian tubes results into temporary deafness.
During the reaction along with histamine other chemicals are also released like proteases, leukotrienes & prostaglandis. Proteases is kind of an enzymes that split the proteins cells present in the body and damages the small blood vessels. Prostaglandins stimulates the nerve endings and Leukotrienes triggers the airway to narrow the path.
Sinus allergy | Sinusitis allergy
Many people have a problem of sinus. This problem can last for few hours, few days or few months. People who are very busy throughout the day don’t even notice due to what reason they are having sinus problems. Sinus is also

sinusitis-allergy
called as sinusitis. In and around our face there are bones with hollow cavities. These hollow cavities are called sinuses. In simple words to understand, there are mucous membranes which are connected to sinuses. These mucous membranes produce a particular fluid which runs through the nasal path or nasal passage. When the nasal passage is swollen it blocks the passage. Because of the blockage the fluid is not able to pass through the nasal passage. Because of the sinus blockage there is a possibility that an infection is developed.
There are various reasons or causes of sinus problems. Mainly sinus problems occur because of the viral infection, change in environment and pollution. Sinus problems even occur because of the bacterial growth or infection and sinus problem can also occur because of mold and fungus growth in sinus.
We can divide sinus into different categories:
- Acute sinusitis
- Sub-acute sinusitis
- Chronic sinusitis
- Recurring sinusitis
Sinus problems getting worse day by day and this problem is occurring since 4 weeks and if sinus symptoms are observed then there is a possibility of acute sinusitis being diagnosed. Sinus symptoms like pain around the face (above the eyes, around the nose and around ears), nasal congestion, headache, fever, coughing, post-nasal drip and colored nasal discharge. If the similar sinus symptoms but with mild intensity lasting for 4-8 weeks then it may be diagnosed as sub-acute sinusitis. Not necessary that sub-acute sinusitis is diagnosed if all the symptoms mentioned above are seen in a patient, might be only nasal congestion and post-nasal drip symptom is shown and still sub-acute sinusitis can be diagnosed. If you experience that you are having mild headaches, fatigue, coughing, nasal congestion, post-nasal drip and if the above symptoms last for around 8 weeks or more then it can be diagnosed as chronic sinusitis. The symptoms of chronic sinusitis are so common that many times these symptoms are wrongly diagnosed as allergies. If you observe that you come across sinus infection or sinus attacks during a particular season in the year then it might be because of some other allergies you might be having. If you are not having any allergies then it could be because of some chronic sinus infection which might have occurred earlier is not been cured properly. This type of sinus problem is called recurring sinusitis.
Sinus Symptoms
Following are some of the sinus symptoms observed:
- Facial pain and pressure over the sinus(es) points
- Nasal congestion
- Fever
- Colored nasal discharge
- Ear pressure or pain Post nasal drip
- Reduced sensation of smell and taste.
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Cough
- Bad breath
- Tooth pain
An important note regarding sinusitis symptoms is, if the person is having sight problems, mind disturbance & behavior change is observed then it has very high chances of new allergic problems being developed within that person. Immediate medical attention is required for such situations.
Causes of sinus allergy
Sinus can be caused due to many reasons, any environment change, change in food habits, change in whether etc are some of the reasons of having sinus allergy. So, many airborne particles get mixed with the air and this is the air we breath. Many of the particles present in the air might not be suitable or irritates the body this leads to an allergy. As the particle found by the immune system as allergic to the body, so from now on whenever that particle tries to intrude in the body, those particles are blocked. This gets accumulated and this leads to bacterial growth in the body. Other allergens which can cause sinus are dirt, pollution, cloth particles, food particles, animal hair etc.
Sinus allergy headache and fever are found to be common when the person is having sinus infection. From studies and facts it is also found that asthma allergy and sinus are related. There are many asthma allergy and sinus center present which help in helping people to get sinus allergy relief. Allergy & sinus are very much related to each other. Many a times if you see any symptom of allergy you will find sinus is a part of its symptom. Sinus allergies are sometimes ignored because of the common symptom present in other allergies.
When does the sinus allergy symptom occur?
Sinus allergy mainly occurs during the spring season. As we all know during spring the pollination happens. Spring is the season where the air is dry and no moisture is found in air. So there are many chances of allergy problems occurring to people. The pollen particles flow in the air as the air is dry. Ragweed and pollen mainly causes sinus infections. The spreading of allergies ends by start of winter.
Sinus allergy treatment
There are many treatments available which gives relief from sinus. Inhaling

sinus-allergy-relief
steam will give a quick relief from sinus problems. In this world you will find various types of medicines and surgeries for curing sinus allergy. But “neti” in yoga is the treatment which requires no medication and surgeries. “Neti” treatment has no side effects as other medication and treatment does. “Neti” has only positive effects on life. There are many breathing “asanas” in yoga that not only helps you to cure sinus infection but it also helps you to increase your concentration, calm the body and normalizes the blood flow in the body. By following “Neti” process and appropriate “asanas” one can get instant sinus allergy relief. Note that these exercise need to be performed under observation of a yoga professional. Do not try to perform these exercises without its actual know how.