Naturally Healthy

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Hayfever
Streaming eyes and nose, constant sneezing, itchy eyes and nose, sore throat?  This lovely time of year comes with a price tag for many people who suffer from hayfever. 

You can certainly try to suppress your symptoms with conventional medication.  Sometimes this works, but you may experience side effects and your symptoms will usually reappear each spring.  Many natural therapies, including healing and homoeopathy, can help you to enjoy spring and early summer without any side effects!  Allergy is usually an inherited condition and is therefore quite deeply entangled with you.  Because of this, hayfever is not really a condition for you to treat yourself.  You will have better results if you see a professional therapist.

If you visit the homoeopath before your symptoms start, he or she will look for a constitutional remedy for you.  This is a remedy that fits you as a whole person, as well as covering similar symptoms to the ones that bother you.  You would certainly expect your symptoms to be less troublesome that first year.  If you continue treatment, your homoeopath will expect your symptoms to become less intense and less frequent over a period of time.  How long does it take?  There’s no definitive answer, but generally speaking you might expect to be pretty comfortable the second or third time the hayfever season comes around.  Many people come for an appointment a couple of months before their symptoms start and then continue treatment during their trigger months, stopping again in the autumn.  Initially, it may be also helpful for you to use a herbal tincture, such as Euphrasia, for your eyes to reduce redness and itching.

It is, of course, also possible to use homoeopathy just to reduce your symptoms when they occur.  If you’re thinking of self-treating, you might like to consider these remedies.  How do they compare with your symptoms?  Remember you’re looking for something similar.

Allium Cepa:  Violent sneezing with nasal discharge that burns.  Profuse watering of the eyes that does not burn.  Worse:  damp or humid weather, warmth, evening.  Better:  bathing, cool fresh air, movement.

Apis:  Rapidly developing rosy-red swelling of the area around the eyes, particularly underneath the eyes.  “Water bag” puffiness of lids.  Itching, stinging, burning sensations in eyes and throat.  Very sensitive to heat, which makes the symptoms much worse.  Worse:  warmth, touch.  Better:  cool air, cool bathing, cool compresses, movement.

Euphrasia:  Eyes swim with tears, very watery.  Tears are hot and burning, making the eyes and lids red and sore.  Profuse discharge from nose, which is bland and does not burn (the opposite of Allium Cepa).  Worse:  warmth, indoors, windy weather, evening.  Better:  Fresh open air, wiping eyes, blinking.  NB:  The folk name for Euphrasia is “Eyebright” and the herbal tincture is marvellous for sore and infected eyes (dilute with cooled boiled water).

There are many other remedies that cover hayfever symptoms.  Consult a homoeopath for advice!