Hay fever: How to stop sneezing at your favorite festivals

Sneezing into a white tissue, a bearded man in a park with trees all around him

A sore throat, tiredness, and red eyes.

All indications that your festival experience was positive.

But also something that demonstrates you are among the many people who are struggling this summer with hay fever.

And spending three days in a field won't likely be helpful.

Whether you're attending TRNSMT in Glasgow or Glastonbury, we have advice on how to prevent hay fever from interfering with your favorite headliners.

Sophia Carey has attended more festivals than most because it's her job to take pictures of the performers.

She enjoys doing it, but she does not enjoy the "horrendous" allergies that come with it.

Sophia believes her hay fever is getting worse every year, and she is by no means alone in feeling that it is becoming intolerable. The number of people who visit the hay fever advice pages on the NHS website on a weekly basis has tripled over the past five weeks.

Sophia, wearing glasses, is smiling at the camera. She is sat down surrounded by shops, with plants and trees in the background
Sophia has suffered from hay fever since she was a young child, but she thinks it gets worse every year.

Pollen levels in England, Scotland, and Wales are high to very high as a result of the recent warm weather.

"At Parklife, it was awful. I was under a lot of trees, and I think I'm allergic to what was coming off of those," she claims.

"Because you're so hot, you're already uncomfortable. You have to firm it up because you can't even take a shower or wash your face. ".

Sophia, however, is ready to combat the pollen attack.

"Having eye drops on hand can be helpful, as can taking an antihistamine beforehand. In order to wash the area around my mouth and nose while working at a festival, I won't wear makeup on the bottom half of my face.

"And tissues, plenty of them. ".

Nyrah Saleem, a pharmacist, frequently advises her friends on how to get through concerts despite having severe hay fever.

That was her suggestion.

She says that preparation is important. At least two weeks prior to the festival, begin taking your medication, and while there, consider what time you should take it.

You can take drowsy or non-drowsy medications, which are actually two different types of medications. ".

It might be best if you take the tablet the night before rather than first thing in the morning because, for some people, tablets can be quite drowsy. " .

Nyrah Saleem, looking at the camera and slightly smiling, she is wearing a blue pharmacist's uniform. The background has a white door.
During festival season, Nyrah claims she has been offering her best advice to friends who suffer from hay fever.

Nyrah suggests bringing a spare, tightly sealed bag to keep your used clothing, which probably has pollen on it, separate.

She advises using Vaseline under your eyes and on your nose.

Showering at festivals can be challenging, so Nyrah advises attendees to bring large water bottles so they can wash "parts of the skin that really attract all that pollen," like their faces, arms, and hands.

Furthermore, according to her, you shouldn't use drugs while taking hay fever medication.

Nyrah advises limiting your alcohol consumption if you intend to attend a festival because it can exacerbate your symptoms and make you drowsy when combined with antihistamines.

When possible, minimize the side effects and keep an eye out for them, she continues.

Check out Newsbeat on. Twitter.  and . YouTube.

Tune in to Newsbeat. live. weekdays at 12:45 and 17:45 - or playback. here.

Source link

You've successfully subscribed to Webosor
Great! Next, complete checkout to get full access to all premium content.
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.
Unable to sign you in. Please try again.
Success! Your account is fully activated, you now have access to all content.
Error! Stripe checkout failed.
Success! Your billing info is updated.
Billing info update failed.