Natural Remedies For Hay Fever

Hay fever season is upon us with blossoms of apple, cherry and sloe lighting up the otherwise intermittent grey skies. For those who suffer from Hay fever this is not the most welcome sight and often the only resolve is suffering through another season with antihistamine.

But what if we look at the reasons why the body is reacting in this way and at the factors that may be triggering this acute reaction. It may be a genetic cause or even lifestyle but if the lifestyle is right and the inner environment is in harmony then a genetic weakness or susceptibility might not be triggered.

Hay fever can be deep seated and takes some time to manage but looking at our constitution is an important place to start. What may work for someone else isn’t necessarily going to work for you. Whether it be certain foods, or even how you work or socialise these are all areas to consider in the bigger picture as they may be adding to your daily stressors and compromising your immune response.

Reducing stress helps you to be strong enough to resist rather than just supressing the symptoms when they arise. Working with a homeopath for constitutional treatment is a good start to understanding and supporting any deep-seated hereditary traits that you may have. There’s also the go to remedies in homeopathy that are useful to have on hand for symptoms of Hay fever such as homeopathic Euphrasia for itchy eyes, and Allium for a constant runny nose.

Bach flower remedies uses vibrational healing, subtle but incredibly supportive, working again with your constitutional type as well as symptoms. If you’re feeling irritated and upset the flower remedy Holly can help bring you back to balance, and if impatience and irritability are a regular emotions then try Beech.

Make sure you have everything in place before the hay fever season gets underway. After supporting your constitution, start to boost your immune system with Vitamin C. This Vitamin is also a natural antihistamine. Add more cruciferous veg and berries to your diet and supplement Vitamin C in its natural form with powdered Amla rather than a synthetic supplement. Amla’s also known as Indian Gooseberry and its super nourishing, protective and cleansing, and one of the herbs used in the Ayurvedic blend Triphala mainly used to support the bowel and liver as a tonic. Add the powder daily to a fresh green juice to boost your immune system and to keep the eliminative organs supported a healthy bowel and liver are going to assist in lowering hay fever symptoms. And if you’re not taking a probiotic already then this is also a good preventative before the start of the season to keep your digestive and immune function at its optimum.

Herbs such as Elderflower, Eyebright, Golden seal and Nettle are effective in treating the whole whilst easing and reducing the individual symptoms. Elderflowers help to ‘clear the channels’ promoting elimination, they cut congestion and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and help to reduce catarrh. Eyebright is anti-inflammatory and as the name suggests has special reference to the eyes, and sinuses. Golden Seal is a wonderful herb for irritated inflamed mucous membranes, it has a drying effect so is very useful when suffering from the usual common symptoms of watery irritated eyes and a runny nose and Nettle is super nourishing, one of my all-time favourite herbs especially where there’s hay fever. It’s a powerful antihistamine and works to strengthen our natural resistance whilst supporting our eliminative organs. Try using these herbs dried in equal parts to make an excellent tea Add a few teaspoons to a cup or a pot allowing the herbs to infuse with the hot water for around 10 to 15 minutes before straining. Try to drink a cup three times a day. Although this formulas much more effective in an infusion you could also take it in tincture form.. If you’re not sure what a tincture is, it’s a herb infused or macerated in alcohol for several weeks allowing for the nutritional healing constituents to be dissolved into the alcohol then strained. The special tonic and anti-allergen properties of these herbs need time to take effect so again start taking these herbs daily a good few weeks before the hay fever season starts. To topically soothe irritated sore itchy eyes try a cold compress soaked in of chamomile or eyebright.

A ‘mucus free diet’ would also be beneficial. Try to avoid or reduce dairy products including goats’ milk, yoghurt, and eggs. Also, starchy root vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips and swedes. Grains are also mucous forming especially gluten rich ones such as wheat and avoid processed white flour and rice. Try a diet rich in whole foods, seasonal if possible and non-processed avoiding additives and preservatives. Sugar should be avoided completely as it compromises the immune system too and add plenty of fresh Garlic to your meals as it strengthens the immune system as well having anti -catarrhal agents.

Blue green algae have been found to nourish the mucous membrane and is particularly beneficial where there’s a chronic allergic response. Blue green algae’s rich in nutrients especially B vitamins which help to support the nervous system important if stress is a factor, or you feel stress increases your hay fever symptoms.

If you’re burning the candle at both ends Siberian Ginseng helps to rebalance containing eleutherosides which are the herbs main component as well as Vitamin E and beta carotene all strong antioxidants, it’s also mineral rich making this a nourishing supporter helping the body adapt to environmental and emotional stressors, but this doesn’t mean ignore what may not be that obvious to you and push ahead regardless. There still maybe more positive lifestyle choices that may have to be made.

Then at the end of the day taking a bath in extracts of lavender, eucalyptus and chamomile will help to ease any congestion and an invaluable way to ease tension and bring time to reconnect the mind, body and spirit.

About The Author Wilder Botanics is created from a heartfelt love of herbs by naturopath, herbalist and author Rachel Landon and her husband  Charlie, inspiring people to be actively involved in their own wellness with organic and wildcrafted herbs. All ingredients start from a sustainable vital source and Wilder infuses, dries, distills and tinctures all their organic herbs.  The formulas are hand blended in small batches keeping the vitality and freshness of the herbal ingredients. Sustainability starts in the bottle Website: wilderbotanics.com Instagram: @wilder.botanics