The hay fever season is once more upon us and every year brings misery to millions. The number of hay fever sufferers across Britain is estimated at 13 million and over five million of them may not be recognising their condition and could be failing to get the correct treatment, according to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Only someone who is struggling to balance home and school, or work life with a runny sore nose, intensely itching eyes and a scratchy itchy throat accompanied by explosive sneezing can really understand the misery that longer sunnier summer days can bring. One can be left feeling truly feverish and it always coincides with the vital exam season at school.
Although conventional treatment now has more to offer, this is mainly still based around antihistamines and decongestants which can worsen the dry mouth and drowsy feeling and can be contraindicated in some people. Homeopathic treatment has been shown to be safe and effective and can be used safely by very young children and pregnant women.
Treatment is based on “like treating like”, i.e. we match the symptoms to the remedy used. We use highly diluted potencies of the very pollen or dust that causes your allergy to treat the symptoms. A more individually targeted approach is to use medicines such as allium cepa, from the onion, (remember the weeping, irritated runny-nosed feeling you get from onion peeling?) Euphrasia, commonly known as eyebright, is very useful for those itchy eyes.
Finally we use remedies matched to you individually. This should provide a complete treatment package that can be used safely, annually to treat recurring symptoms and general well-being and, if started early enough may prevent symptoms altogether.
Drs Patricia Ridsdale, Dr Katya Mishanina and Dr David Owen each see patients with Hayfever, eczema, asthma and other allergies that do well with homeopathy and desensitisation.