Suffering from hay fever?
Temperatures outside are slowly beginning to rise and the first rays of sunshine tempt us to venture outside. But not everyone can look forward to the good weather. Hay fever sufferers can hardly be expected to welcome the prospect of streaming eyes, itchiness and a runny nose.
It feels like the pollen season starts earlier every year. The early flowering is encouraged by climate change, which brings mild temperatures at the end of winter. Around 20% of the Swiss population suffer from hay fever and the symptoms it brings: watery eyes, sneezing attacks and a runny nose. Many medications for hay fever, known as antihistamines, alleviate the physical reaction to the pollen, but make you very tired. Here are a few tips on how sufferers can avoid pollen as much as possible in everyday life.
The following tips will help you to alleviate the symptoms:
- Wash your hair before you go to bed.
- Change your sheets frequently.
- Do not hang your laundry out to dry outdoors.
- Wipe the kitchen and the dining and living room tables frequently with a wet cloth.
- Air your home for a brief period only, but do it properly. When it rains for longer periods, however, you can air your home more thoroughly because the rain will have "washed" the pollen out of the air.
- Do not use fans to cool your rooms because they will only stir up any pollen that is lying on the floor and spread it through the entire room.
- Mow the lawn regularly.
- Wear sunglasses in windy weather to protect your eyes against airborne pollen.
SWICA pollen ticker
The SWICA pollen ticker (available in German, French or Italian) provides a weekly update on which types of pollen are currently particularly prevalent and which regions of Switzerland are most affected. At the moment, ash pollen is particularly prevalent and birch pollen, the most aggressive of the pollens, is also already making itself felt.
In the event of further health-related questions, SWICA customers can contact the santé24 telemedicine service free of charge on +41 44 404 86 86. A telemedicine practice licence allows santé24 physicians to provide additional medical services in cases that are suited to a telemedicine approach. SWICA customers can also use the BENECURA medical app to carry out a digital SymptomCheck and receive recommendations about what to do next. During a subsequent phone call with santé24, customers can decide for themselves whether to release their information from SymptomCheck to santé24.
