I always find it hard to sleep when the weather gets warmer, it's always roasting in our bedroom and suffering with hay fever just adds to my problems. Having a a blocked and runny nose, sneezing and itchy eyes is no fun at all and it always seems worse when I wake up on a morning.
You would think that hay fever would ease off during the night but have you heard of the pollen shower phenomenon? This is when during the day hot air rises and pollen is carried alongside it. At night the air cools down and the pollen then falls with the air, so this is why you are more likely to wake up with hay fever symptoms.
Sleeping with hay fever and allergies is no fun at all but as the old saying goes prevention is better than cure. So here are some ideas to stop hay fever and allergies ruining your sleep.
Take an antihistamine 30 minutes before going to bed.
This will help keep allergies at bay throughout the night, allowing for a more peaceful sleep.
Don’t dry clothes on an outside washing line.
When coping with hay fever symptoms you might need to change some of your washing habits. After doing the wash avoid drying your clothes pj's and your bedsheets outside on the line in the fresh air where dust and pollen might settle on them. Instead, use a tumble dryer or indoor airer's to dry them.
Vacuum your mattress.
Every week, vacuum your mattress. To be absolutely certain that absolutely no traces of allergies are left to haunt your dreams, you should hoover your mattress once a week. And remember to flip it over so you can vacuum both sides.
Put a spare sheet over your duvet.
By covering your duvet you create a pollen barrier that will help keep allergens from accumulating on your mattress. Just take it off before going to bed.
Shower before bed.
While you are outside pollen has a chance of sticking to your hair and getting on your pillowcase. The easiest approach to keep pollen out of your bedroom is to wash your hair every evening. As an alternative, you may try using a leave-in conditioner, which will make it more difficult for pollen to stick to your hair during the day.
Keep your bedroom window closed.
This may seem like an obvious one but keep your windows shut during the day and at night to stop pollen from getting into the bedroom. If you sleep with the window open you are just letting pollen in. As I mentioned earlier, pollen isn’t just active when the sun’s out. To help keep your bedroom cool, close you curtains during warm days and invest in a fan, you can get quiet one's which won't disturb your sleep.
Go to bed earlier.
If you can, go to bed earlier. Hay fever symptoms tend to worsen in the early hours of the morning, so perhaps having an early night to counteract this disturbed sleep may help.
Invest in an air purifier.
Air purifiers improve the air we breathe by trapping and removing airborne pollutants in the home, such as dust mites, pollen and pet hair, so they are ideal for hay fever sufferers.
Have you any tips to share?
Absolutely great ideas. I wear lenses in the summer and hate the pollen itch
ReplyDeleteI have 2 air purifiers and they are great. I have one downstairs and another one upstairs. It's doing a good job. It's interesting to know about the spare sheet over the duvet, I never heard about that one before.
ReplyDeleteThese are great ideas and now I understand why some days I tend to sneeze about ten times in the morning when I get out of bed. I didn't have many allergies in the spring but for some reason winter allergies have hit me this time. My eyes are itchy and my nose gets blocked all the time. So annoying!
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