【Hay fever】 Causes, symptoms, and treatments

Contrary to the joy when the weather warms up, many of you are also interested in information about pollen, right? In Japan, about 1 in 4 people are allergic against pollen and this rate increases every year.

“It’s not the time to enjoy going out because of pollen!”

“I need to check the pollen forecast everyday, really fed up with the “lots of pollen scattering” information”

“Even though I only get the same medicine every time, the waiting time at hospitals and pharmacies are long and troublesome …”

If you have those problems, why don’t you take measures with OHDr. and spend a comfortable spring this year?

In this opportunity, we will introduce the causes, symptoms, and treatment methods for hay fever.

What is hay fever?

Hay fever is caused by the contact of plant pollen with mucous membranes, such as the nose and eyes.

I didn’t have any problem until last year, but suddenly I started to have symptoms such as itching on eyes and throat, sneezing, and runny nose… those are symtomps of hay fever.

Causes of hay fever

In Japan, it is reported that about 60 kinds of plants cause hay fever.

The main allergens are sugi, cypress (hinoki), Dactylis, timothy, ragweed, birch, etc..

In Japan, there are many people who are allergic to sugi and cypress scattered when spring comes, so the image of “spring = hay fever” tends to be strong, but it is not unusual for other pollinosis to occur in other seasons.

If you notice that your eyes and nose are itchy, or you can’t stop sneezing almost all year round, we recommend you to take a thorough examination.

Symptoms of hay fever

Symptoms of hay fever are often accompanied by not only the three major symptoms on the nose (sneezing, runny nose, stuffy nose), but also symptoms on the eyes (itching eyes, tears, conjunctivitis/bloodshot eyes, etc.), as well as itching throat and skin, diarrhea, fever may also appear.

Once onset, many people will have symptoms during the hay fever season every year, and those with severe illness may have a stuffy nose that cause disturbance when sleeping, fatigue that can lower motivation, and may interfere their daily lives.

Treatment for hay fever

There are two types of treatment for hay fever: symptomatic treatment, which aims to control the symptoms, and radical treatment, which aims to cure hay fever itself.

For symptomatic treatment, oral medicines such as antihistamines and steroids, eye drops, and nasal drops are generally used. On the other hand, the radical treatment includes Sugi pollen sublingual immunotherapy.

There is also a method called initial treatment, such as taking the medicine early every year before the onset of symptoms.

Benefits of using an OHDr. in the treatment of hay fever

Since OHDr. provides online medical treatment, you can receive medical treatment anywhere if you have a device such as a smartphone or a computer, and internet environment.

We can also deliver medicines to your home (※shipping fee is required), so everything from appointments to receiving medicines can be completed easily at home. Because there is no waiting time, and people with small children or those who are afraid to go out because of COVID-19 can feel relieved.

We also offer consultations in five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indonesian, so even those who come to Japan from overseas do not need to worry about language barrier while taking examination.

If you are suffering from hay fever that repeats every year, please feel free to contact us!

OHDr.のスタッフが、オンライン診察、医療相談、病院のご紹介など、ご相談者様にとって適切な受診方法をご案内させていただきます。