Itchy, watery and swollen eyes, symptoms including shortness of breath: For some allergy sufferers, the hay fever season begins in winter. With a “huge temperature deviation” in the middle of the month, this year’s February even exceeds the average March, writes the German Pollen Information Service Foundation – and it is precisely this mild air that wakes up the early bloomers. Two experts from the foundation answer the most important questions about pollen counts.
Which pollens are in season now?
“We are in the middle of the pollen season,” says landscape ecologist and pollen analyst at the German Pollen Information Service Foundation, Matthias Werchan. The first pollen, such as hazel, usually appears around Christmas time – but it really starts when the concentrations rise and many people start to notice the pollen. According to the expert, that wasn’t so early this winter, only after the frost period towards the end of January. With the mild temperatures in a record-warm February, the alder pollen is now flying exceptionally early, says Werchan. “We are practically already over the zenith at the alder. Normally the main alder season doesn’t start until mid-February.”
In addition to the hazel and the alder, the yew trees are now also in bloom, although these only occasionally cause allergic symptoms. The poplars and elms as well as some ornamental trees were already blooming. The good news for allergy sufferers: The alder season has already reached its peak, even if the pollen concentration remains high in the north and east. “It’s not getting any worse now, it’s slowly getting better,” said Werchan.
What can I do if I suspect a pollen allergy?
Every allergy is no longer so bad if you know about it, says Karl-Christian Bergmann, allergist at the Berlin Charité and chairman of the German Pollen Information Service Foundation. If you have symptoms, those affected can go to an allergist and first discuss when the symptoms occur. There is also an allergy test or a blood test.
What helps quickly against hay fever?
According to the German Pollen Information Service Foundation, so-called antihistamines can help quickly. When allergens enter the body via the respiratory tract, they trigger a defense reaction. Among other things, histamine is released, which irritates the tissue so much that it is called an allergic reaction. Antihistamines then prevent the effects of histamine; they can be given in the form of tablets or with sprays or drops directly into the nose or eyes.
Allergist Bergmann recommends drops and sprays that have fewer side effects. However, medications are only suitable as a decongestant for a few days. It is absolutely necessary to discuss further steps with your family doctor or allergist.
Even if you have symptoms but don’t yet know you have an allergy, you can try an anti-allergic medication, says Bergmann. If that helps, an allergy is suspected.
All allergies are no longer so bad if you know about them, says allergist Karl-Christian Bergmann. : Image: private
Which home remedies help with hay fever?
Bergmann’s tips include rinsing your nose with a saline solution. Using filters in the car and installing a pollen screen from the hardware store in front of the window at home – if you want to sleep with the window open – also protect against hay fever. Glasses with frames on the side could also help with eye problems.
If there is a heavy pollen count and the associated symptoms, there is another tip that has been tested at the Charité – namely, to wear a simple medical mask outside. This significantly alleviates the symptoms. “You don’t need any medication, you just use the mask,” says Bergmann.
Bergmann does not recommend one frequently cited tip because it is completely untested: washing your hair. “There is not a single study in the international literature that has tested hair washing as a method for reducing symptoms of hay fever,” says Bergmann.
What helps best against a pollen allergy in the long term?
According to the German Pollen Information Service Foundation, immunotherapy is currently the only form of therapy that can influence the degree of symptoms and the course of hay fever. If left untreated, around one in three hay fever cases would gradually turn into allergic asthma within years. This initially only occurs during the pollen season, but later also outside the season.
The classic form of immunotherapy involves injections under the skin. Here the patient is injected with increasing concentrations of pollen allergens under the skin in the upper arm. The immunotherapy begins so early, around three to four months before the respective pollen appears, that antibodies are already present when flowering begins. If you have a birch pollen allergy, treatment is best started in September. It can significantly alleviate the symptoms of a pollen allergy because it combats the cause.
Matthias Werchan at the Berlin pollen trap of the German Pollen Information Service Foundation: Image: ECARF/Schicke
There is also another form of therapy in which the allergen is taken using drops and tablets. It has the advantage that severe side effects do not occur, says Bergmann. Allergists advise about hypersensitivity, onset, duration and possible side effects.
Can a pollen allergy go away again?
You don’t have to have hay fever forever. Normally you have fewer symptoms as you get older, even if the antibodies are still present, says Bergmann. But that doesn’t protect you from developing hay fever in your 50s, 60s or 70s. But we don’t yet know why this is the case. Age does not play a role in the treatment. “You can still treat hay fever just as well; we also treat people over 75 with immunotherapy,” says Bergmann.
How does a pollen allergy develop?
Anyone who has a pollen allergy reacts hypersensitively to the substances released from the pollen. These allergens are harmless to non-allergic people, but allergy sufferers produce antibodies, “specific IgE antibodies”. If they meet again, an allergic reaction can occur, according to the German Pollen Information Service Foundation. Typical complaints include watery and itchy eyes, runny nose, shortness of breath, headaches or even fatigue.
Hereditary predisposition plays a major role in hay fever and allergic asthma, according to the pollen information service. For children whose parents suffer from allergic reactions, the risk of developing an allergy is particularly high.
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How reliable are pollen count forecasts?
Forecasts are only reliable as far in advance as a weather forecast, says Werchan. Seven days are relatively easy to predict – the German Pollen Information Service Foundation also publishes a weekly forecast. It is difficult to predict what the weather will be like in more than two weeks. “We of course know from previous years when which trees start to bloom,” says Werchan.
Nevertheless, no more than an approximate prediction is possible. “Some people have the confidence to do that, but it’s not really serious,” says Werchan. Long-term weather models are also often wrong. “You can be right, but it’s often just looking into the crystal ball.” However, it is important for those affected to find out what pollen is currently in the air. The daily pollen risk index, a map from the German Weather Service, also provides information about the most allergologically important pollen.
When is the strongest pollen count over?
The German Pollen Information Service Foundation will only look at this when the season is over. In February you could already say that the alder pollen season was pretty strong this year, says Werchan. The rain prevents things from getting worse for allergy sufferers. “In some places we even have the wettest winter since records began, and February is also very wet.” These are actually unfavorable pollen conditions. But: “The dry hours or days in connection with wind and mild air quickly led to the return of high pollen levels after the rain passed through this year’s strong alder blossom,” says Werchan. Those affected could go out in the morning and think that they don’t have to struggle with their allergy today – and in the evening the stress levels are high again.