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Managing Hay Fever Symptoms
Dr Charlotte Astin • 24 June 2022
How to make sure hay fever doesn't ruin your summer plans
This time of year, hay fever is a common complaint amongst our patients - and our staff! Nowadays, more and more people are developing hay fever, often with no significant past history of symptoms.
Before you consider seeing your GP there are lots of things you can do to help relieve your symptoms:
Do look at nhs.uk
and patient.co.uk
for information about symptoms and self-management.
Antihistamines
are the mainstay of treatment and can be bought from any supermarket or pharmacy. A once daily antihistamine is best as the effect lasts 24 hours and they are non-drowsy. Examples include:
• Cetirizine, 10mg, once daily
• Loratadine, 10mg, once daily
• Fexofenadine, 120mg, once daily
• Cetirizine and loratadine are available in liquid form for children aged >2.
• Piriton – used for children aged <2, or in addition to a once daily tablet at night time for worsening symptoms. Piriton lasts 4-6 hours and is a DROWSY preparation.
Antihistamines should be taken daily and consistently. Remember - it may take up to SEVEN days before it reaches the maximum effect.
Some people require additional treatment when a daily antihistamine is not sufficient to improve symptoms. Other treatments include allergy eye drops, and a steroid nasal spray. These can be bought from any supermarket or pharmacy.
Eye drops
can be used up to FOUR times daily.
Don't be put off using a nasal spray as they are an effective method to ease symptoms. To get the best effect from a steroid nasal spray do follow these instructions:
1. Rid your nose and sinuses from as much mucus as possible BEFORE using the spray – either with blowing your nose, saline washes, or a decongestant (for a maximum of 5-7 days) You can ask your local pharmacist for advice.
2. Two sprays should be administered in each nostril AND THEN drop your head down between your knees (easiest done when sitting). Remain in this position for one minute to allow drainage of the liquid into the correct area. Sit up SLOWLY afterwards and ensure any dizziness has resolved before getting up. Alternatively lie flat and tip the head upwards if you are able.
3. It can take SEVEN days of this regime before an effect is noticed.
4. Once it is working you can stop using the decongestant/saline washes.
5. When symptoms have settled you can use one spray twice daily.
We do get a lot of requests regarding steroid injections for hay fever, but these are sadly NOT available on the NHS. There is, however, evidence is that the risks of this treatment outweigh any benefits.
I hope this helps to make sure you can get the most of your Summer without letting hay fever get in the way. The above advice is a great place to start if you have symptoms and any of our local Pharmacies can provide you with further advice and guidance on the right type of treatment to help your symptoms. However, if you have tried all the above but are still experiencing symptoms please do access our minor illness pathway via www.Doctorlink.com/patient or contact us using your Systm Online or Airmid app or calling 01249 821831 and booking an appointment.
Online Services are a fantastic way for our Patients to get in contact with the team here at Patford House Partnership. There are multiple ways in which you are able to access our services through online means. Whether you are checking your symptoms, booking an appointment, ordering medication, checking your blood test results, checking in to your appointment or even touching base with your clinician our online services can provide you with a virtual Receptionist service to suit your needs. We use several NHS Digital approved platforms such as PATCHs, NHS App, SystmOnline and Airmid and these all can be synced to use the same login details as they use the same interlinked NHS digital platform - all of these services are also directly linked to your clinical record... What does this mean for you? This means that if you send an online message to one of our fantastic clinical or administrative staff or order medication or upload a file, this will all appear instantly in your digital records! We are often asked - why can't you just have one platform which does everything? Well, we certainly would love this, and we know that NHS Digital are working closely with digital partners to help make this dream a reality. In the meantime, linked applications are the best option available. There can be a lot of confusion around our online services and sometimes they can be difficult to get on board with. Patients will often comment that they aren't technically minded, but with the linked applications bringing all our platforms together there is no need for technical know-how. Our PPG have written a great article about what to use for which situation and this is available here . Working with our Patients, we know that getting started and navigating the online platforms can be daunting. Here at Patford House Partnership we offer a walk-alongside service where any of our patient experience staff members (call handlers and reception team) will be able to talk you through how to use the online services over the phone or face to face in Practice. In addition, we offer a drop in session at Calne Library every other Thursday for anyone who might need our help - just bring along your phone, laptop or handheld device and we will be pleased to spend as much time as you need to help you gain skills and confidence in using our online platforms. We can assist with the following online applications: SystmOnline Airmid UK app NHS App PATCHs Although it does feel daunting at first, we have a track record of getting Patients online in no time, so why not challenge us!? Come and see us in the Library or ask at Reception to make an appointment to see myself Isaac Moyse or my Patient Engagement colleague Paula Oakley and we look forward to seeing you!
We are often asked by patients if they should bring a urine sample with them to their appointment. So I have put together a quick guide and I hope it helps. Firstly, it's important to remember that all tests are diagnostic tools for your clinician. They help your clinician decide which is the right course of treatment for you. Urine samples will be dipped by the clinician or the nursing team on site. This result is logged on the patient record and if required the sample will be sent to the laboratory in one of our daily collections. Ideally, we would like our samples to be taken on the earlier collection of the day so that we have enough time for the Patford House Partnership nursing team to process the specimen, ensure it is correctly reported and labelled and made ready for transfer to the laboratory. For this reason, our Reception teams are unable to accept samples for processing after 11.00 am . However, if you are attending for a consultation after this time, please do take your urine sample to your appointment with you. Samples that are being dropped off in Reception or through the Practice letter box must be: Clearly labelled with the patient's name and DOB (as a minimum) Provided in one of our specimen pots. We have these and funnels available in our Reception on all three sites In a clear self-seal sandwich bag, these are available from Reception or you can supply your own Accompanied by our symptom slip - this is a form which is available from Reception and identifies why you have brought in your sample Where samples are dropped off without the above, it may be necessary to discard them or they may be delayed or risk not being processed at all. It is not always necessary to send your urine sample off to the lab to be processed, however you can see the results of any diagnostic test on your Systm Online, NHS App or Airmid account in real time. This means that, as soon as it has been reported on by your clinician, you will also be able to see it from your online account. You can also see the clinicians notes, who will note down the next steps and your treatment options. If you do not have access to your medical records, speak to our Patient Experience Team either on the phone or in Reception, who will be happy to assist you. We request lots of urine sample for all sorts of different reasons. The most common reason is to check for a urine infection and the second most common is to check on kidney function when completing annual reviews. We typically don't need patients to bring in a urine sample unless they have been asked to do so by their clinician or they are attending an annual review. If you have been requested to book in for an annual review for hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart disease or previous stroke/TIA it is important that you bring a urine sample with you to this appointment to complete your review. Ideally, this sample should be the first sample of the day. I hope this helps to explain some of the reasons why we need a urine sample and when we may request one. However, here is a link to more information to explain in more detail why we need an annual urine sample for some patients https://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/siemens_hcp_acr