Spring yay! Nose oh no! 🌼🤧

Hip hip hooray, we have finally made it through the worst winter months. The sun is showing up more often, the trees are blooming, and there is that unmistakable scent of spring in the air. For many people this is the most beautiful time of the year.

But as the saying goes, one person’s joy is another person’s misery. While most of us enjoy the first warm days, for allergy sufferers the annual hay fever odyssey begins. Burning eyes, an itchy nose, sneezing fits and sometimes even shortness of breath suddenly become part of everyday life. And when your nose decides to work the night shift while the rest of your body is trying to sleep, frustration is not far away.

In short, you are incredibly tired, but your eyes, throat and nose feel as if they have just lost a fight with a field full of pollen. At that point, sleeping under the shower almost sounds like a reasonable idea.

To make the nights a little more bearable during pollen season, a few simple tricks can help.

Sleeping better with hay fever: measures that can help

1. Ventilate wisely

To keep the pollen level in the bedroom as low as possible, it is best to keep the window closed at night. Ventilate the room when fewer pollen are in the air:• In the city: between 6 and 8 in the morning• In the countryside: between 18 and 24 in the evening

Pollen forecast apps or rain radar apps can also help you find a good time to air out the room, especially during or shortly after a heavy rain shower.

2. Use pollen protection screens

If you prefer sleeping with the window open, you can install a special pollen protection screen on the bedroom window. Good models can keep up to 90 percent of pollen outside.

3. Use an air purifier

During periods of heavy pollen exposure, an air purifier in the bedroom can make a big difference. These devices filter pollen from the air. Many models also regulate humidity. A humidity level of about 50 to 60 percent can be very soothing for irritated airways.

4. Wash your hair in the evening

A lot of pollen collects in your hair during the day. Washing or at least rinsing your hair in the evening helps prevent pollen from ending up on your pillow during the night.

5. Change bed linen more often

During pollen season it helps to wash your sheets and pillowcases more frequently. This reduces the amount of pollen right where you spend many hours sleeping.

6. Do not undress in the bedroom

Pollen also sticks to clothing. It is best to change in the bathroom and put worn clothes directly into the laundry basket. And as hard as it may be, during pollen season dogs or outdoor cats should not sleep in the bedroom or in the bed. Their fur collects pollen outside as well.

7. No wildflower bouquets in the bedroom

As beautiful as a bouquet of wildflowers may look, it can worsen allergy symptoms in the bedroom. People with mugwort allergies sometimes also react to plants from the daisy family such as sunflowers or goldenrod.

With a few small adjustments, pollen season can at least become a little more manageable at night. And maybe there will still be enough energy left to enjoy spring after all. Tissues within reach, of course. 🌼🤧