Hay Fever Seasons.

Hay fever has seasons because different people are allergic to different pollens, and pollens from trees, grasses, flowers and fungal spores all come at different times of the year. If symptoms don't follow a seasonal pattern they may be due to other allergens in the house such as house dust mite, pet dust, and food allergy or intolerance which can cause the same symptoms as hay fever, or act as a sensitiser.

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Hay Fever Information

Hay Fever Products
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Hay Fever Season ::

Seasonal Hay Fever

Seasonal hay fever is what we all think about when we use the words 'hay fever', and it has been called a summer cold. The most common cause of hay fever is an allergy to wind-borne pollen or spores, so the timing of symptoms coincides with the release of the pollen that you are sensitive to. Insect pollinated plants do not usually cause much of a problem for hay fever sufferers as the pollen is sticky and is carried around by insects.

The Hay Fever Calendar

The Hay Fever Calendar. Click here to see the UK pollen calendar on the Care web site

You can be sensitive to just one or two types of pollen, and so your pattern of symptoms may be different to someone else's. The exact timing can vary slightly from year to year, depending on how the weather effects pollen production. Also the warmer conditions in the south produce pollen earlier than in the north, but the general pattern is the same each year. Town and cities have different pollen mixtures to the countryside, depending on what plants grow locally.

Very high pollen counts can produce symptoms in some people who do not normally show hay fever symptoms, and so may only experience discomfort every few year.

Spring Hay Fever Is Caused By Tree Pollen

Birch tree pollen is the most important allergic tree pollen in the UK, affecting about 1 in 4 hay fever sufferers. Symptoms can begin suddenly as birch pollen is released from Mid March to mid May, and lasts about 4 weeks in any one area. Birch pollen can also prime you to react to similar pollens, such as alder and hazel, which release pollen as early as January. Such priming of your immune system increases your reaction to birch pollen, so minimising this effect can help reduce symptoms. Birch trees tend to have alternating high and low pollen producing years, and so symptoms can vary between years.

Oak tree pollen affects about 1 in 5, and produces high levels of pollen about every fifth year, such that sufferers may only have symptoms every fifth year, and not realise they are allergic to oak pollen.

Summer Hay Fever Is Caused By Grass & Weed Pollens

Grass pollen allergy affects 95% of hay fever sufferers, causing a peak in symptoms when it is released between May and August.

Weed pollens affect about 1 in 5 hay fever sufferers, and are mainly caused by nettle, dock and mugwort.

Autumn Hay Fever Is Caused By Fungal Spores

Fungal spores affect about 1 in 5, causing symptoms in late summer and autumn, peaking during September and October.

Non-Seasonal Hay Fever

Some people suffer hay fever symptoms all year round, due to an allergy to things other than pollen in their environment.

House dust mite is a minute insect living in most of our homes, and feeding on dust (which consists mainly of human skin cells). Its droppings easily get into the air, and we breathe them in

Pet dust - in actual fact dead skin cells and hair particles from our beloved pets are dropping all around your house all the time

Food allergy or food intolerance to a food or a reaction to a food additive, flavouring or colouring, which can cause hay fever symptoms, or it can prime the body to react to other allergens, to which it would not normally be sensitive.

Other causes of symptoms can include reactions to alcohol, smoke, stress, some medicines and many other household and industrial triggers.