You wouldn’t dream of driving whilst texting or holding a mobile phone would you, but what about sneezing? No really, with a runny nose, itchy eyes and regular bouts of sneezing would a motorist be passed fit to drive? Well, hayfever affects amost a fifth of the population in Britain and as the season reaches its height hundreds of thousands of drivers will be affected.
The trouble is that those who attempt remedies may be placing themselves in even greater danger.
A few years back researchers at the University of Iowa found that Motorists using over-the-counter remedies to fight hayfever may be a greater risk for causing traffic collisions than drunken drivers.
They focused on medication containing diphenhydramine, which is used to treat allergies. "First-generation antihistamines such as diphenhydramine are known to affect driving performance," said Dr John M Weiler, professor of internal medicine at the university and lead author of the study. "However, we were surprised to find that this antihistamine has more impact on driving performance than alcohol does."
In Britain hayfever is mainly caused by grass pollen, but also pollen from trees and oil seed rape crops have been cited as major culprits. However, hayfever and driving has never been taken particularly seriously. As yet there is no miracle cure for hayfever-suffering drivers and often it is negative and often impractical advice from the experts which can be distilled into a six-point plan.
1 - The pollen count is highest in the very early morning and late evening, so avoid driving at those times.
2 - Motorway verges harbour grass pollen. Drive with car windows shut and air vents closed, ideally with air conditioning.
3 - Wear sunglasses/glasses to protect the eyes from pollen grains.
4 - Shower regularly to wash away allergens and change clothes.
5 - Pets carry pollen in their fur, so avoid grooming them and carrying them in your car.
6 - Driving in the mountains or by the sea is more comfortable, as there is generally less pollen in these areas.
So if you suffer from the dreaded fever of the hay like I do, what do you do to make your driving less sneezy?
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There are simple remedies
As a person who has suffered from allergy and rhinitis for about 30 years, what it has worked best for me by far after testing many different products, has been acupuncture and some products sold in chemist's that you sniff in and create a protective layer in the inner part of the nose.
Specially with rhinitis, the problem is that the more that you blow your nose, the more sensitive your nose becomes, and the allergic process becomes increasinly discomforting. By using this kind of product at the very sign of nose discomfort, using it once or maybe twice a day reduces or even stops this discomfort and the whole process.
Another plus point is the price of these products, between 3€ and 5€. With a very little investment you can enjoy a sound relief for months.
I wish this information is useful for you guys!
Safer for sufferers
The Vit C is also helpful in high doses to give immune system support, ignore what your Doctor advises as he's just pushing what big pharma want to get you hooked on for life. They are more interested in profit and creating dependancy on drugs than cures.
It is ghastly to suffer ....