Headaches | Symptoms of hay fever

Headaches

Headaches with hay fever are usually caused by the sinuses. The pollen that the person breathes in through the nose gets stuck there and triggers an inflammatory reaction. This also affects the paranasal sinuses, where mucus accumulates that is difficult to drain off.

This creates pressure in the sinuses, which can spread to the entire head in the form of headaches. Drinking a lot helps against headaches. In this way the mucus liquefies and flows off better.

Shortness of breath

In hay fever, the body reacts excessively to pollen. These are inhaled and settle in the airways and lungs. The body then starts its immune defense and releases various substances to fight the pollen.

This inflammatory reaction, however, also leads to a swelling of the mucous membranes. This leads to acute shortness of breath. However, blocked paranasal sinuses and a constantly running nose also cause breathing difficulties.

This is not as sudden as the swelling of the airways, but nevertheless leads to reduced physical performance. Similar topics that might interest you: Asthmatic attackWhen asthma occurs in connection with hay fever, it is called allergic asthma. Here, foreign substances such as pollen trigger an immune reaction in the bronchial system, i.e. the smallest airways in the lungs.

Due to the body’s excessively strong defensive reaction, the mucous membrane in the bronchial tubes swells. The tiny airways can thus be completely blocked. As a rule, the hay fever-like symptoms begin with watery eyes and a runny nose. Over the course of several years, a so-called change of levels takes place in which not only the upper but also the lower respiratory tract reacts to the pollen.

Nosebleeds

In people suffering from hay fever, proteins foreign to the body (usually components of pollen) trigger an allergic reaction. This leads to swelling of the mucous membrane in the nose.As a rule, blood circulation improves because the body wants to transport many so-called inflammation mediators into the nasal mucosa, which are supposed to fight pollen there. In addition, a lot of mucus is produced, which should transport the pollen out of the nose again. As a result, the nose of affected persons usually runs, which leads to frequent nose blowing and thus to irritation of the nasal mucous membrane. The combination of irritated mucous membrane and good blood circulation favors the bursting of the smallest blood vessels, which causes increased nosebleeds.