Allergies, Anaphylaxis, Eczema, Topical Steroid Withdrawal & Asthma

Top 10 Health Blogs 2022 Top 10 Health Blogs 2021 Free From Hero 2021 Top 10 Health Blogs 2020 Best Blogs Award 2020 20th in the Top 60 UK Health Blogs Best Free From Blog 2014
  • Home
  • About
    • In the news!
    • Advocate
    • Testimonials
  • Books
    • Anaphylaxis – The Essential Guide.
    • The Shape of Skin
  • TSW
  • Advertise
  • Discounts
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

50% more people have hay fever this year

02/07/2017 by Ruth Holroyd 7 Comments

Is your hay fever getting worse? Or do you have it now for the first time as an adult? A recent study revealed that there has indeed been quite a staggering rise.

We all love the summer, but that warm, dry weather brings with it clouds of pollen, dust and hay fever; spring and summer can be miserable for those who have hay fever.

I’ve noticed that just in my circle of friends and allergy community many of us have seen a worsening in symptoms, terrible hay fever and also loads of people getting it for either the first time or the first time in years.

A recent study revealed that there has indeed been quite a staggering rise.

Read ‘Visits to GPs show 50% increase in hayfever‘ on the HuffPost website

The article begins by stating that, “Hay fever cases in England have reached their highest level so far this year, and are just under 50% higher compared to this time in 2016, the latest weekly figures from the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Research and Surveillance Centre show.”

230% increase in hay fever…

That’s a 230% increase… but what’s the reason?

  1. Warmer drier weather for the seasons means more pollen
  2. Hay fever seasons seem to be extending, trees pollinate more for longer
  3. Very little rain to soak up the pollen – so it’s dry and stays on the surface to blow around
  4. More city landscaping, trapping pollen on hard surfaces
  5. Trends toward more decking and hard floors in gardens – pollen is absorbed into soil
  6. Council planting strategies favour high pollen trees over fruiting (less mess to clear up)
  7. Five year trends do see spikes in symptom cycles like this
  8. And I could go on…

Why is there such a huge increase in hay fever?

I plan to produce a blog about why this is happening shortly, the article above, whilst very interesting, doesn’t offer any insight into why this phenomon is occuring or what you can do if you’re one of the many people who have severe hay fever. If you’re like me, you want answers, you want to understand why, so you can at least reassure yourself you’re not to blame. Your super immune system is just over reacting again in a quite spectacular way. It’s being quite clever really so do be proud of your body. It’s trying to help you out, it’s just failing rather miserably to do so…

What can you do in your own garden to reduce hay fever?

I learnt loads about this last year when I was on Country File Diaries in a hay fever special. You can read the top 20 things I learnt here in 20 things you can do to reduce your hay fever...

So there could be many factors, leaving us still with no real cure or treatment. Anti histamines and sprays and eye drops do help but they only take the edge off the symptoms.

Tips and advice for those with hay fever

For more help, tips and ideas to help you reduce your symptoms, please read my other hay fever blogs here.
For those who crave an active outdoor lifestyle it’s time to man up and get out there. Go prepared and take whatever precautions you can because this super pollen is nasty and it’s out to get you!

Please also listen to me on 5 Live talking to Sam Walker and Chris Warburton on Sunday Breakfast about this very phenomenon.

Listen live for 27 days

Has your hay fever been worse? or have you or your child just got it for the first time this year?

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

Related posts:

Don't sit under trees during pollen season - choose umbrellas or wide brimmed hats20 things you can do to reduce hay fever symptoms hay feverHay fever affects almost half of UK population Super Pollen and Thunder FeverWhat is Super Pollen and Thunder Fever?

Filed Under: Allergies, Asthma, Hay Fever Tagged With: hay fever, hay fever on the increase, hayfever, rise in hay fever, super pollen, thunder fever

About Ruth Holroyd

Author of 'Anaphylaxis: The Essential Guide: An Action Plan For Living With Life-Threatening Allergies' and 'The Shape of Skin, both available as paperback or Kindle on Amazon. Ruth is a Writer, Blogger and Patient Expert in allergies, asthma, anaphylaxis, eczema and topical steroid withdrawal.

Comments

  1. Daryl jackson says

    02/07/2017 at 7:27 am

    I live in the US and yes I have been new to this allergy thing I am about four years in and it make me miserable some days. I also suffer from chronic rhinitis which does not help matters. Realizing that my super immune symptom is what overreacting has been one thing I am trying to understand.Thank you for that paragraph on the immune system. It is easy to think some thing is wrong with me especially when the immune systems goes in over drive. So it is not the U.K. I believe this global wide. Anything u can help me with please post. At this time I am doing it all medicine wise with no long term relief

    Reply
    • Ruth says

      02/07/2017 at 7:58 am

      Hi Daryl, I think you’re probably right. Not just a UK thing, and probably global. We can’t stop it so we have to learn to live with it. If you’re in the US, can you get allergy shots? In the UK it’s quite expensive to get and because I have asthma too doctors won’t consider it. Duh… the allergies cause the asthma, seems dumb right? Go figure. I’ve gone all American. I have found many little things but you really just have to get through it. But try this one: https://whatallergy.com/2016-05/20-things-you-can-do-to-reduce-hay-fever-symptoms

      Reply
      • Birgit Ditto says

        15/08/2017 at 3:59 pm

        Hi, Ruth is there any way you can contact me. I would like to share a video with you. I think I found something that could help people relieve their symptoms without medication. If you want to learn more about it after watching the video we can talk and I can answer all your questions.

        Reply
  2. Jacquie says

    04/07/2017 at 9:26 pm

    Please can I add, along with pollen, Mould spores, which are endemic at this time of year. Please look at Aerobiology Unit at University of Worcester website who publish pollen and mould counts. Symptoms are similar but one can become very unwell .Dry spores are released in large quantities in hot dry weather and humid nights. xx Jacquie

    Reply
    • Ruth Holroyd says

      04/07/2017 at 9:28 pm

      Jacquie, what a wonderful resource! Thank you so much for sharing. I often wonder when we will get actual pollen counts that tell us exactly what pollen is ‘high’. For anyone who wants to check, the website for the university is: https://www.worc.ac.uk/discover/national-pollen-and-aerobiology-research-unit.html

      Reply
  3. Ruth Holroyd says

    04/07/2017 at 9:31 pm

    If you would like to listen to the Radio 5 Live coverage about the rise in hay fever patients, It was broadcast on Sunday 2nd July at about 6.50am… nice and early. But it was a very good piece, well delivered and some good advice. Never enough time though so you’ll have to read all my blogs for all the information.

    Reply
  4. Ruth Holroyd says

    04/07/2017 at 9:33 pm

    Go here to listen and scroll to about minute 6.53 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmvy4

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to my blog!

https://whatallergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_2853.mp4

Hello, I’m Ruth, author and blogger

Ruth

 

Hi I'm Ruth. I've grown up with eczema and multiple life-threatening allergies and collected more as I've got older.  It started with a peanut allergy and now I'm allergic to milk, wheat, soya and many more. In this blog I share tips, advice and things I've learnt living with allergies, asthma and eczema with a focus on topical steroid withdrawal. You can buy my books, which are brilliant by the way! The first is Anaphylaxis: The essential guide and the second, The Shape of Skin, healing poems for eczema and sensitive skin. The reviews speak for themselves. If you want to chat you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (links below). Do get in touch. And please comment on blogs, it makes a humble blogger do a little happy dance!

Subscribe today for Free Resources

Share and Connect

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Allergies Anaphylaxis Asthma Awards Coeliac Cold Sores Cooking Digestion Eating Out Eczema FreeFrom Awards Hay Fever Indoor Allergies Industry News Mental Health Natural remedies Nutrition Poetry Product Review Rant Recipes Restaurant Review Skin care Topical Steroid Withdrawal Travelling Vegan

The Shape of Skin – poetry for eczema

The Shape of Skin poetry for eczemaThe Shape of Skin

Strange, striking and sensitive poems for people with eczema, psoriasis, topical steroid withdrawal and troubled skin.

Readers comments include: "Powerful, relatable, Absolutely bloody fantastic (pun intended)..."

Buy it now on Amazon

Buy ‘The Anaphylaxis Guide’ Now

Anaphylaxis - the essential guideAnaphylaxis - The Essential Guide. An action plan for living with life threatening allergies.

"This book is such a great wealth of information and a delight to read! A must read for anyone with allergies or connected to an allergy sufferer. Congratulations!" Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, Natasha Foundation

Find out more

get help - in distress?

Pollen Free Flowers and Plants

Read my blog, "Allergen and pollen free, artificial plants for your home"Faux la fleur artificial pollen free plants

Please Review my book on Goodreads

Ruth Holroyd's books on Goodreads
The Reluctant Allergy Expert: How to kill the fear that anaphylaxis could kill you The Reluctant Allergy Expert: How to kill the fear that anaphylaxis could kill you
reviews: 3
ratings: 3 (avg rating 5.00)

Get Free Resources

Get Free Resources

  • Food, Mood and Symptoms Diary
  • Topical Steroid Withdrawal handout for doctors
  • Anaphylaxis Action Plan
  • 50 x Food Real Challenge
  • Eat the Rainbow Food Challenge
  • More coming soon!

Click here to Subscribe and you'll receive a link to download!

Follow What Allergy on TikTok

For even more hilarious content, check out my new TikTok account

tiktok logo

Chocolate, cake mixes & more – Top14 Free

Read my product review for Gnawbles, like Maltesers and Ferrero Rocher rolled into one.

Gnawbles freefrom top 14 allergens

Use Coupon Code WHATALLERGY10 FOR 10% OFF everything you buy!

Natural skincare for Eczema / TSW

Balmonds Natural SkincareBalmonds Natural Skincare - Use code: WHATALLERGY for 20% off

Testimonials

Find out why people love this blog!

“I think your blog is fab – I send it to everyone who has skin problems and allergies.” 
Sarah

Read more testimonials here.

Archives – Find old blog posts

Mental Health

Set intentions not resolutions for 2024

Why do we think eczema is ugly?

OMG! Me in a film on eczema and mental health

Eating Out

My coffee shop allergy – reacting to milk vapour?

Coeliacs and Vegans have it easy

Milk and wheat allergen free fish and chips

Asthma

Do you need Health Insurance for Allergies & Asthma?

Did Covid cause asthma and eczema flare?

What if you couldn’t have your Ventolin inhaler?

Copyright © 2025 · Terms Of Use · Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · [footer_Privacy_Policy #"privacy policy"] Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in