Allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, hay fever

Last updated on: 8 April 2019 | Released on: 21 April 2017

When the cause is dust mites or house dust

It is important to remove “antigens” such as dust mites and mold from the living environment. Key points to indoor environmental management are frequent cleaning, humidity and temperature control, and regular care of bedding.

When pollen is the cause

It is important to avoid pollen, which is the “antigen.” To do so, gather information on when pollen counts are high, and how you can avoid contact.

When is a lot of pollen in the air?

In Tokyo, the cedar and cypress pollen season is from February to early May. Airborne pollen increases gradually, with cedar peaking in March and cypress in April.
In general, there is more pollen in the air when the weather is as follows.

  1. Daily maximum temperature is high.
  2. First day of sun after a rain.
  3. Sunny, windy, dry day.

Be particularly careful on warm days with a strong south wind, as pollen counts are especially high.

Pollen calendar

How to avoid pollen

When going out

When going out during pollen season, wear a mask and glasses to avoid getting pollen in your eyes and nose. Wearing a hat is also effective. When coming inside, thoroughly brush away pollen which has adhered to your clothing and hair before entering the house. Then gargle and wash your hands and face.

Cleaning, laundry, and futon drying

Be careful to avoid letting pollen into your house.
When cleaning, it is effective to use a damp rag to wipe surfaces in addition to using a vacuum cleaner.
During pollen season, dry clothes indoors as much as possible. When drying your futons, use a futon dryer device for best results. If you hang futons to air outdoors, use a vacuum cleaner on their surfaces afterwards to remove some degree of pollen.

Next: Treatment

Treatment

Medication to alleviate symptoms

Before symptoms appear

An effective preventative method is to start taking symptom-relieving medication (oral allergy medication with few side effects) before pollen season or when symptoms are still slight. Continuing to take this medication throughout pollen season will help symptoms remain relatively mild. The important thing is to pay attention to pollen count information and start this measure before symptoms become severe.

Once symptoms have appeared

Management mainly consists of using symptom-relieving medication (antihistamines and other allergy medication). When symptoms are severe, steroid nasal sprays may be used. For itching and watery eyes, anti-allergy eye drops may be used.

Radical treatment of hay fever

Allergen immunotherapy holds promise as a radical treatment for hay fever caused by cedar pollen.
In Japan, this therapy was available as subcutaneous injection (allergy shots). However, due to the need for more than 2 years of repeated hospital visits to receive the shots, this method did not become widely popular.
Therefore, we conducted clinical trials (June 2006 – April 2009) into sublingual immunotherapy for cedar pollen hay fever, for the purpose of developing a more convenient, accessible method of radical treatment. Our results indicated that symptoms disappeared or were alleviated in about 70% of patients, demonstrating efficacy of the treatment. In autumn of 2014, sublingual immunotherapy for cedar pollen hay fever was approved for insurance coverage.
Compared to subcutaneous injections, sublingual therapy requires fewer hospital visits, can be done at home, causes less pain, and has few serious side effects. However, this treatment cannot be started when hay fever symptoms have already appeared. For details, consult your doctor.