A Salty Solution for Hay Fever

What is Hay Fever?

An interesting facet of the human body is its ability to make mistakes. Your eyes are not the only thing you can fool given the right conditions. As it turns out, you can also fool your immune system into thinking you are under attack.

This strange phenomenon is known as hay fever.  In medical terms is called allergic rhinitis or respiratory allergy. Allergy is when you develop a set of symptoms when you inhale or ingest  seemingly harmless particles.

These particles are known as allergens, and they differ from person to person, depending on many factors. For some, it’s animal dander. For others, it could be pollen. There are even those that get attacked by hay fever from dust bunnies.

In small amounts, these allergens do not pose any sort of realistic threat to someone’s health. Nevertheless, there are situations when the immune system would think is under attack. As a result, it will begin to take action in order to deal with the “foreign invader”.

This action (also known as hay fever symptoms) could include sneezing, coughing, runny nose, itching and eyes irritation. These symptoms can be strong enough to produce great discomfort and prevent sleep.

Remedies for Hay Fever

Fortunately, there are drugs specifically created for these purposes. These are known as antihistamine drugs. Antihistamines help to control the body’s response to allergens and diminish the symptoms.  They come in sprays or tablets.

However, there could be many side-effects from using these for a long time. Also they do not deal with the cause of the problem. As soon as the antihistamine wears of and you get exposed to your allergens, the symptoms return. The only way you can really eliminate allergic rhinitis is to build up your resistance against these allergens. This is not impossible!

One treatment has been known to reduce the symptoms and increase the resistance to allergens. Clinical studies have shown great results using halotherapy in respiratory allergies.

What is Salt Therapy?

Halotherapy, or salt therapy, is a method of treatment using breathable salt particles.  By inhaling microscopic salt particles they penetrate deep into the lungs and the small airways. Salt is known to have mukolytic effect – this will help with clearing the secretion and the allergens from the respiratory system.  It helps also to heal the irritation and reduces inflammation in the respiratory mucosa.

Long term exposure to salt therapy helps to desensitize the respiratory mucosa to allergens. This provides increased immunity and eases the allergic symptoms.

Salt therapy can be used at home using an ultrasonic salinizer or salt machine. This machine releases tiny particles of salt into the indoor air for breathing. It is recommended to use it during your sleep hours, to get 7-8 hours exposure. This will help to sooth and calm the irritation, clear the allergens and reduce the inflammation.