Steroid nasal sprays used to treat hayfever can lead to nosebleeds, the NHS warns.
Hayfever itself is unlikely to cause nosebleeds, however they are a common side effect of steroid nasal sprays many use to treat hayfever. The NHS warns that a burning sensation in the nose or a dry irritated throat are also side effects of the popular hayfever treatment.
One in five people in the UK suffer from hayfever, which is an allergic reaction to certain kinds of pollen. Symptoms are worse during the summer months when the pollen count is often the highest.
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Hayfever is usually at its worst for those allergic to grass pollen between May and July . Whereas people whose condition is sparked by weed pollen are more susceptible from July through to September .
Can hayfever cause nosebleeds?
It's true that many hay fever suffers experience nosebleeds. However, these are caused by the symptoms of the condition, as opposed to the hay fever.
Violent sneezing and repeatedly blowing your nose, for example, can result in damage to the tissues inside you nose or burst some of the many blood vessels located inside your nose.
Steroid nasal sprays are also sometimes used to treat hay fever. In some cases, the chemicals inside the sprays can also cause minor damage to blood vessels and result in a nosebleed.
Experts recommend spraying nasal sprays at a slight angle to your nose rather than straight up it to reduce the chances of them causing you nose to bleed due to a ruptured blood vessel.
The NHS patient website has advice on how to treat a nosebleed once it occurs. It recommends sitting down and leaning forward, with your head tilted forward, then pinching your nose just above your nostrils for 10 to 15 minutes, and breathing through your mouth until the bleeding subsides.
Hayfever symptoms
Common symptoms of hayfever are similar to those when you get a bad cold, but they can vary from person to person. They often include a runny, itchy and blocked nose; teary and itchy eyes; sneezing and sinusitis caused by inflammation.
Similar to a cold, it can be really uncomfortable and a miserable experience when it flares up. Because it's caused by pollen and not a virus, sufferers can have symptoms that last for several months at a time. People with asthma can get it particularly bad, and experience shortness of breath and chest pain.
Although there are measures you can take to offset some of the symptoms. These include rubbing Vaseline around your nostrils to trap pollen and wearing sunglasses to prevent it getting into your eyes.
Hay fever suffers are also advised to stay indoors, keep windows closed and showering and changing their clothes regularly to wash off the spores. There are also treatments you can get over the counter at a pharmacy, or on prescription from you GP.
Typical symptoms of hay fever
- Sneezing and coughing
- A runny or blocked nose
- Itchy, red or watery eyes
- Sore and tickly throat, mouth, nose and ears
- Loss of smell
- Pain around your temples and forehead
- Headache
- Earache
- Feeling tired
If you have asthma, the pollen that causes hay fever can also trigger your asthma symptoms. Here are a few signs, according to Asthma.org, that indicate that your asthma is being caused by hay fever:
- Feeling wheezy
- Feeling breathless
- Having a tight feeling in your chest
- Coughing more than usual
- Needing to use your reliever inhaler three times a week or more
