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Why do many people struggle with hay fever symptoms in the evening and at night?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people go out during the day, they will be exposed to pollen and other allergens that they\u2019re sensitive to, so when they come home in the evening they might still have pollen on their skin and\/or in their nasal passages,\u201d says Coyne. \u201cThis might cause them to have a lot of hay fever symptoms in the evenings and when they get into bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, when the air cools in the evenings, it triggers a \u2018pollen shower\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cA pollen shower is when pollen descends from a high level towards the ground when the air cools in the evening,\u201d explains Coyne. \u201cThis can sometimes cause quite an intense exposure of pollen for people when they return home from work in the evening.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, these hay fever symptoms aren\u2019t being triggered by more pollen in the air, but because the pollen is descending from a higher altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n Coyne highlights that although the hay fever symptoms that people experience at night usually mirror the ones they have in the day, they are often perceived as far more intense, disruptive, and irritating.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pollen causes inflammation in the nose which can cause a runny nose and often when pollen touches the eyes it can cause conjunctivitis,\u201d explains Coyne.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a runny nose runs down the back of the throat it can cause an itchy and scratchy throat that makes people want to cough to clear their throat, which can be really irritating and really disruptive to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds that the absence of distractions at night can sometimes make someone with hay fever feel even worse.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people are not distracted like they might be in the day, their mind might focus a little bit more on the symptoms that they\u2019re experiencing,\u201d says Coyne. \u201cFor example, they might become more aware of their runny nose, the itchiness, the sneezing, the watery eyes and the cough, which can makes it seem even more irritating.\u201d<\/p>\n Hay fever can also impact breathing at night.<\/p>\n \u201cWheezing is quite common for people who are atopic (have a general sensitivity to aeroallergens) and that can very unpleasant at night,\u201d says Coyne. \u201cSimilarly, when people are lying down and are experiencing an annoying cough or blocked nasal passages, that can also make breathing more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Furthemore, hay fever symptoms can increase the likelihood of snoring.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the nasal passages and the lining of the throat are both inflamed, the airways become a little bit smaller and narrower, which increases the likelihood of snoring,\u201d says Coyne.<\/p>\n What consequences can disrupted sleep have on our overall health and wellbeing?<\/b><\/p>\n Sleep disruption can have widespread implications on someone\u2019s physical and mental health.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople\u2019s day-to-day physical and cognitive performance can be impacted if their sleep is shortened or their sleep is disrupted, which can have impacts on their work, relationships and ability to exercise,\u201d says Coyne.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also know that frequently disturbed and restless sleep can have long-term health implications. For example, it can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment in later life.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some tips on how to combat some of these effects\u2026<\/p>\n Wash your face<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you come home after being outside and being exposed to pollen all day, wash your face and consider using a saline nasal rinse to try and wash out the pollen from your nasal passages,\u201d recommends Coyne.<\/p>\n Close your windows<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cKeeping the windows closed during the day might help reduce your exposure to pollen,\u201d suggests Coyne.<\/p>\n Try over-the-counter medication<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cTaking good quality antihistamines can really help the nasal passages and the airways become less inflamed,\u201d says Coyne. \u201cSteroid nasal sprays are also good at reducing inflammation in the nasal passages and calming down the cells of the nasal passages, so that they produce less mucus to help people breathe much more easily at night.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can also get antihistamine drops for your eyes which can reduce some of the streaming and irritation of the eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n Seek professional advice<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIf hay fever is disturbing your sleep, contact a healthcare professional,\u201d advises Coyne. \u201cTry the simple interventions first, but if the issues persist, consult a pharmacist, a physician associate or your GP.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The impact of hay fever extends far beyond a few sneezes during the day, as this common allergy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[18,90904,154157,101491,135,107454,7114,19,17,1294],"class_list":["post-433350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-eire","tag-gp","tag-hay-fever","tag-hayfever","tag-health","tag-health-and-wellbeing","tag-health-lifestyle","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-uk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116397976833743869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Seven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FGPKJS7LPZCZ5NFWR43XKSTQGY.JPG\")
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