A mouth cap against hay fever: does that help?

As soon as the first plants and trees are in bloom, the sniffling, coughing and sneezing starts again for hay fever patients. Wearing a non-medical mouth cap could prevent pollen from reaching your airways, so that you no longer suffer from complaints. That would be very nice! But is that really the case?

Unfortunately, we have to disappoint you. According to Arian Kuil of the ENT department of the Diakonessenhuis hospital, this is not correct. “Most non-medical mouth caps hardly protect against contamination and small particles in the air. They mainly prevent you from infecting someone yourself with your cough or sneeze drops,” he tells Radar.

Pollen in your eyes, ears and hair

Would a better mouth-nose mask help? “Pollen in the air doesn’t just come into contact with your nose or mouth. You also get them in your eyes, ears and body hair, for example. They still settle in the hair on your head and if they get on your pillow at night, then you will suffer from it,” says Kuil.

Tips for hay fever

A pity, but fortunately there are – besides medicines – other tips that help:

• Eat healthy, exercise enough and don’t smoke.
• Keep the windows closed during the day as much as possible.
• Keep an eye on the weather forecast and apps, such as hay fever radar.
• Vacuum your house and especially the bedroom regularly.
• Dry your laundry indoors when the concentration of pollen in the air is high.
• Avoid cigarette smoke, which aggravates hay fever symptoms.
• Take a walk or exercise, especially right after a rain shower or early in the morning; then there isn’t that much pollen in the air yet.
• Wear sunglasses outside to protect your eyes.
• Apply petroleum jelly around the eyes, nose and mouth. This ensures that pollen is less likely to reach the mucous membranes.
• Rinse your face and other bare skin with water after being outside.
• Shower before going to sleep and comb your hair to remove any pollen.
• Don’t put the clothes you’ve worn outside during the day in your bedroom.
• Stay away from freshly cut grass.

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