Hayfever and itchy ears

[bran]

Does anyone else have ear problems in the hayfever season? I get moderate sneezing and itchy eyes, but my ears get incredibly itchy. Occasionally the whole area (ear canal, cheek in front of ear, neck just below ear) swells and I go quite deaf in one ear (at the moment both ears). High doses of anti-histimine help, but are there any non-medication remedies that anyones knows of that might help?

My deafness is causing great hilarity at work, even my dh thinks it's really funny that he has to nudge me awake in the mornings because the alarm doesn't wake me.

Bump - you don't have to give advice, you can just laugh at me if you want. Everyone else is.

Bran, I don't go deaf, but the itchy ear thing drives me insane. Apart from Anithistimanes, I have a nasal spray which seems to settle it down, unfortunaltely its in my deak drawer so I don't have name. Will try to remember on Monday and post the name

Thanks Kalex - I'll have a look at nasal sprays tomorrow and see if I can find the one it might be, otherwise I'll be eagerly anticipating your post on Monday.

beconase nasal spray available over the counter. I get itchy ears also

i prefer flixanase to beconase but have you tried inhaling steam? i know it is a slow process but you sound like you have a catarrh build up, from the hayfever.

rosies how do I inhale steam into my ears?

Thanks for the hint kalex, I bought Boots own brand which has the same active ingredient as Beconase and it's definitely doing the trick. I think having rain over the weekend helped a lot too. Today was a high pollen count and I was sneezing a lot, but the only time my ears were itchy was on the walk from the station to home and I zapped them as soon as I got in and the itching went away and the swelling went down. Hurrah!

Sorry, thanks Daisy1999 too.

Same here - I get itchy ears, roof of my mouth, nose obviously, eyes, and in the height of the hayfever season I need a salbutamol inhaler. I hate the summer - it's such a miserable time for me..

are you pulling my leg, bran?

fill a bowl with boiling water, place a towel over your head, head over bowl and breathe in the steam... being careful of course.

10 minutes morning and evening. it should help to clear your tubes of catarrh...

OK, rosies I'm with you now. It's just that my initial post was about itching and swelling of the outer ear and I wondered how the steam was going to help that. I will try your steam method though and see whether it can shift the shrink-wrapped head feeling.