Hay fever help!!

This photo legit gives me nightmares

 

If you hear the word summer and instantly think of sniffing, itching and pure pain then you are probably a hay fever sufferer. If I am right and you are a hay fever sufferer, welcome to the club, I feel your pain. I hope this article helps as I have combined research and my own experience to give you the best ways to combat hay fever this summer.

 

 

1.   The first way to reduce symptoms of hay fever is to improve your lifestyle in general. This includes eating well, sleeping plenty and exercising. Studies have shown that hay fever sufferers that exercise and sleep well, receive the mildest symptoms. Also, a healthy diet strengthens your body so it can fight the allergy more effectively. However guys be careful! You might want to either speak to a doctor or research on trusty google as some healthy foods have been shown to increase the severity of your sniffing and sneezing.

 

2.   Obviously, if you are a hay fever sufferer, you should definitely be taking medicine to help you cope. Either prescription or non-prescription tablets with anti-histamine help to reduce allergic reactions. Also, don’t forget about nasal sprays and eye drops because it is often these poor facial organs that suffer the most. These can be bought a lot of the time from drug stores or stronger ones can be prescribed by doctors. Most tablets say take one a day but realistically, you can take 1-3 a day if they are over a longer period and it is a particularly bad day for hay fever.

 

3.   Avoid smoking, alcohol and other irritant chemicals if you’re feeling vulnerable to hay fever. Might sound like a bit of a bummer, especially if you want a nice glass of Pimms during a summer picnic. But these contain irritants and histimmine that can trigger allergy attacks.

 

 

 

4.   Something else you need to consider when trying to conquer hay fever is the causes. We all know that it’s that wretched pollen that makes our noses run and eyes water; we need to think of ways to avoid pollen:

 

-Pollen levels are highest in the morning and the evening so try to avoid going outside at these times for long periods. Shutting the windows and doors during these times is also a good idea. And whilst we’re on pollen levels, before going out for a long time, check the weather forecast as it includes the pollen levels. This means that you have an idea of how bad your hay fever is going to be so you can take medicine accordingly.

 

-         Pollen also has the nasty habit of getting everywhere! Your clothes, hair, nose… So after a particularly bad day for hay fever, make sure you wash your clothes and hair thoroughly so it doesn’t continue to cause suffering for longer than absolutely necessary.

 

-         If you are having a quiet day in but are still feeling a lil bit rough, try closing all the windows and doors. This will stop pollen from entering your house therefore preventing your pain!

 

So although you will probably feel a bit grumbly whenever there are high pollen levels, hay fever attacks are when your symptoms become suddenly severe and uncontrollable. This is painful alright. I have sat rubbing my eyes for a good 15 minutes straight during a hay fever attack… But that wasn’t the most helpful thing to do. Here are my tips on coping with hay fever attacks wherever you are:

 

At Home

 

Hay fever attacks are awful wherever you are, but getting one during the day at home is probably the easiest to cure. If you get itchy eyes then DO NOT RUB YOUR EYES. Instead, try applying any cold clean objects to your eyes for instant relief. This could be frozen peas or an ice pack. Be careful to make sure that your chosen object is clean (probably by wrapping it in something that you know is clean and sanitary.) One of my favourite solutions to itchy eyes at home is to wet a couple of cottons pads with cold water then leaving it on my eyes for a minute or two. This helps clean and cool your eyes as well as blocking any more pollen.

 

 

If you get a runny nose (not to sound obvious), but firstly blow your nose and then try using a nasal spray. These sprays are really good for instant relief and should help out a bit.

 

But the best advice for a hay fever attack at home is to have a shower. I cannot express how refreshing a cool shower is whilst heavily suffering from hay fever. It cleans the pollen out of your hair and clothes, furthermore the steam helps to stop pollen from getting into your eyes.

 

 

 

Out/ at School

 

Unfortunately, unlike at home, you cannot simply jump in the shower if you are out and suffer from a hay fever attack. Obviously you cannot cure it completely but try and minimize it as effectively as you can. Hopefully by taking medication before and whilst you are out, you can avoid extreme attacks.

 

The best you can do against itchy eyes is using any water you have to clear out your eyes. Eye drops can also really help if you have them with you and sun glasses help to stop more pollen from getting into your eyes (as well as blocking the blood shot look that looks a bit questionable.)

 

Much like when you are at home, the most you can do for a runny nose is blowing it and using a nasal spray if possible.

 

Use water you have to give you face a bit of a clean as it helps to refresh and cool your face which reduces your suffering.

At night

Hay fever attacks can occur at any time and I must say that having one at night is possibly the worst. It causes lack of sleep which will not leave you in the best mood the next day.

 

So what can you do?
Drink water. This may not help directly but it cools you down internally and should help you get back to sleep.

 

Place a wet flannel by the side of your bed so if your eyes stat getting itchy at night you can cover them with a flannel to stop irritation. Also by your bed you should have a packet of tissues, a nasal spray and a packet of tablets. It may say to only take one hay fever tablet a day but if you took one in the morning then it certainly won’t harm you to take one before bed or at night to help with a hay fever attack.

 

I hope this helped, don't let hay fever ruin your summer!

 

See you next time,

Laura Stone x

 

 

 

Exam survival: Revision techniques

Now, you've got your exam timetable and have decided you should really start revising. But how do you revise? I know it can be a bit overwhelming so I'm going to share my best revision tips with you in hope it will help.

1. Mind maps

I bet you're tired of hearing how 'amazing' mind maps are, aren't you? Everyone goes on and on about this magical revision technique... but give them a chance because they are actually pretty good. I used mind maps throughout GCSE's and my first year of A levels, I do really recommend them.

What's important to remember is that your way of mind mapping should not be the same as your friends, because we all work differently. For example, if you take art so you're really creative and love drawing: use that in your mind maps. Include little images and sketches that are going to remind you of different topics. Drawing's aren't limited to those of you that are good at drawing though. I'm awful at drawing but a few stickmen and other simple drawings here and there, help to liven up the revision.

 

 If you think drawing is a waste of time, but still need something to make the mind map easier to look at, use colours. This helps categorise different subjects or make key words stand out. I love using the fineliner coloured pens, with highlighters for key words. But any pens that work for you is good.

2.  Lists

This is kind of like mind maps for people who are a lot more logical thinkers and don't need all the messy mind maps. I have a friend who's incredibly good at all the sciences and maths so he uses lists to revise because he thinks they're neat and clear. He doesn't use any colour but just has a plain black inked list... which works for him and may work for you? But if you like the idea of lists but maybe not that boring, still use colours, just bullet point your work instead of laying it out in a mind map.

Alternatively, you could incorporate lists into your mind map. I often do this when I need to remember lots of points under one topic. For example, if you're doing a mind map on coasts, you could do a list of the 4 types of transportation with a definition by each.

3. Flashcards

A classic right? What I've found with flashcards is that people either love them or hate the idea of them so refuse to try. I used to be the latter but I am now a fully converted flashcard lover. They are simple, effective and really useful for learning key words or statistics. 

 

I know a lot of people think that making flashcards takes too much time and I tend to agree. Instead of sitting down and cutting all the paper out, I do 2 things. I will either buy index cards from a shop (they sell them in most supermarkets) or I make them on my phone. Okay. Let me explain:

Buying index cards from a shop is really cheap and saves you cutting up loads of paper into equal squares. You normally get over 100 in a pack so you're not going to run out. And because they are ready cut, you can just get straight onto writing them. All you really need to write is a key word on one side and the text book definition on the other, simple right.

If writing it all out isn't for you, try getting an app on your phone? That's what I do. There are so many easy apps so  you'll always have them with you, they're quick to make and you can even do little bits of revision if you're stood in an unexpected queue or something. The app I use (on android) is called Supercard Flashcards which you can check out here. But there are loads for both android and apple.

   4. Films/Audio

So those are the main 3 but there are some other (more complicated ones) that work wonders for some people. I have a friend who is really into film and creating short movies. To revise, he creates short animated movies about the topics which he then watches (and lets us all watch, for which we love him.) It makes the information in the movie very memorable and fun. If you're into making animated movies, or even make a more simple yet effective movie on something like educreations (ios), definitely try it out.

Audio involves any kind of sounds that going to help you revise. If you learn best aurally, then this is probably the best option for you. There are plenty of revision audio tracks available if you search the internet. Alternatively, create them yourself? Record yourself saying your own notes and just listen to them whilst you're doing other things (like eating lunch.) No one will know what you're listening to if you've got a standard pair of headphones, don't worry.

There you have it, some killer revision techniques that will have you sailing through your exams. I hope you enjoyed this post and it helped someone out there. Remember: do what you love. Revise in a way that suits you, no one else. In my next 'exam survival', I will be talking about revision tips. Covering topics like organisation and motivation so come back for that!

Hope you enjoyed, please share if you think other people will find it useful!

Laura Stone x

*I was very kindly nominated to do the 'Very Inspiring Blogger' tag by Ellie which hopefully up tomorrow, if not: Wednesday. Thanks so much for nominating me Ellie :) *