More than six million Australians already battling hay fever are bracing as an early start to spring pollen season threatens to make symptoms even worse.
Hay fever now affects one in four Australians, up from one in five in 2018, with a combination of wet weather and relatively mild winter creating ideal conditions for plants and grasses to flourish.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Why hay fever is worse this spring
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General practitioner and House Of Wellness resident doctor Dr Michaela Sorensen said the worsening conditions are due to some plants have started flowering up to a month earlier than expected.
“It has been particularly bad this year because we had that perfect storm of a relatively mild winter but it was still quite wet, which meant all the grasses, all the plants, grew,” she said.
“It has meant that they’ve flowered a lot earlier than we normally expect.
“So it just means that there’s a lot of triggers in the atmosphere and they’re hanging around for a lot longer.”
Sorensen said spring was a particularly challenging time for hay fever sufferers because pollens and grasses were among the most common triggers for the condition.
Thunderstorm asthma season adds to the risk
As Australia heads into thunderstorm asthma season, Sorensen warned that storms could amplify the effects of airborne pollen, particularly for people with asthma or hay fever.
She explained moisture from storms can cause grass pollen grains to break into tiny fragments that become airborne and can penetrate deeper into the respiratory system.
“So it’s essentially hay fever season amplified at the time of a storm,” she said.
People who already have asthma are particularly vulnerable, but Sorensen said hay fever sufferers could also be affected.
What actually happens when you sneeze?
While sneezing is a familiar part of hay fever season, Sorensen said the reflex was the body’s way of clearing irritants from the airways.
“So basically you’re moving air from your lungs out through your mouth and your nose, and it’s in response to a trigger,” she said.
“That trigger might be a dust. It might be a pollen. It might be a virus that your body’s trying to clear out.
“For some people, it’s even a strong smell. So anything that irritates the airway — the sneeze is your body’s way of trying to clear it out.”
The volume of a sneeze can vary significantly between people, with lung size, muscle contractions, and vocal cord movement all playing a role.
“People with bigger lungs often have louder sneezes, but also the force of your muscle contraction as well and the way that your vocal cords move,” Sorensen said.
She said suppressing a sneeze could increase pressure in the airways, potentially damaging blood vessels or rupturing eardrums.
However, she explained most people do not completely close off their airways when attempting to hold a sneeze in, allowing some air to escape through the nose and mouth.
“We’re not walking around popping eardrums,” she said.
Despite the relatively low risk in everyday circumstances, Sorensen still said it was better to let a sneeze out rather than deliberately suppress it.
