What is hay fever and allergies?
Hay fever — allergic rhinitis — is an allergic reaction to airborne pollens from grasses, trees and weeds, causing sneezing, itching, streaming eyes and a blocked nose through spring and summer. Perennial allergic rhinitis produces the same symptoms year-round, driven by house dust mites, pet dander or moulds. Around one in four people in the UK is affected, often alongside asthma or eczema, and poorly controlled symptoms disrupt sleep, concentration, work and exam performance far more than is generally appreciated.
Diagnosis is often clinical, based on the pattern of symptoms and triggers. Where the trigger is unclear or immunotherapy is being considered, skin-prick testing or specific IgE blood tests identify the responsible allergens. Assessment also checks for complications such as sinusitis and co-existing asthma.
Common symptoms
- Frequent sneezing
- A runny or blocked nose
- Itchy, red or watering eyes
- An itchy throat, mouth or ears
- Post-nasal drip and cough
- Fatigue and poor concentration from disturbed sleep
- Worsening of asthma symptoms during pollen season
How long will you wait?
NHS allergy services are among the scarcest of any specialty, with few dedicated clinics nationally, so routine referrals for specialist testing or immunotherapy commonly wait many months and involve considerable travel in some regions.
Privately, you can typically see an allergy specialist within 3–7 days, with skin-prick or blood testing completed within 1–2 weeks and immunotherapy started in season-appropriate time.
NHS England median referral-to-treatment wait: 12.4 weeks, with 2.5 million people waiting over 18 weeks (May 2026). Individual waits vary by trust and urgency.
Treatment options
- Non-drowsy antihistamines. Daily tablets that control sneezing, itching and runny nose, best started before your pollen season begins.
- Steroid nasal sprays. The most effective single treatment for nasal symptoms, requiring regular use and correct technique for full benefit.
- Eye drops and combination treatment. Antihistamine eye drops and combined spray regimens tackle symptoms that persist on single therapy.
- Allergen avoidance. Monitoring pollen forecasts, keeping windows closed at peak times and dust-mite measures reduce exposure to triggers.
- Immunotherapy (desensitisation). Tablet or injection courses over three years retrain the immune system, offering long-lasting relief for severe allergy unresponsive to standard treatment.
What does private treatment cost?
As a guide, a private allergy consultation with skin-prick or IgE testing typically costs £350–£650, with sublingual immunotherapy around £1,000–£2,500 per year over a three-year course.
Does health insurance cover hay fever and allergies?
Cover for hay fever is patchier than for most conditions in this list. Many UK insurers exclude treatment of hay fever and seasonal allergies outright, or cover an initial diagnostic consultation and testing but not ongoing treatment, since long-term antihistamines and sprays count as maintenance medication. Immunotherapy is frequently excluded as well. If allergy cover matters to you, check the policy wording before buying.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my hay fever getting worse every year?
Several factors can contribute: pollen seasons in the UK have been lengthening and intensifying, sensitisation can broaden over time so you react to more pollen types, and untreated inflammation makes the nose progressively more reactive. It is also common to develop hay fever for the first time in adulthood. If standard treatment no longer controls symptoms, a specialist review and allergy testing can reshape your treatment plan.
What is immunotherapy and does it work?
Immunotherapy exposes the immune system to gradually standardised doses of your allergen — as daily under-the-tongue tablets or as injections — over about three years, retraining it to tolerate the trigger. It is the only treatment that changes the underlying allergy rather than masking symptoms, and it produces substantial, lasting improvement for most suitable patients with severe grass pollen or dust mite allergy. Treatment should start months before pollen season.
Can hay fever affect asthma?
Yes, significantly. The nose and lungs share one inflamed airway in allergic disease, and uncontrolled rhinitis makes asthma harder to control — pollen exposure is a recognised trigger for asthma attacks, including the surge in emergencies seen during thunderstorms in pollen season. Treating nasal allergy properly measurably improves asthma symptoms, so if you have both conditions, make sure both are actively managed.