How to Cope at Exam Time / on Holidays
If you are getting ready to sit an exam, it is important that you get your symptoms under control as early as possible.
Once your seasonal allergic rhinitis is under control you will find yourself sleeping better at night. You will feel much fresher during the day and will be able to concentrate much harder on your revision.
You obviously feel a lot better if you are not sneezing, sniffing or rubbing your eyes all the time.
In the months before the exam
See your doctor well in advance (no later than the Easter holidays) to make sure you have got the right treatment.
On the big day
- Don't forget to take your medication!
- Tell the adjudicator if your seasonal allergic rhinitis is bothering you.
- Splash your eyes with cold water before going into the exam room.
- Try not to sit near an open window.
- Keep a supply of tissues and effective, quick-acting treatments close at hand just in case.
How to cope on holidays
The pollen season varies from country to country. It all depends on the climate and the type of vegetation. However, it is possible to plan a holiday that will not be ruined by your seasonal allergic rhinitis.
- Check where has low pollen counts all year round. There is generally less pollen around in coastal areas where the breeze blows fresh air in off the sea. (Contact The Asthma Society for more advice)
- Mountain regions and moor-land tend to contain fewer pollen-producing plants and can be may pose fewer problems to people with rhinitis.
- Try visiting places outside their peak pollen season. For example, the grass pollen season in Mediterranean regions starts and finishes about five weeks earlier than in northern Europe. This means that by mid-July the pollen count in popular holiday destinations like southern Spain, France, Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean islands is usually well past its peak.
- Grass pollen is at its most abundant in Florida between April and October. In the Caribbean it's a problem in June, July and from October to March.
