Scientists reckon sex can reduce the effects of hay fever

All the more excuse for a summertime fling

While summer has many searching for the antihistamines and hay fever tablets, a medical survey instead suggests another approach to fixing itchy eyes and a scratchy throat: sex. If you're anything like the millions of people around the world who suffer from hay fever, you know that you never exactly look or feel your most attractive when in the throes of the seasonal allergy. That being said, if you happen to have a partner or are able to push through the symptoms, scientists reckon that sex can actually reduce the effects of hay fever. [caption id="attachment_341743" align="alignnone" width="1254"]

Credit: iStock[/caption] Scientists working at Tabriz University in Iran noted the correlation back in 2019 when they found a link between the reproductive system and the nasal passages and, therefore, surmised that sex could be a potential antidote to hay fever. However, their correlation was actually noted more than a decade prior to this; one of their professors and neurologists, Sina Zarrintan, explained in an issue of Medical Hypotheses journal that sex can occasionally help "alleviate the congestion and the patient can adjust the number of intercourses depending on the severity of the symptoms." The rationale is that sex causes the blood vessels to tighten in the nose and eyes, meaning stuffy noses become unblocked and watery eyes stop tearing up. Moreover, despite affecting anywhere between 10 and 30 per cent of the adult population in any given year, the study found that using sex to combat hay fever is found to be most helpful among men. Keeping things in perspective, another scientist at the university noted it isn't as easy as just taking an antihistamine and that "there are some limitations in using ejaculation as a treatment of nasal congestion, such as not being applicable out of home", not to mention those who don't happen to have a regular sex partner. Nevertheless, it seems as though having sex when you're bunged up (not like that) might be a genuine option for treating or at least trying to deal with your symptoms. Hay fever sufferers can also receive more targeted treatment such as antibiotics following allergy testing and even special steroid injections to help deal with those runny noses and leaky eyes.