A MUM claims deliberately stinging herself with nettles “cures”; her hay fever – relieving her symptoms in as little as 10 minutes.
Rebecca Pullin says she has suffered from a for the last decade and every has to put up with .
But when her mum Beverly Stickley, 68, suggested she tried after seeing a post about it online, the mum-of-two decided to give it a go.
On a dog walk in April this year, the 38-year-old proceeded to rub the plant on her arm, which caused itchy bumps to develop on her skin.
At first Rebecca says she thought nothing of it, but after repeating the “natural”; remedy four days in a row she claims it had relieved her symptoms.
The dog walker says whenever she wakes up and feels lethargic, she now stings herself with a nettle – sometimes every day – and claims her pollen allergy symptoms disappear in as little as 10 minutes.
Hay fever symptoms are caused by reacting to pollen to produce histamine and other chemicals in the body.
As stinging nettles contain histamine, some people believe the plant has anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory properties.
Rebecca is now sharing her treatment method in the hopes of helping other people suffering with hay fever this year.
Rebecca, from Bath in , said: “”;Hay fever affects me quite a lot as I’m a dog walker and feel lethargic and lack motivation.
“This is usually when I know I’ve got hay fever because I’m not like this normally.
“I get really drowsy. It always affects my eyes and they sting.
“I don’t get a runny nose but I got headaches and a sore throat.
“I just feel like I’m poorly and exhausted. As soon as I sting myself on a stinging nettle I feel fine.
“[In April this year], I got out of my van to do a group walk with my and saw some nettles and decided to sting myself.
“I did this for three or four days to see if it worked to begin with and didn’t think anything of it. After four days I felt so much better.
“I tend to rub my arm on the stem and then when I’ve done this a few times I’ve stung myself quite a lot.
“Now when I feel tired, I sting myself and within 10 minutes I feel different. The stinging nettles help to relieve my hay fever symptoms.
“There will be weeks where I feel like I have to do it every day and I’ll sting myself to get through the day but then there are times when I haven’t stung myself for a couple of days.”;
According to the , tree pollen occurs typically from late March to mid-May, which is then followed by grass pollen until July and weed pollen occurs from the end of June to September.
This means hay fever is prevalent in the UK during the and summer months and with this year’s warm, dry , it is expected to be worse than normal.
Rebecca says she doesn’t like taking antihistamine tablets as her hay fever already makes her lethargic and claims these tablets make her tiredness worse.
Rebecca said: “I won’t take as I suffered from drowsiness [as one of my symptoms] and taking these just seemed to make it worse.
“I don’t know if stinging myself will completely cure hay fever but it definitely at the beginning I had to sting myself a lot more than I did now.
“I recommend other hay fever sufferers to try this remedy.
“I’d say the irritation from the sting and the feeling of being stung is much better than suffering from hay fever.
“When I first stung myself I was aware of the sting but now I don’t even feel it.
“Also, I noticed the first time I got stung the tingling sensation lasted longer than it does now and goes in a matter of minutes.
“I thought if the video could even just help one person, that would be great.”;
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t try this if you’re allergic to nettle stings.
Nettle stings can be itchy and you may feel a stinging or burning sensation.
This will usually settle down within a few minutes or a few days and you can often treat them yourself.
It may cause a raised red patches on the skin.
St John’s Ambulance recommends you was the affected area with soap and water and avoid scratching it.
If the irritation is severe, cooling the skin with a damp cloth, ice pack, or bag of frozen veggies may help soothe it.
In very rare cases, people may have a severe allergic reaction to a nettle sting. Seek immediate medical help if that happens.
