What can I do to stop sneezing all the time? I've had all the allergy tests and nothing helps. DR MARTIN SCURR answers By DR MARTIN SCURR Published: 11:45 GMT, 18 March 2025 | Updated: 11:45 GMT, 18 March 2025 e-mail View comments I’m having constant sneezing fits which, as a teacher, is both inconvenient and embarrassing. I have had tests for allergies which all came back clear.
Is there anything that could at least curb the sneezing? Charlotte Topping, Wigan. Dr Martin Scurr replies: For many years I worked in the nose clinic at a London hospital, where patients with persistent nasal symptoms such as a blocked or streaming nose would be referred. They would be given an allergy test, and in 90 per cent of cases this would show their problems were indeed due to some form of allergy – from various pollens and animal dander (cat/dog, various birds) to house dust mites.
What was interesting was that even in those who didn’t test positive for an allergy, giving them an allergy suppressant medication (such as antihistamines) reduced the symptoms. On this basis, I would suggest trying the same strategy. First thing every day, use a salt water flush to clear out any potential allergen in your nasal passages.
To make the flush, mix a teaspoon of table salt in half a pint of boiled water in a clean container and keep this in the fridge (it will keep quite well for days). When it is fully cooled, put a tablespoonful of this in the palm of the hand and inhale this up each nostril .
