How to Deal with Pollen Allergy in Japan: Popular Medicines and Surgical Masks

2018/04/22

Many Japanese suffer from pollen allergy in Japan.

If you visit Japan during the allergy season, many wear surgical masks and you might feel strange.

This post introduces how to deal with pollen allergy in Japan.

Contents

1 What is Pollen Allergy Like in Japan?
2 How to Deal with Pollen Allergy
3 3 Popular Medicines for Pollen Allergy
4 Popular Surgical Masks
5 Summary
- 5.1 Related Posts

When is Golden Week in 2018? → Golden Week in Japan

When is rainy season in Japan? → Rainy Season in Japan

What is Pollen Allergy Like in Japan?

Japanese suffer from various allergy and common pollen allergy during spring is called ‘Kafunsyo (花粉症：かふんしょう)’ and many suffer from allergic reaction.

Spring is nice and warm, but for those who have pollen allergy, it is a nightmare.

Pollen allergy is pretty common in Japan and it is said that about 40% of the population suffer from some sort of kafunsyo.

The most common pollen allergy among Japanese is cedar (杉：すぎ) followed by cypress (檜：ひのき).

How to Deal with Pollen Allergy

Depending on the seriousness of allergic reaction, people deal with kafunsyo in a different way.

For example, one may just wear a surgical mask and doesn’t take any medication because his condition is not that serious.

Another person, however, may take medicine, wear a surgical mask and use air purifier at home.

The main thing the victim of pollen allergy must manage is not to contact pollen.

If they try to avoid contacting pollen, their allergy reaction won’t get worse and they feel better.

If they don’t care and get all the pollen when they are out, they are more likely to suffer at home as well.

3 Popular Medicines for Pollen Allergy

If your allergy reaction is severe and you need medicines, you can purchase one of those at local drug store.

Here are popular medicines that you can try!

Allegra FX (アレグラFX)

Source: http://www.allegra.jp

Allegra FX has 5 features as shown below:

①Take 2 times a day to beat allergy reaction. It is suggested to take in the morning and evening.

②It doesn’t cause drowsiness compared to other medicine. People tend to feel sleepy after taking such medicines, but Allegra FX doesn’t make them that sleepy.

③It doesn’t affect cognitive functions. Have you experienced that you cannot concentrate after taking medicine? People tend to make a mistake, complete tasks slowly or not being able to make proper decision due to the side affect of such medicine. Allegra FX doesn’t affect the brain or cognitive performance.

④It doesn’t make your mouth dry. Histamine, contained in medicine for pollen allergy, tends to make your mouth dry. Allegra FX, however, designed not to make it dry. You shouldn’t feel that thirsty even after taking Allegra FX.

⑤You can take it without meal. Most medicine instruct you to eat first and take medicines. Well, you don’t have to be full when taking Allegra FX! Even when your stomach is empty, Allegra FX is safe to take.

Memo: They also offer Allegra FX Junior, which is designed for children aged 7 to 14 years. If you need one for your children, find the ‘junior’!

The package contains 14 tablets and costs about 1,400 yen. You can survive one week with this.

Alesion (アレジオン)

Source: https://www.ssp.co.jp

Alesion is another medicine great for pollen allergy.

One needs to take one tablet a day and it protects you from allergy reaction.

The best timing to take Alesion is before going to bed. Then your allergy reaction won’t be harsh.

The package only contains 6 tablets and costs about 1,400 yen. Since you only take one tablet a day, the price is about the same as Allegra FX.

Kunihiro (クニヒロ)

https://www.kokando.co.jp

The main advantage of Kunihiro is its cost.

This package contains 48 tablets and costs only 1,500. If you search online, you may even find cheaper price like 1,000 yen.

Compared to Allegra FX and Alesion, Kunihiro may cause a bit stronger drowsiness. If you care about price, get this one.

Because it is not that strong, even children aged 7 years can take this medicine. This is a great option if you and your children need medicines for pollen allergy.

Popular Surgical Masks

Typical surgical masks are white and I’m sure you have seen one of those.

But did you know there are different colors in Japan?

For instance, I have seen some people wear black ones.

I got shocked when I saw it first time and I thought they are wearing it for events or something.

(Halloween?? I really thought so…)

Women tend to pick surgical masks more seriously because they wear makeup and don’t want to ruin their face.

Men just wear any masks but some might have specific preference.

Fancy surgical masks are available at local drug stores and convenience store. If you find something you want to try, get a package and see if you like it.