Pollen blocker cream sounds kind of sketchy—you're supposed to rub it in your nose to stop allergens like pollen, dust, and animal dander from bothering you. But a group of European researchers say it may actually work.

What the researchers wanted to know: Does pollen blocker cream prevent allergic sniffles? Oh, and is it safe?

What they did: Ninety-one people with allergies at three clinics (two in Germany and one in Russia) tried out the cream. They dabbed either the cream or a placebo cream in their noses every four hours, four times a day, and came in after three days to inhale pollen, animal dander, or house dust—whichever they'd had the worst reaction to in a skin test. Then each used no cream for a day and started using the other product the next day, until it was time for the second nose test. No one, including the patients, knew when each patient was getting the placebo and when it was the real cream. The test was scored based on how runny the nose got, how much the participant sneezed, what other unpleasant symptoms appeared, and how much air could flow through the nose.

What they found: The pollen blocker cream appeared to help; after using the cream, people did better on the nose test. The placebo cream helped, too, which suggests that it wasn't actually such a good placebo, but it didn't improve symptoms as much as the pollen blocker cream did. The cream didn't hurt anyone.

What the study means to you: Well, what do you know? The cream might actually help. Good luck finding it, though.

Caveats: The study was funded by Phyt-Immun, the company that makes the cream.

Find out more: The cream used in the study is called Dr. Theiss Alergol, and it's nearly impossible to find a website on it in English (most of the English websites are news stories about this study). Here's the company's French page about the cream, including diagrams: www.naturwaren.fr

The company's Bulgarian page has zero helpful diagrams but one real cute picture of a cat: www.naturprodukt.bg

Read the article: Schwetz, S., Olze, H., Melchisedech, S., Grigorov, A., and R. Latza. "Efficacy of Pollen Blocker Cream in the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis." Archives of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. August 2004, Vol. 130, pp. 979–984.

Abstract online: http://archotol.ama-assn.org