Ahhhhh springtime. The time of year for warmer temperatures, budding trees, blooming flowers and finally some green grass after winter. It’s also the time for wreaking havoc on the bodies of anyone with air-bone allergies. The natural reaction for spring allergy control is to avoid what is triggering symptoms, in this case the outdoors; but don’t go locking yourself indoors until the summer just yet. Airborne allergies aren’t just found outside; the air you breathe inside can be up to 100 time more polluted than outdoor air. When you stay inside to avoid allergy symptoms, you’re actually just keeping all of those 100 toxins and triggers trapped in with you. You’ll keep getting worse instead of better.
What are the top home airborne allergy triggers?
Dust: Actually, you’re probably allergic to dust mites, not dust. It’s the dust mite’s faeces that us humans are allergic to. Gross, we know. This article goes into greater detail of that process if you’re curious. To combat the dust mite, keep your surfaces clean and make sure to switch out your air vent filters often.
Cleaning habits: We all know that the chemicals in cleaning products can trigger a range of health problems and allergic reactions. While you should be careful to avoid breathing in cleaning products, your airborne allergic reactions may actually be triggered by the way you are cleaning rather than what products you use. Make sure you use mops and rags that are good at picking up dirt rather than pushing it around and into the air. When vacuuming and cleaning rugs, consider wearing a facemask to limit the amount of airborne elements that could trigger an attack. Take advantage of your washing machine and frequently clean bedding, pillow cases, towels and other cloth items to keep them free of anything that could be released into the air and trigger symptoms. Lastly, when you’re cleaning, open up a window or two to get clean air in and that chemical-ridden air out.
Pets: Even if you aren’t allergic to your pets fur or dander, they could still could triggering your allergy attacks. When pets are outside everything they come into contact with can be trapped in their fur and paws. They then bring all that dust, dirt and pollen inside with you and your allergies. To solve this problem, try wiping your pet’s paws off and quickly brushing their fur before they come inside to remove loose allergens. Cats don’t enjoy baths, but you should frequently wash your dog during allergy season to rid its fur of triggers.
Critters: Mice, ants, birds, cockroaches and other critters live in every single house. It’s a fact of life. Unfortunately, these pests spread bacteria, stir up dust and leave faeces which, you guessed it, trigger airborne allergic reactions. The best way to avoid these types of indoor triggers it to be ruthless about not letting these pests into your home. Use pest control services a few times a year and frequently check your house for any entrances critters can enter in and then close them off. Get in the habit of tossing out any aging fruits that could lure bugs and take the trash out regularly for the same reason.
The most important lesson to take away is that you can’t hide from your airborne allergies by staying inside during allergy season. Doing so won’t cure your symptoms and may even make them worse. The best course of actions to manage your airborne allergies other than medications are to keep fresh air circling through your house, to be smart about cleaning and ruthless about keeping triggers out.
