The home should be the one place that provides us with safety and relief from allergies, yet it is often the place that causes or exacerbates allergies such as asthma and hay fever. The interiors of our homes can provide a perfect environment for allergens, the agents that go on to cause allergies, where they become trapped and difficult to avoid.
There are numerous allergens within home environments that can act as triggers for allergic symptoms, but by far and above the main culprit of indoor allergies, is house dust.
What exactly is house dust?
Every home, no matter how clean it is kept, will play host to some dust, but there are certain variables that will affect how much house dust each home is harbouring. These can include what type of home it is, how old it is, what type of people live there and what kind of objects are kept in the property; this can include everything from food items, clothing and furniture.
House dust is comprised of many fine particles of soil, plant material, animal and human skin, food particles, mould spores and even microscopic fragments of insects that have died over the days, weeks and months. Many of these substances commonly found in dust can be triggers for allergic symptoms, but the main indoor allergens are dust mites, pet dander, cockroaches and mould spores.
Indoor allergies can occur all year round, unlike such allergies as hay fever that are mainly seasonal, and indoor allergens can even provoke or worsen the symptoms of asthma, which can be life threatening if not kept under control.
How can you combat indoor allergies?
Dust mites are most prevalent in the late summer, making this time of year especially bad for indoor allergies. When the weather is hot outside it can be tempting to throw open the windows, but this can make your allergy symptoms or asthma worse since there may be a higher concentration of outdoor allergens such as pollen or mould that could enter your home and remain there. On the other hand, if there are already allergens inside your home, keeping the windows shut will mean that you are trapped inside with them.
It can be difficult to know what to do for the best when trying to minimize the impact of indoor allergens, and if you are sensitive to them, then unfortunately you may have to endure them if you cannot overcome exposure to the allergens.
If your symptoms are really troubling you though, you should seek medical help and your physician will perform an examination and ask you a series of questions to identify the allergens and symptoms. They will usually be able to recommend some treatment for you without the need for further tests, such as x-rays.
Your response to the treatment will be continually assessed and your physician may even refer you to an allergy specialist, who can go further towards identifying the potential allergens.
Allergies are challenging for many of us, but when we can’t even escape them from the comfort of our own homes, then we may need to take more drastic steps to eliminate the allergens. Keeping your home clean and tidy will help reduce any allergens present, and regularly using the services of a home cleaning company will certainly take you one step further to achieving an allergen free home.