Asthma and allergic diseases are a common problem in every household in the US. The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) reports that about 50 million Americans suffer from allergies each year. It is also one of the leading causes of chronic illnesses in the US. Additionally, allergies are also pretty common in the United Kingdom, with one out of four people living in the UK experiencing allergic symptoms each year.
Getting an allergy is relatively common in the western world, and many believe that it’s unavoidable. However, this is a common misunderstanding, as allergies depend on triggers that could happen in your own home. Although you might not control seasonal allergies, you can certainly control the triggers that could occur in your own home. Here are some ways to make your household allergy-free.
Check for Common Triggers
If your child or a particular person in your household is experiencing the symptoms of allergies regularly, it’s time to look for triggers in your home. First, it’s essential to make sure that this person is not a victim of seasonal allergies. Common modern apps can help you determine if you are in that time of the year. However, seasonal allergies should also be one of the main reasons you should aim to make your home allergy-free.
The typical household triggers you should look out for are pets, pollen, dust, insects, and various food products such as nuts, milk, and wheat. All of these are common triggers that are found in every household. Some parents who are aware of their children’s allergies might have gotten rid of these specific triggers in their household, but sometimes that is not enough. Extra precautions must be taken if you want to make your home clear of triggers.
General Cleaning
One of the common triggers of allergies is those that we cannot see. This includes dust, pollen, and animal hair. Some might wonder why their children still develop allergies to animal hair despite not having any pets in their home. That the wind carries all kinds of things fly into your house, every day. This means that if your neighbor has pets, chances are some of their hair flies into your house and sticks into your walls and carpets. You can’t really convince your neighbors to get rid of your pets, so the next best thing is to clean your home periodically.
Cleaning your home is a gateway to a healthier household. Get rid of dust, pollen, and animal hair by sweeping the surfaces they may stick on and vacuuming them afterward. It’s also vital to mop your floors as some might residues can still cling on these surfaces. You should schedule the general cleaning of your home periodically. However, don’t overdo it as studies have shown that children who grow in very clean households increase their chance of developing hay fever, asthma, and allergies.
If you have allergies yourself, it’s better if you hire others to do it for you. Hiring carpet cleaners is also very beneficial. These people are usually aware of the substances that stick in these surfaces and know ways of getting rid of them. Whether you’re cleaning your home or someone else is, irritants such as bleach must be avoided. Studies have found that exposure to domestic cleaning products can lead to various allergy symptoms and asthma attacks.
Screening Your Home
The best preventive measure against triggers is to screen your home. It can prevent various things from flying into your home, including common triggers such as dust, animal hair, and insects. Additionally, this can be an excellent way to protect your children against seasonal allergies.
Various contractors in any state offer screens. They are also fairly common in hardware stores and can be easily installed in your windows and doorways. They come in multiple shapes and sizes. It’s best to choose screens with small spaces between them as they are the best against small triggers such as pollen and dust. It’s important to remember that you do have to clean these screens once in a while. You also have to replace them once they get rusty and brittle as they can become hazardous to your children.
Every home should be free from allergies. However, because of the small nature of allergy triggers, it’s hard to tell whether if we are affected by them or not. But there are ways to prevent allergies from happening in your house. By following these ways, you can keep your house healthy from allergies.
