It’s Not So “Sneezy” – Reducing Allergies In The Home

It's one of those major annoyances in modern life; suffering from allergies seems to be commonplace now. And we can be allergic to almost anything, which not only makes life very difficult on occasion, but if we have a congested nasal passage, or your head feels like it's full of cotton wool, nothing is particularly enjoyable, is it? And while we run the risk of exposing ourselves to allergies when we venture out of the house, it's within our own domain that we can allergy proof our home to make it a bit more bearable.

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[ctt template=”4″ link=”7k4Qm” via=”yes” ]Is it time to reduce allergies in the home? Getting your home allergen free is something that can be done, and here's how.[/ctt]

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Whether you are introducing a new member of the family to your home very soon, or you are trying to get a bit healthier, or someone has passed comment on the fact that you blow your nose many times during the course of the day, getting your home ready and allergen free is something that can be done, and here's how.

Get Dust Mite Free

Dust mites may very well be the root cause of many allergies. Dust mites can make their way into your body by you breathing them in, and so, problems like asthma and general breathing problems will arise. So you can tackle this in a few ways, the first thing to do is to get on top of the cleaning. And if you have any carpets in your home, you could benefit from hiring a carpet cleaning company to do a thorough deep clean on every fabric in your home. Because dust mites hide and can burrow themselves into fine fibers, you may think that you are getting rid of them every time you vacuum, but this only serves to bring the dust mites into the air, which can exacerbate allergy symptoms. It can take a lot of deep cleaning to make sure they are truly gone, so when you get to a base level of cleanliness, and you make sure that the carpets are as clean as they possibly can, this is when you can keep on top of keeping your home dust mite free. Investing in a steam cleaner is a very good idea for any household because you can apply the steam to every carpet in your home which will help maintain the weft of the carpet, and also the high temperature helps to kill any germs. In addition to this, you can purchase bedding that is dust mite proof. And when you wash your curtains or blinds, make sure it's at a very high temperature, or go for synthetic fabrics.

Change The Air Filters

Do you have air conditioners in your home? If so, when was the last time you changed the filters? Because if you haven't done it for a long time, the dust and dirt that will inevitably get attracted to the filters, is being blown out into the air around your house, once a convection current is created, that means you've got dust and allergens everywhere. It makes sense for you to change your filters every couple of months. And if your air conditioners have a HEPA filter, these filters are made to trap particles, but make sure you change these regularly. It also is beneficial to make sure that your cleaning products have HEPA filters. So every time you do clean, you will get as much of the allergens out of the air as you can.

Get Rid Of Moisture

Moisture is where mold breeds, and if you've got parts of your house which are ripe for mold, this will make life particularly unbearable every time you go home. The first thing to do is to check the rooms in your house for any damp in the walls, and if this is linked to something outside, such as water seeping in, then you need to get the problem fixed. The problem with any bits of moisture in the house means that germs will naturally spread. In the kitchen, it's important to make sure that you use the cooker hood fan as much as you can, and take every opportunity to give your house a proper airing. It's also worth looking at your windows, as any window seals that have come loose means that moisture will seep in, but also make your home very cold and drafty during the winter months.

Protect Yourself

If you've done everything you can to minimize moisture and allergens throughout your home, but you still have some symptoms, you should look to address these. You may find that you have allergies to certain foods. If you find you are allergic to certain foods, the best way to check this is to take a food item out of your diet for at least four weeks, and reintroduced it slowly, to see if there are any symptoms. Or you may just be hypersensitive to allergens in the air. In which case you can benefit from medications like antihistamines, or even nasal sprays. But if you find these aren't doing the trick, the best thing to do would be to implement some breathing exercises to clear out your nasal cavities. The Buteyko breathing method is something that could benefit you and has been shown to decrease symptoms of asthma in up to 50% of people. When your oxygen intake is something that can help, and while it can be difficult to breathe when you are with a stuffy nose, there are breathing techniques that you could take advantage of. As well as the Buteyko breathing method, you could just benefit from various deep breathing exercises.

Suffering from any allergy can make you miserable as sin, but if you feel you've been living with allergies for many years, and you haven't had any luck in getting rid of them, your home is the best place to start. And by going through all the possibilities with regards to your ability to handle allergens, you would very likely benefit from a combination of therapies. Yes, we all live with the result of allergens now, but that doesn't mean we should suffer.

This is a contributed post.

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