Allergies
15 Ways to Alleviate the Symptoms
An allergy is what happens when your body detects a foreign substance it doesn't like. Your nose plugs up and starts dripping, your eyes itch and run, your lungs burn and wheeze.
Like people, allergies come in almost infinite variety. But most fit into three basic categories: contact, food, or inhalant allergies. Inhalant allergies—allergies we experience in response to material in the air we breathe—are the most common. The four biggest airborne troublemakers are house dust, pollen, pet dander, and mold.
"You find a bit of everything in house dust," says Thomas Platts-Mills, M.D., head of the University of Virginia Medical Center's Division of Allergy and Immunology. "Different people are allergic to different things—pieces of cockroach are pretty potent, actually—but the single biggest cause of problems is the dust mite."
For the record, the dust mite is an almost-microscopic relative of ticks and spiders. But the living mite is not the problem. It's the fecal material they expel in their wanderings about our carpets and furniture—their primary residences—and the bodies of dead mites that cause reactions.
As for the other common allergens, pollen blows in from outside, pet dander falls off Fido in a shower of dead skin, and mold grows wherever it's dark and humid—under your carpet, in the basement. But it doesn't matter which one you encounter. Inhale any one of them, and if you are allergic, you'll start sneezing.
Not every home can lay claim to all four of the Big Four, but every home that's not hermetically sealed can lay claim to one or more. So what to do? Is there ever any escape from these ubiquitous denizens of the modern home, or are the allergic masses condemned to a life of endless snuffling and eternal sniffling?
Rest easy—there's a lot you can do to minimize the misery your allergy brings to your life. The following doctor-tested and -recommended tips will plant you firmly on the path to easy breathing and dry eyes.
Treat your symptoms. A certain amount of exposure to whatever bothers you is unavoidable. Allergy shots available from your doctor are a great way to make sure your forays into the outside world are pleasant instead of painful. But you don't have to rely on them. Over-the-counter antihistamines, available from your local druggist, work wonders on drippy noses and red, itchy eyes.
"For the most part, they do a good job," says Richard Podell, M.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "But if you have an allergy that persists for more than five to seven days, you should probably see your doctor."
Air-condition your house. This is probably the single most important thing you can do to alleviate pollen problems, and it can help with two other chief inhalants—molds and dust mites.
How the Home Became Dust-Mite Haven Central heating and the vacuum cleaner: They were welcomed with enthusiasm—the vac about 50 years ago, central heating about 40. We can clean in half the time and stay warm in every room, not just in the kitchen, next to the stove. But the same technology that makes our lives easier today has indirectly contributed heavily to one common medical problem—allergies to dust mites. "The vacuum cleaner made carpeting attractive instead of throw rugs," says David Lang, M.D. Central heating meant that homes tended to stay at least 60° to 65°F year-round. Add very tight, well-insulated homes and cold-water washes to the package (courtesy of the energy crisis), and you end up with a perfect environment for dust mites. |
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"The basic idea is to create an oasis of sorts," says Dr. Podell. "You want your home to be a place of sanctuary, a place you can count on to provide escape."
Air-conditioning units can help in two ways. They keep humidity low, which discourages mites and molds, and they can filter the air in the course of cooling it—if you also install an air cleaner. But it's the sealing of the house that provides the real benefit, Dr. Podell says.
"If you've got the windows open, then hey, the inside of the house is essentially the same environment as the outside of the house—full of pollens."
Air-condition your car. If walking outside makes you start wheezing and sneezing, imagine what tearing through all those pollen clouds at 55 miles per hour is going to do! Be sensible, air-condition your automobile, too. And if the expense bothers you, remember—you're doing it for your health.
Install an air cleaner. When the experts say install an air cleaner, they don't mean the $14.95 special at the local hardware store. They mean one of the industrial-quality models that bolts into the air intake or outlet of your central heating and cooling unit.
"The room air cleaners certainly take particles out of the air, but they can also move it around," Dr. Platts-Mills says. "The cure can be worse than the condition." They're good, however, at removing pollen that's already in the air.
Signs of Complications If you have a known allergy, notice any of the following symptoms, and have never experienced them before during an allergy attack, you should see your doctor. - A whistling sound when you breathe—otherwise know as wheezing.
- Congestion of the chest severe enough to make breathing difficult, often accompanied by wheezing—also known as asthma.
- An attack that doesn't respond to over-the-counter medications within a week.
- Welts that spring up in response to exposure to an allergen—also know as hives. They may indicate the onset of anaphylactic shock—an allergic reaction severe enough to kill.
Anaphylactic shock—a very severe allergic reaction—is most commonly associated with bee or fire ant stings, but it can occur in response to other allergens, too. If welts erupt following a sting, it could indicate a severe allergic reaction and should be viewed as a warning flag for prompt medical attention. |
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Buy a dehumidifier. Keeping the air clean in your home will bring relief from pollens, molds, and pet dander. Keeping it dry will help put a stop to dust mite problems, too.
"They really don't do very well at humidities below about 45 percent," Dr. Platts-Mills says. "Generally, the drier, the better."
If that creates a problem for a child or someone else sensitive to dry air, try putting a small room humidifier close to his bed.
Wipe down humid areas with fungicides. Clorox kills mold, and unlike some other exotic chemicals, you can get it in many grocery stores. Wipe down surfaces in your bathroom as needed to control problems. The Clorox label suggests you clean floors, vinyl, tile, woodwork, and appliances (Clorox will bleach fabrics) with a solution of 3/4 cup Clorox bleach per gallon of water. Let stand 5 minutes and rinse. Use a regular fungicide for tough locations like the basement.
Isolate your pets. Pet dander is something many people are allergic to—cat dander usually causes the most problems. The simplest solution: Give your pets away. But for many people, that's not an option. The alternative: Make your bedroom a haven, sealed off from the rest of the house and absolutely forbidden territory for Whiskers.
"One walk a week through a room is all it takes for a pet to keep a dander allergy going," Dr. Podell says.
Wear a face mask. Use one when doing anything that's likely to expose you to the material you're allergic to. A simple chore like vacuuming can throw huge quantities of dust and whatever else is in your home into the air, where it will hang for several minutes, says David Lang, M.D., a senior staff member in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. And gardening can expose you to huge volumes of pollen. A small mask that covers nose and mouth, known professionally as a dust and mist respirator, can cut the allergen reaching your lungs. The 3M Company makes an inexpensive version that comes highly recommended and can be found in most hardware stores.
Hire help. If you're allergic to house dust or something else like pet dander that hides in your carpet, get someone else to take care of cleaning that carpet—a teenager or a professional cleaning service. The cost of a hired hand is a small price to pay for guaranteed escape from an allergic reaction.
Seal your bedding in plastic. A joint communiquŽ from Dr. Podell and Dr. Lang: If dust mites are the bane of your existence, encasing your mattress and pillows in plastic will help bring relief. The little bugs love bedding, but with the plastic in place, you breathe clean air instead of mite wastes.
Throw out your carpets. For an allergic person sensitive to house dust, pet dander, or mold, carpets are an absolute no-no. They make an almost perfect home for dust mites and molds, and the tightly woven modern carpet very effectively attracts and holds pollen and pet dander. Even steam cleaning may not help.
"It's not hot enough to kill the mites," Dr. Platts-Mills says. "About all it really does is make it warmer and wetter underneath—an ideal climate for both mites and mold."
Buy throw rugs. Replace your carpets with throw rugs and you'll achieve two major benefits. You'll eliminate that part of your home that captures and holds more dust, pollen, pet dander, and mold than any other, and you'll make keeping it allergen-free much easier. Rugs can be washed at temperatures hot enough to kill dust mites, and the floors underneath—courtesy of a rug's loose weave—stay cooler and drier, conditions distinctly hostile to mold and mites.
"Mites can't survive on a dry, polished floor," Dr. Platts-Mills says. "And that kind of floor dries in seconds versus weeks for a steam-cleaned carpet."
Buy synthetic pillows. Dust mites like synthetic (Hollofil or Dacron) pillows just as much as those made from down and foam, but synthetic pillows have one major advantage—you can wash them in hot water.
Wash mattress pads often and in hot water. Your pillows aren't the only problem. Mites love your mattress pads just as much. Run them through a hot-cycle wash weekly and you will kill the resident bugs.
Make at least one room a sanctuary. If you can't afford central air and don't want to rip the wall-to-wall carpeting out of every room in your house, there's still hope. Make just one room a sanctuary.
"Most people spend the largest part of their time at home in the bedroom," Dr. Platts-Mills says. "Making just that one room a mite-free area can do a great deal to alleviate the allergy."
Do it by air-conditioning the room in summer, sealing it from the rest of the house (keep the door closed), replacing carpets with throw rugs, and generally applying everything else you've read here.
PANEL OF ADVISERS
David Lang, M.D., is a senior staff member in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Thomas Platts-Mills, M.D., is a professor of medicine and head of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.
Richard Podell, M.D., is a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in Piscataway.
