Indoor allergy

It has been several months, people are spending more time indoors with fear of Coronavirus. Generally, people are taking extra precautions to stay away from those who are sick. Simple cough or cold brings unintended fear in mind about Covid-19. If not the pandemic, we would not give much importance to cold, sneezes, or coughs. Because we know sneezing and coughing can be triggered because of indoor or outdoor allergens.

While we are going through lockdown, there is a chance that we might experience symptoms of allergies behind closed doors due to indoor allergies. These indoor allergies could be because of common items that are sitting around the house.

Not all our symptoms are due to COVID. It could be due to allergy. If we know the symptoms of covid-19, then we should compare common allergy symptoms to Covid symptoms to make sure that we are not neglecting our health.

Do you know being inside can result in worst allergy sufferings than being outside? Poor indoor air quality is one of the allergy reasons. Sources for common allergy during lockdown could be due to following allergen sources:

Pets: If you own a pet, then pet allergies are common. Pet fur as well as the proteins present in their saliva, dander and urine could disperse in indoor air and settle on furniture, counter tops, bed, and other places. It can result in allergy reaction. In a study conducted by British technology company Dyson, it showed that our of 1500 New Zealanders tested, 22 percent of them suffered from asthma and 38 percent from hay fever. These people owned dogs and or cats. Keep your pets out of the bedroom and furniture. Keep a separate bed for your loving pet. Vacuum house regularly.

Pollen food allergy: Also known as Pollen Fruit and pollen oral allergy syndrome. It is caused by cross-reacting allergens found in both pollen and raw vegetables, fruits and nuts. If you feel itchiness after eating a certain food, then it could be due to PFAS. Not everyone suffers from PFAS. After eating an apple, almond celery, kiwi, peach, cherry, melons, oranges, tomato, cucumber, sunflower seeds, etc. some might experience this allergy. Next time when you consume raw fruits and vegetables, if you experience any allergic reactions then make a note of it and talk to your doctor.

Detergents and cleaning liquids: One thing that we learned from the pandemic is, we should sanitize and clean our hands, wash our clothes and clean our house often and regularly. However, the harsh chemicals present in cleaners, detergents and sanitizers could react and give itchiness and rashes on our skin. Wear gloves and protective masks when you must use these harsh chemicals.

Duvet and other cloth covers: Keeping house closed all the time may not let dust get in. But, the dust mites which are inside house will settle on duvet and could give allergy reactions with scratch throat and itching eyes. Solution? Keep changing duvet or any other covers and wash them.

Mold: During lockdown, we have gone through part winter, spring, summer and soon fall season. If our house is not exposed to Sunlight air and proper dryness, then you could end up in a damp and mold wall. Damp wall results in mold development that produces spores. Mold spores are known to cause nasal congestion. Once they found a spot in shower, bathroom wall, garage wall or toilet, they must be taken care and destroyed. If not spores will multiply. If you don’t have a dryer after washing clothes put them out in Sun to dry. Damp clothes can also end up having mold.

Furniture, carpet etc : Dust mites can be present in furniture, carpet, area rug, under fridge or kitchen stove. This could cause problem while breathing. The solution is good wet and dry vacuum cleaning. This removes dust mite, dead skin, pet hair and any other dust particles settled. If not addressed, it could give you a runny nose, sneezing and cough!

Indoor plants: House plants bring nature inside the home and provide health benefits for both mind and body. However, some plants do not go well with our immune systems. These plants may not cause that much allergy as outdoor plants, still, they can cause reasonable itchiness and sneezing. Palms, orchids, African violets, weeping fig, yucca, some of the bonsai trees like birch and plants that are overwatered could lead to allergy.  These plants can carry dust mites, pet hair, pollens, spores, fuzzy leaves, etc can cause asthma or hay fever! Keep plants dust-free, clean and away from human contact.

Any allergy that we might have can result in mucus and fluid accumulation and makes our system vulnerable to COVID-19. Take care of indoor allergies in the best way possible to stay safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Image credits;

• Plant: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1350717/(Free for commercial use)
• Cat Image by Светлана Бердник from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)
• Duvet image: Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)
• Washing liquid; Image by ds_30 from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)