neezing in the sitting room? Coughing in the kitchen? As winter arrives, outdoor allergies give way to many pervasive indoor ones. Some are due to our lovable pets, while others are invisible. Below, two allergy experts offer some advice on living with indoor allergies.
What are the most common causes of indoor allergies?
HEIDI ZAFRA, MD: Dust mites, indoor mold, pet dander, cockroaches and mice.
When you shake your pillow and the dust flies, that is excrement from microscopic organisms called dust mites. When you inhale it, your nose and lungs are irritated.
What are dust mites exactly?
MORRIS NEJAT, MD: Dust mites live off of shed human skin. You find them in high quantities in mattresses and boxsprings and pillows, in bedding and clothes, on carpets. People who are genetically predisposed develop an allergy to their feces. At nighttime, as you're sleeping, you're breathing these particles, causing allergic reaction in your nose, in your lungs, in your eyes.
How do you avoid them?
MORRIS NEJAT, MD: First of all, you want to make sure that you're allergic to dust mites. Go to an allergist and have skin testing done, to see if they are a problem for you.
If you find that you are allergic to dust mites, get special covers to put on the mattress, the box spring and the pillowcases. These special cases encase the dust mite feces inside the mattress, and keeps you from breathing them in while you're sleeping. Also, wash all the bedding in hot water (over 130 degrees Fahrenheit) once a week to kill and denature the mites and their feces.
You want to really try and make the bedroom a dust-mite free sanctuary, by decreasing the clutter in the whole bedroom as much as possible. I tell patients to picture a hospital room, where they have no rugs on the floors, they have nothing on the walls, and they don't have upholstered furniture.
What do you do if you have a pet that you're allergic to?
HEIDI ZAFRA, MD: Leave the pet out of the bedroom, because when the pet dander's in the bedroom, you're miserable all day and all night long.
But if you have asthma, especially if you have a child who has asthma, the choice is really easy -- the kid or the pet. Asthma is life-threatening, and you don't want to risk the child's life just to save the pet. You could move the pet to a friend's house, so that they have visiting rights.
MORRIS NEJAT, MD: People are allergic to the saliva of cats. They lick their pelts, and when they shed, you're getting their saliva everywhere. Cat antigen is very light, so it aerosolizes very easily - the air in rooms can be filled with cat antigen.
I tell patients to put a HEPA filter in the bedroom to clean out as much of the cat antigen as possible. I also recommend, if they do keep the cat, to wash the cat at least once a week, to help take off as much antigen as you can from the cat's skin. Oftentimes patients will undergo allergy immunotherapy to their pet's antigens, to decrease their sensitivity so they can tolerate it.
In the winter, many people use humidifiers, are these a problem?
HEIDI ZAFRA, MD: I am not a big fan of humidifiers. You see, dust mites are moisture-loving insects. The more humid the environment, the more dust mites and molds grow. I really discourage my patients from buying humidifiers. If they really want the room to be less dry, they can lower the heat and open up the window a little bit. If you must use them, the water in the humidifier must be thrown out and cleaned every day, because that water can also grow a lot of bacteria and mold, and that gets aerosolized as well.
How do you deal with mold?
HEIDI ZAFRA, MD: Indoor mold is in bathrooms, basements, around windowsills, around moist pipes, in potted plants. For indoor mold, basically, you want the room to be on the dry side. Bleach your bathrooms at least once a week, which kills mold, and keep areas that are moist nice and dry. If your carpet is set on concrete, maybe take out the carpet, because the back of the carpet will grow mold behind it.
Do HEPA air filters help with mold too?
HEIDI ZAFRA, MD: They're 400 dollars, but if you can afford it, they will add some additional benefit. If money is an issue, the best thing is to make your apartment, your room, dry and clean.
RELATED PROGRAMS
