Food Allergy
 

Environmental Control recommendations

-  General Tips for Allergy Sufferers
1. Vacuum frequently, particularly in the bedroom and don’t forget your mattress.  It’s a common place for dust to collect.

2. Eliminate your exposure to cigarette or cigar smoke.  Ask visitors to your home to refrain from smoking; avoid smoke-filled public places.

3. Use your air conditioner and make sure the filter is clean.  Also, a room air filter is helpful in keeping the air clean.

4. Use Dacron or foam pillows instead of goose down, and wash them frequently.

5. Leave plants in the backyard.  If you must have house plants, keep them out of the bedroom and keep the leaves clean.

6. Regularly wash damp areas of your home, such as shower stalls, basements and window sills.  This will reduce growth of molds.

7. Use a humidifier to keep the humidity in your home between 35% and 50%, which is the ideal for allergy sufferers.

8. Remove “dust collectors” such as rugs, drapes, stuffed furniture, stored blankets and woolens from your bedroom.

9. If you are allergic to dogs or cats, remove them from your home.  Avoid these animals as much as possible when visiting friends or relatives.

10. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about medicines that may alleviate the symptoms of your allergies.  Both nonprescription and prescription medicines have been found to be effective.

  • Dust and indoor allergen control

 

House dust is a mixture of fine particles of fibers of rugs, feathers, cotton, sand, insect scales, human hair and dander.  The whole house should be kept dust free as much as possible.  Since we sleep 8-10 hours in the bedroom, a greata effort should be made to keep a clean, dust free bedroom.

Tips for minimizing dust

  • With a good vacuum cleaner, suction walls, ceilings, and windows and wipe with a damp cloth.  Bedroom furnishings should be kept to a minimum.
  • Remove heavy drapes, upholstery, stuffed animals, animal skins and furs from the bedroom, as well as feather beds and pillows, down comforters, and wool blankets.
  • Strip floors of old wearing carpets, substituting them with hardwood, vinyl or tile.  Carpets and the padding beneath are notorious nesting grounds for mites.
  • Vacuum bedrooms weekly; including the bed itself with a brush attachment that is used for the bed only.  Systematically, vacuum the pillow, box spring, mattress, sheets, bedspread, etc.  Bedspreads/quilts/comforters gather settling dust.  At bedtime, roll the bedspread and put it on the floor and use another blanket to cover.
  • Wash bed linens in hot water once every week or two.  The mattress, box spring, and pillows should be encased in texturized vinyl encasings which act as barriers and prevent mite material from being inhaled.
  • Do not use fans in the bedrooms as they stir up dust.  If there is a heat vent by the bed, cover it with a filter to prevent direct air flow on the sleeper’s face.
  • Vacuum the entire house regularly.  If dust settles on furniture within a day or two of vacuuming, the vacuum cleaner may be inefficient in holding dust particles in the bag.  Consider buying a vacuum cleaner with HEPA bags. (HEPA is a fine filter that filters 99.9% of particles more thatn 0.3 u in size.)  For new homes, central vacuum systems are highly recommended as the dust is carried outside the house.
  • Frequently, the duct system is the source of the dust (especially in very old houses).  Open heat registers and vacuum as far inside as you can.  Professionally suction-clean the duct system once every 3 to 4 years (preferably in the fall before heating season). 
  • Central air conditioners control the amount of air allowed in the house; hence they control the amount of outdoor particles coming.  Air that is allowed in is filtered before it is cooled.  Air conditioners are excellent devices in controlling pollen and mold spore exposures in the summer.
  • HEPA air purifiers are recommended to eliminate allergens from the air.  For information on models and effectiveness, go to www.consumerreports.org  under the appliance section.

 

  • Pollen Control
    • Try to keep windows closed, especially at night, to cut down on the circulation of pollen particles.  If the windows must be open, try to use a cloth-like substance over the opening to act as an additional filter.
    • Humidity will surround airborne particles with moisture and weigh them down to a non-breathing level.  Keep humidity at 40% or lower.
    • Air purifiers with HEPA filters are recommended to eliminate allergens from the air.

Most of the pollen particles mentioned above are very light and buoyant and can be carried one hundred miles or more in the wind.  All of the items we test forgrow in the Western/Central Mountain States are abundant in our area or cross-react with available antigens 95% or more.

  • Mold Control

 

 

When was the last time you checked the expiration date on your Epi-autoinjector???  Most will expire in about 12-18 months!