How To Deal With Indoor Triggers
What Is An Asthma "Trigger"?
An asthma trigger is anything that may cause an asthma attack. It could be an environmental factor like changes in the climate, allergies to certain kinds of food, chemicals or even internal body issues like gastric problems.
The most common triggers are:
- Allergens - these cause fever, can inflame an asthmatic’s sensitive lungs
- Irritants - things in the environment that when inhaled can bother anyone, whether you have asthma or not.
Indoor triggers, in the home or office, are usually the easiest to recognize and eliminate.
These can be animal dander, mold, dust mites, and smoke.
Many solutions to deal with an indoor triggers are easy to find and available in most places.
Dealing With Animal Dander
Animal dander, or the dead skin cells of pets, is a common trigger.
Families with pets like cats and dogs need a plan of how they want to take care of this as this is one of the most common allergy triggers.
Other animals like mice, gerbils, hamsters and birds can also have dander.
If you would like a pet but you know this would be a problems, choose a pet that doesn't have dander issues such as fish, reptiles or amphibians.
If you already have a pet at home, say a cat or dog, you can do some other things that don't include saying good-bye to your pet:
- Bathe the animal weekly - this does include cats, and yes, I know what that means
- Use High Efficiency Particulate Air or HEPA filters throughout the home
- Vacuum with a real high efficiency particulate air or HEPA filters vacuum cleaner and not one that is "HEPA-like."
- Clean pet areas often
- Keep pets out of bedrooms
Minding the Mold
This is a common allergen and asthma trigger.
These are tiny plants that grow on moist surfaces and look dark and fuzzy. You can recognize them by the musty odor.
The first step against this trigger is learning to control the places where mold hides:
- Bathrooms,
- The Refrigerator
- Air Conditioning Drip Pans
Keep these places clean and reduce moisture in the air by throwing out anything that can stay wet and damp for long periods of time.
Dealing with Dust Mites
Dust mite droppings are an allergen that can be an asthma trigger. Every house has dust mites.
These tiny creatures exist by consuming shed dead skin cells. They're most common in bedding and carpets and their droppings are a part of household dust.
You can reduce dust mite droppings by using smooth furniture, like vinyl.
Get rid of carpeting and reduce excess moisture in the air because it also helps cut down on dust mite numbers.
Tobacco Smoke
We all know tobacco smoke is harmful for everyone, not just people with asthma, ask anyone who knows about health insurance.
If there is a smoker in your family or working place you might try to convince them to quit or smoke outside the building. Maybe you can lead them to learn about asthma so they are more sympathic. Perhaps just telling them that the smoke will cause you to use drugs to avoid an attack will be enough.
In extreme cases you might be the one who has to get outside if nothing else works.