 |
|
| Home > Living With Asthma > Asthma Prevention > Preparing Your Home |
|
 |
|
When you or someone you love has asthma, preparation is essential to controlling it, both in your home and when you're traveling.
Here you'll find tips for eliminating asthma triggers from your home and avoiding those that can't be removed. Following these tips will help sufferers avoid their triggers and greatly reduce the likelihood of attacks.
Your furry or feathered friends might well be a problem.
Pet dander can trigger asthma and is spread easily throughout the house. If your pets trigger your asthma, try not to allow them inside. If they must come inside, make your bedroom off limits.
Try to avoid remodeling or working in dusty environments.
Paint fumes, wood dusts, and paint removers are irritants that can trigger asthma. Wear a dust mask, whenever possible, to avoid being exposed.
Use man-made fibers, not feathers.
Replace feather and down-filled pillows, quilts, and cushions with those filled with man-made fibers. Also, consider blinds instead of curtains and wood floors rather than carpets.
Don't allow smoking inside.
Cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke are known asthma irritants and will often linger in a house long after the smoker has left.
Remove mold.
Increased moisture in the home can encourage mold growth. Wherever and whenever you find mold, use bleach to destroy it. If the odor from bleach is a trigger for you, wear a mask or have someone do the cleaning for you. Or you can use a dehumidifier to prevent it from growing in the first place.
Eliminate mites.
Keep your home as dust-free as possible. Cover pillows, mattresses, and box springs with zippered, dust-proof covers and wash all bed sheets and blankets in hot water (at least 130°F) once a week.
Air conditioning can be a good idea.
If airborne pollens and molds trigger your asthma, air conditioning may help. However, air conditioning and heating systems can produce abrupt changes in temperature that can trigger an asthma attack. Be sure to use them carefully.
Close doors and windows.
Keeping the doors and windows shut is an effective way to keep out airborne pollens and molds, especially during pollen season.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
