Asthma is a significant medical mystery since it is a disease with several probable multiple causes and no direct cause. What people do know is that it can cause breathing problems for many people. If you or a member of your family has it, the shortness of breath it can cause can be a worry. While medication can help, it is much better to reduce the amount of exposure to the various triggers for an asthma attack. Here are some things you can do so that your home is a safe place for asthmatics.
Improve Air Quality
The best way to prevent triggering asthma is to improve the air quality in your home. Bad air can affect any of a home’s occupants. Repeated exposure can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat along with a variety of negative symptoms. It is even worse for those with asthma or allergies. So improving the indoor air quality can be worth it. There are several ways to do to make this happen.
One is to eliminate the various reasons for lower air quality. This can range from bad habits like smoking to dust build-up in the house’s air ducts. Eliminate indoor smoking as a habit since it allows the smoke to stay inside the house. You can also have regular duct cleaning to remove all the dust inside the ducts of your home. Identify each cause for lower air quality and take steps to resolve the issue.
You can also install an air cleaner or purifier. There are several models out there that can clear out the particles in the air that make the air dirty. They may need maintenance. Additionally, you can resort to using houseplants as natural air cleaners.
Lower The Humidity
High amounts of moisture in the air encourage the growth of mold in a home. Mold can damage your furniture but also is a source of spores that could affect your respiration. These spores trigger asthma attacks. If you want to reduce or eliminate mold inside your home, you’ll have to deprive it of moisture. It also doesn’t help if the temperature is hot.
If possible lower temperatures to a comfortable level between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius. Buy a dehumidifier and monitor home humidity so that it does not exceed 50 percent. Clean them out and maintain them properly so that they do their job well.
Change The Flooring And Furnishings
Another source of allergens is your carpeting and furniture. If you a lot of carpets and rugs, dust mites will find a home in them. Besides that, they can absorb the various particles in the air. This is the same with upholstered furniture. If you want to avoid allergens in them, you should change them out for something that does not absorb dust. Wood flooring is nice and easy to clean. If you can’t afford it, linoleum floors are a good alternative. As for furniture, wooden or leather furniture is a much better alternative. Keep both floors and furniture clean of dust to get the best results.
Install Proper Ventilation
Bad air is made worse if it accumulates in a room. Instead of just leaving it like that, you should have better ventilation. This allows fresh air to come into a room and replace all the old dirty air. You can do this in different ways. A popular and affordable method is only to have exhaust-only ventilation. This works by installing only exhaust fans and have them running constantly. This draws the bad air out, and the negative pressure in the home draws air in naturally. A more balanced approach has exhaust fans working with intake fans to have both bad air moving out and fresh air coming in. This better controls air intake instead of depending on the various cracks and holes to bring it in.
Handle The Pets and Pests
A major source of allergens is other living things. Pet hair and dander can spread all over a home if you leave a pet alone. It would be best if you groomed it regularly while also restricting it to some areas. This ensures that their allergens are low. Additionally, dust mites and cockroaches leave allergens everywhere, so having an exterminator come in can be a great help to your house. Cleaning up regularly also ensures that these pests will not thrive on any kind of mess or debris in the house.
Your home is supposed to be a refuge from the outside world. Asthmatics need to be careful when they go out since there are various asthma triggers out there. With proper asthma-proofing, your home can be a place that they are sure that they won’t get an attack.
