Coping with Allergies

After years and years of just dealing with random bouts of allergy symptoms, I thought I’d try a more intelligible solution rather than rub my eyes until they turned bright red and use up every tissue box in my apartment.

I finally made time to see an allergist. He performed a skin test where he placed small allergens on the backside of my forearms and observed any reactions I might have, such as redness and swelling. As predicted, within 5 minutes both arms looked like they had 20 mosquito bites on them. The doctor came in and started laughing at me. He seemed happy to have a genuine allergy patient and not one of those hypochondriacs who stop by every now and then just to make sure they haven’t developed a new allergy in the past 6 months.

My main outdoor allergies consisted of most trees, weeds and pollen. Basically he told me not to go outside and to keep my windows shut. Also to wash up after coming in from the outside and change clothes right away since pollen would have stayed with me. All of a sudden, I turned into a bubble boy within one visit to the allergist!

The worst indoor allergy was determined to be dust mites. I knew about this before the visit but I did not realize it affected me as much as the doctor said it did. Of all the allergens, this one caused the biggest swelling on my arm. Since the dust mites tend to live in rugs and mattresses, he said it is important to cover your mattresses, box spring and pillows with an encasement (you can get for under $100 at Bed Bath and Beyond or Target) that provides allergy protection.

Other ways to reduce dust mites would involve getting rid of the rugs altogether or using a vacuum cleaner with a high efficiency purifying air (HEPA) filtration system. Dehumidifiers are also helpful since dust mites only survive in higher relative humidity.

It is also helpful to wash your sheets every week or two in hot water. I have to admit the only thing I’ve done since the visit is buy the encasements and wash my sheets regularly, but since waking up with allergy headaches has been my biggest problem, I’m hoping that the next one won’t occur for a long time. So far it has been a few months and the results have been great!