Spring Cleaning is essential to Prepare for Allergy Season
It is allergy season and everyone is complaining about the beautiful flowers and the trees making them miserable.
Your eyes are watering, you are sneezing, your head hurts, you cannot sleep without propping yourself up on pillows and you are blaming all on spring.
“I got sinus”, “my family is allergic to everything”, “I can’t stand being outside”, I get all stopped up”, etc; etc; etc.
The spring is not your enemy! Your home or office environment and your body or your immune system is the reason you are suffering!
Why are so many people in the black community suffering from asthma and allergies?
Black children with asthma are twice as likely as white children to be hospitalized because of the disease, more than three times as likely to visit the emergency department more than three times as likely to die from asthma as white children.
Minority groups, particularly poor minorities, tend to have less access to health care and even when they see a doctor, the care they receive tends to be of lesser quality than white children.
Other environmental factors play a role, including substandard housing with higher levels of cockroach and rodent allergens, community violence because children spend much of their time indoors and are exposed to high rates of indoor allergens also exposure to pollution from high traffic in urban areas and last but not least the chronic stress experienced by people living in low socioeconomic neighborhoods and by African-Americans overall has been linked to asthma.
We take too many medications to get relief from our reaction to the change of seasons. Nature has to do what it does.
It is important to have the new growth in the Spring to wake up the seeds that have been hibernating all Winter. It is vital to have the wind blow the spores and buds all around to take root and grow new flowers and trees.
How can we complain about such a sacred process when we know it has to happen exactly that way every season?
Try something different this year and start with looking at your personal habits of how you eat and what is in your home that may be triggering your condition.
In your environment repeated exposure to specific allergens and irritants such as cigarette smoke or pet dander increases your risk of asthma.
Respiratory infection bronchitis as a child can increase the risk and weaken the immune system. Frequent colds and sinus infections is common in the winter due to exposure to viruses. It is possible to have a sinus condition that last for months or years if it is not properly treated.
Colds are the most common cause of acute sinusitis, but people with allergies are much more likely to develop sinusitis than people who do not have allergies.
Other factors contribute to the strength of our immune system
o Cold air from air conditioners
o Air Pollution
o Tobacco smoke
o Perfume, paint, hair spray
o Allergen particles such as dust mites, pollen, molds, pollution, and animal dander, dead skin cells. (change your bed linen)
o Common cold, influenza, and other respiratory illnesses
o Cockroaches can cause problems because roach droppings settle in house dust and can end up in the air you breathe
o Indoor Mold in bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. Molds also form in houseplants.
o Perfume, room deodorizers, cleaning chemicals, paint, and talcum powder.
o Dust Mites are tiny, microscopic spiders usually found in house dust. Several thousand mites can be found in a pinch of dust. Mites are one of the major triggers for people with allergies and asthma. Following these rules can also help get rid of dust mites
Spring Cleaning
o Put mattresses in allergen-impermeable covers. Tape over the length of the zipper.
o Put pillows in allergen-permeable covers. Tape over the length of the zipper. Or wash the pillow every week.
o Wash all bedding every week in water that is at least 130 degrees F. Removing the bedspread at night may help.
o Remove carpeting in the bedroom.
o Dusting by wiping off surface dust as often as possible.
o Window coverings attract dust. Use window shades or curtains made of plastic or other washable material for easy cleaning.
o Closets need extra care. Change the bags and clean out your vacuum cleaner and the air filters on your furnace and air conditioner.
I have fond memories of Spring cleaning because my mother took it very seriously. The windows were completely stripped of the heavy drapes that covered the windows in the Winter and washed with vinegar and water.
The walls were wiped down and sometimes painted with a fresh new coat of paint to brighten up the house for Spring.
The carpet was cleaned the rugs were taken outside and beaten on the clothesline. The furniture was cleaned with a brush and the cushions removed and set outside to air out.
Spring Cleaning is an important ritual in the home and should be taken seriously because it prepares for the abundance that the new season offers.
So before you complain about your allergies, consider taking some steps to improve conditions in your home and car to reduce your exposure.
