Nearly everyone experiences some form of allergy including mold allergies. An allergy is simply an intolerance to a certain environmental or ingested product, such as pollen, dogs, peanuts or lotions. Allergies can cause many symptoms. These range from minor irritation of the affected area up to anaphylactic shock that can lead to death. Most often people with what they term "seasonal" allergies experience their symptoms during particular parts of the year, such as the spring or fall. If you experience the symptoms of allergies throughout the year, and they get worse when in certain indoor environments, you may not have seasonal allergies at all. Rather, you may be experiencing mold allergies.
What are Mold Allergies? Most people are exposed to mold throughout the day, every day. Tiny spores released by the fungus can be in the air you breathe, or you may accidentally eat food that has mold on it. For the most part, such small exposures will have no negative effect. For people with mold allergies, however, being exposed to too much mold, whether through breathing it or ingesting it, can cause unpleasant, and even dangerous, symptoms. An allergy to mold is like any other allergy, and should be recognized and dealt with as quickly as possible to prevent miserable symptoms and damage to health.
What are the Symptoms?
Mold allergy symptoms are similar to reactions to other allergens. They include itchy eyes, sneezing, a rash, difficulty breathing and headaches. If these symptoms are chronic, or get progressively worse when you are in particular environments, it is likely that your home, or another location that you frequent, has high levels of unseen mold. This mold may be in the walls or air circulation system. During certain times of the year, particularly warm months, there tends to be an abundance of mold spores in the air. This can cause you to experience your allergy symptoms with the same frequency as those who are allergic to pollen or grass.
How Can Mold Allergies be Prevented and Treated? Preventing the growth of mold in your home, or treating growth that has already occurred, is critical to the management of your allergy symptoms. One way to do this is to monitor and control the humidity level in your home. Using moisture-absorbers and dehumidifiers help to keep the air dry and cool which will inhibit mold growth. If mold is already growing, air purifiers can help remove the spores from the air, and cleaning products can help to kill the mold and remove it. Some types of mold are extremely dangerous and grow deep in walls or other areas that you cannot easily reach. When this happens you should consult professional cleaners to protect your home and your health.
How Can Mold Allergies be Treated?
Mold allergies can be very unpleasant. If you find that you have a mold allergy, there are measures you can take to limit your exposure and ease your symptoms.
Keep your home, particularly your basement, bathroom and laundry areas, as cool and dry as possible.Do not keep perishable food for more than 2 days after they are opened.Refrigerate opened food promptly.Do not smell foods that you think may be bad. This can cause you to inhale the spores.Use over-the-counter allergy medications to ease your symptomsAs you can see, while mold allergies are a serious problem, there are common sense steps you can take to combat them today!
Read more about Mold Allergies at Mildew vs. Mold blog. E.M. August is a vigilant enemy of mold and mildew everywhere.
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