Your home environment is essential for your health. Making sure that your home gives you that support will ensure that you can feel better than yourself. There are a lot of things we can do to take control of our health at home, like eating better, but what about those that have specific problems such as asthma? Asthma affects so many adults and children around the world. While we cannot always control the triggers in other aspects of our health, we can do our best to look after ourselves at home. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you improve your home environment.
Minimizing Dust
Dust is one of the biggest asthma triggers. The fact is that we’ve got so many different things in the home that can throw dust into the air. When you don’t clean your carpet throughout the property, it can attract dust and allergens, but it is a simple thing to remedy.
You also need to make sure that if you’ve got an HVAC unit, you must clean this on a regular basis. If you are not replacing the filters you may benefit from one of the many air conditioning replacements and upgrades to ensure that your unit is not spreading dust around the air on a regular basis.
Cleaning can take a long time to do, especially if you have a bigger home, but this is where you can get into the habit of decluttering as well. Decluttering is going to make the habit of cleaning far easier. Making sure that you get rid of things you don’t need or storing them more efficiently will make a big difference.
Have a HEPA Filter on Your Vacuum
A HEPA filter is an extra insurance policy to tackle allergens more effectively. You may have a vacuum cleaner that does the job on hard surfaces, but when you are attempting to get rid of dust and particles out of carpets having an extra strong vacuum with a HEPA filter will make a big difference.
On the topic of cleaning, make sure that you wear a mask when you are doing it to stop potential flare-ups. When you clean by decluttering or dusting, it will launch all of the molecules like dust mites and pollen or animal dander into the air. Most of us are used to wearing masks now and while cleaning on a regular basis, making sure that you protect your airways by covering your mouth will make a big difference. While most masks will help, if you can invest in an N95 mask, this will create a physical barrier between your face and the triggers in the air.
Keeping Your Home as Dry as Possible
We have to remember that one of the biggest triggers is mold. Mold can develop in spaces where moisture is present. This means looking at your bathroom and kitchen or other potential trouble spots and minimizing the spread. The best thing you can do is to keep your windows open to encourage freshness but also do what you can to towel dry certain parts of the home if you see moisture develop.
If it is too much to keep on top of every single day you may have to look at the trouble spots in the home and get a professional to look at them. For example, having a damp course in the property will protect your property from mold creeping in, as well as using an exhaust fan in the bathroom and the kitchen to reduce moisture.
Have an Action Plan
While we want to make our home more beautiful while also preventing potential triggers it is essential for you to have an asthma action plan in the first place. This will help you to minimize symptoms where possible. Knowing what your triggers are is an essential starting point. If dust is the biggest problem, you will need to clean it on a regular basis. However, if your triggers are certain foods or alcohol you will have to do your best to minimize those.
In addition, making sure that you know how to maintain your lung health will make a significant difference. Many people medicate, but don’t look at improving their lung health. Lungs are muscles and therefore strengthening your muscles with the right types of cardio exercise and other practices like breathing through a salt pipe or a magnesium supplement will do a lot to keep symptoms at bay. When it comes to managing asthma symptoms your home is the best place to prevent flare-ups.