Holiday Health Tips - Prevent Allergy Symptoms

Cooler temperatures and hectic winter schedules can pose health challenges that are unique to the holiday season. In order to both survive and enjoy the holidays, take a few precautions to keep yourself healthy:

Indoor Air Quality
Everyone spends more time indoors during the cooler months, and it is imperative to be aware of your indoor air quality. Clean your chimney before that first holiday fire, and be sure to check fireplace vents and keep fireplace doors closed to prevent smoke.

Christmas decorations and ornaments stored in attics or garages can become accumulated with dust and mold. Thoroughly clean and dry all of these holiday items, seal them in plastic bags, and store them in airtight, plastic containers. If you are extremely sensitive to dust and mold, consider purchasing a high-quality air purifier with HEPA filtration. HEPA filters are one of the most efficient methods at eliminating up to 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Also, because heating vents can blow accumulated dust and debris throughout your home, change or replace your furnace filters before turning on your home heating system, and purchase an allergy furnace filter to help turn your home into a "whole house filter."

Mold Problems
Activities such as raking wet leaves and choosing logs for the fireplace can trigger outdoor mold allergies during the winter season. To prevent allergy exacerbations, remove wet dirt and leaves from around the foundation and gutters of your home to prevent outdoor mold from accumulating around the windows and doors. Store all firewood outside, and only bring new logs inside when you are going to use them. For mold allergy sufferers, dress appropriately and wear protective gloves and face masks, and keep allergy medication readily available.

Indoor mold can also flourish due to high humidity levels stemming from weather changes, leaking roofs, condensing water pipes, and unvented combustion appliances. To address moisture and mold problems, keep your humidity levels below 50% by installing exhaust fans in rooms with high humidity and by using a dehumidifier.

Colder Weather and Asthma
Winter weather can also affect asthma sufferers. Wear a scarf or muffler when venturing outside to warm and humidify winter winds before they enter your lungs, or look to purchasing a warming mask for even more protection against the elements.

Beware of Christmas Trees
A perfect Christmas tree can be one of the highlights of the holiday season, but did you know that Christmas greenery can cause many allergy sufferers to hack and sneeze? According to Paul Stillwagon, a leading allergy physician, mold hidden under the crevices of a tree bark can be more of an allergy trigger than pine needles. While it is possible that some may be allergic to pine tree pollen, Stillwagon argues that it is impossible to have symptoms during the Christmas season because pine trees only pollinate in the spring. Because tree decorating involves rustling branches and bringing out those dusty ornaments from the basement, the dust may be triggering allergies as well.

Also, because commercially-sold trees are often sprayed with chemicals to help them stay green, these chemicals may cause respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and watery eyes. Prevent these symptoms by hosing down a live tree before bringing it in.