Dust Allergy | Gluten Allergy | Mold Allergy | Allergy

How the Simple Act of Dusting can Make You Feel Better

by Allergy Guy

Eliminating dust from your home is a boring but necessary task, especially if you have a dust allergy.

I was reminded of this fact recently when I moved into my sister’s place for a month to do some house sitting.

My sister is not known for her diligent housekeeping skills; on the contrary, if I were ever to enter her house and find everything spic and span, I’d be shocked and a bit worried.

My first night here was not that great. I didn’t sleep well, and had a headache for all of the next day.  My allergies were playing up on me, and I was concerned that I may not be able to live up to my house-sitting obligations.

Mold Allergy, Could That Be It?

I also worried about mold.  A mold allergy is one of the nastier allergies you can have because it is quite hard to avoid in certain houses.  If the basement is damp or there is a leak in the plumbing under the bathtub, you’re stuck with it unless and until you can get major work done to fix the problem.

My sister worries about these things a little bit, but the chances of her spending big bucks to fix a problem that she doesn’t perceive as really effecting her are close to nil.

Not that I’m much better.  I know the compost is festering under the sink and I still haven’t emptied it.

Gluten Allergy, a Long Shot

Of course I always worry about my gluten allergy/wheat allergy.  I worry about it because it is the worst allergy I have.  Once effected by my gluten allergy, it takes weeks to clear, and I’m pretty much useless for seven or eight days.

The fact is though that I avoided any food in the cupboard or fridge that might be contaminated by double dipping, and I didn’t see a single crumb on the counter where I was preparing food.

I even took the precaution of washing one of the pots that had something stuck to the bottom of it – probably harmless but you never know if it was pasta residue or some such thing.

Dust Allergy, Thank God!

The dust bunnies were small and well camouflaged by the floor, which was several shades darker than its natural colour.  That might be a clue.

Come to think of it, those are definitely rafts of dust floating in the corners.  No telling how long they’ve been there for.

One thing my sister does have is an excellent vacuum cleaner with build-in HEPA filter.  Its in good shape because it hardly gets used.

I vacuumed just part of the house – the bedroom and the office, sucking up pounds of dust and lightening the colour of the floor and carpets by several shades.

Normally, dusting makes me worse before it makes me better, from stirring up the dust.

Not this time.  I suppose I was about as bad as I can be from a dust allergy.

I slept much better that night and have felt fine ever since, and better after dusting more of the house.

Dusting is necessary, and perhaps not so evil after all!

(Visited 746 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Comment

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Liz November 5, 2010 at 19:38

I’m having an allergy attack right now. I had it since last night after dinner out when these two men came over paying their tab. I began sneezing and been that way ever since. I’ve been having itchy watery eyes, extreme tiredness from my own histamines, I’ve even taken an over the counter allergy pill that’s non-drowsy. I haven’t gotten relief yet. I’ve been dusting but it doesn’t help. I cleaned and dusted my loft, changed my bedding to fresh bedding and added fresh plants to help with the flow. I don’t like fake so I went with real flowers. These aren’t reason why I’m having allergies though.

Reply

2 Allergy Guy November 5, 2010 at 22:06

I know how you feel, Liz.

Sometimes dusting makes your allergies worse at first because it stirs up the dust, but after awhile it settles down and is much better than before.

Hope your allergies calm down soon!

Reply

Previous post:

Next post: