Life with an allergy to dust - whether you ora member of your family - always raises many questions. For example, can an allergy to dust explain the endless symptoms of colds in your child? Or why is it especially bad for you when you go to bed? To successfully combat this disease, you need to know about it as much as possible - starting from the causes of allergies and pumping in what kind of treatment you can help. We will answer the most frequently asked questions about dust allergies. 
Where does the dust come from and why is it so much?
In each house there are necessarily corners, whereaccumulates dust. Even the cleanest apartments are unlikely to pass the test with white gloves. Particles of dust easily penetrate and under the bed, and under the ceiling, on a chandelier or cupboard. Home dust is generally the most common cause of allergy. What is house dust? It consists of nap fibers of carpets, toy furs, upholstery upholstery fabrics, as well as epidermis flakes - your own and your pets. Add here their wool, as well as microparticles brought on clothes from the street, and you will understand what kind of "cocktail" consists of house dust. Often the composition of dust includes toxins released by insects and microorganisms that live in your home. In addition to cockroaches and spiders, in your house can live a huge number of microscopic ticks that love natural products, and therefore settle in wool carpets and blankets. A pile of dust weighing about a paper clip contains about nineteen thousand individuals of dust mites!
What are dust mites?
Dust mites are small spider-like creatures,which thrive in warm and damp conditions. You can not see these little scoundrels with the naked eye, but they can cause big problems if you have dust allergies. They really like the conditions that prevail in our homes, where it is always warm and the air is wet - they prefer a humidity of 75% to 80%. They can not survive at low temperature - for example, dust mites have never been found in Antarctica and are rarely found in dry, cold climates. And in our latitudes, people with dust allergy tend to deteriorate in July and August, when dust mite populations reach a peak due to warm and humid weather. Dust mites feed on fallen scales of dead skin of people and animals. Since scales of skin fall every day, ticks, of course, are unlikely to starve. On average, an adult every day loses up to one and a half grams of skin - this is enough to feed the army in a million dust mites. Scales of dead skin accumulate on carpets, beds, furniture, inviting mites to a hearty meal. Most dust mites accumulate inside the mattresses, in bedding and in upholstered furniture. And the closest to our respiratory tract are the mites that live in the pillows - down and feathery. Ticks-peroids perfectly feel themselves in a moist and warm environment, so in ten years any pillow is 40% composed of ticks and products of their vital activity. From this neighborhood it is easy to earn allergies. But not only ticks, the pen itself also causes coughing and an allergic rhinitis. The pen consists of micro-hooks, which easily penetrate the fabric of the pillowcase. And when you inhale, a huge amount of these particles dig into the lungs and bronchi. 
What exactly causes allergy and what are its symptoms?
Most people who are allergic to dust on their ownIn fact, there is a reaction to proteins that are in the waste of life of dust mites. It is dust mites that can cause year-round rhinitis, they can also cause bronchial asthma, especially in children. Symptoms of dust allergy are very similar to those of pollen allergies and may include:
- Redness and itching of the mucous eyes, tearing;
- Runny nose, stuffy nose;
- Sneezing.
Some people may have symptoms of asthma:
- Strong paroxysmal cough;
- Shortness of breath;
- Chryps in the bronchi.
In addition, in severe cases of dust allergies, allergic dermatitis may appear.
How do I know if I'm allergic to dust?
Symptoms of dust allergy can be very similarfor a cold. However, if the runny nose and sneezing do not go away for a long time, you should contact an allergist. The doctor will ask you questions that will help clarify the picture, will conduct skin tests to identify the allergen. In addition, the allergen can be detected and using special blood tests. Having identified a specific allergen and determining the extent of your susceptibility to allergies, the doctor will give you recommendations and, if necessary, prescribe a treatment.
How is dust allergy treated?
Treatment of dust allergy includes three main methods:
- Elimination of contact with an allergen
- Treatment with medicines
- Allergen-specific immunotherapy
Avoiding contact with an allergen is, rather, nottreatment, and the prevention of allergic seizures. This means that you need to take special measures against dust and limit the impact of specific sources of those substances in the dust that are causing you allergies. The latter is possible when testing shows that you are allergic, for example, to dandruff pets. Antihistamines, which are able to alleviate your condition, will be selected by your doctor. He will tell you how long the treatment should last. Antihistamines relieve itching, sneezing, tearing. Such preparations exist in the form of tablets, drops, syrups, as well as nasal sprays or eye drops. There is another group of drugs that are treated strictly according to the doctor's prescription. These are nasal steroids, which are anti-inflammatory drugs and are capable of stopping allergic reactions, and leukotriene receptor antagonists that block the action of chemicals developed in response to the action of the allergen. Once again, the treatment is prescribed by a doctor, and many of the allergy medicines are available only on prescription. And then, how to specifically treat allergies, it can be understood only after the survey. 
How can I avoid contact with an allergen?
Drug treatment can help,and fairly quickly; but even the most effective treatment will eventually lose all meaning if allergens continue to surround you. Reducing the amount of dust and the destruction of dust mites should be the very first step in dealing with the symptoms of allergies or asthma. And to begin first of all is in the bedroom, where every person spends most of the time every day. Do not forget to only wear a gauze mask or a respirator during cleaning. People who wake up at night from a dry painful cough, first of all, must part with the feather pillow. But also those who are predisposed to allergic diseases, you should not wait for the onset of the disease to part with it. If you decide to leave the pillows, then they need to be changed no less often than once in ten years, and once a year to dry-clean or at least take them out under the open sun, as ultraviolet rays have a harmful effect on feather mites. In winter, pillows and woolen blankets, mattresses with natural fillings should be periodically ventilated to frost - mites quickly die at low temperatures. If you do not want to throw away your favorite things, you can pack pillows, blankets and mattresses in special plastic or vinyl covers. As often as possible, wash clothes at high temperature, if possible, and in the bedrooms, do not allow the humidity to increase. Carpets treat with acaricides. Allergic bedding should be made of smooth and dense fabrics, as soft tissues quickly wear out, which increases the number of microvilli in the inspired air. But carpets, especially with fluffy pile, do not have a place in the apartment of an allergic person. A wet cloth and even a vacuum cleaner can not cope with the house dust, which literally accumulates in carpets. Following the carpets, you need to get rid of soft furniture with loose upholstery, as well as from sofa cushions and a collection of soft toys. And do not feel sorry for all these things, otherwise you will not be cured by any treatment for allergies. It turns out that allergy sufferers must choose for themselves a quality and hypoallergenic synthetics. If possible, you need to replace all natural things with their non-dusty counterparts: instead of curtains use blinds, and natural bedding replaced with synthetic blankets and pillows. Furniture is better to buy with filler made of foam rubber and with removable covers, so that the filler can be washed. Allergy sufferers need to reconsider their habits: it's better to forget about sewing, knitting, working with leather, fur or paper; smelling substances in the apartment of a person suffering from allergies, is also not the place. It is not recommended to clean the house at home, but if there is no other way out, then it is necessary to use a wet gauze bandage, and after cleaning to go for a few hours to walk, so as not to provoke an asthma attack. The vacuum cleaner should be with a multi-stage filtration system, and the filters themselves should not be clogged. Favorite hats, sweaters, mittens and scarves made from natural wool will also have to say "goodbye". And top clothes to wash as often as possible or to beat out from it a dust. His personal library needs to be cleaned in cabinets with glasses, and small souvenirs are either discarded or distributed to healthier friends, as they collect a lot of dust on themselves, which is not easy to remove. Indoor flowers are also banned, not because of pollen, but because of mold fungi that multiply on them. Naphthalene, aerosol flavors and insecticides should be left on the shelf in the store. If you are allergic to house dust, in most cases the list of allergens is rapidly expanding, allergies to pet hair and feathers of birds are attached. Therefore, pets should find new owners, however difficult it may be. Aquarium fish are also considered potentially dangerous due to the fact that dry food for them has a high allergenicity, but if you use only live food, then perhaps you can leave the fish. Here are some more tips on how to reduce the amount of dust:
- Instead of feathers, use pillows filled with polyester fibers.
- Wash all the bedding in a veryhot water (even better - boil them) at least once a week. Powder is better to take one that is intended for children's things - these powders are hypoallergenic.
- Clean all surfaces with a clean damp cloth, preferably daily.
- Try to maintain in your home humidity below 55%. To control humidity, get a hygrometer.
- Curtains are better to remove. If you can not do without them, wash them in hot water once a week.
- Remove stuffed animals, bouquets of artificial or dried flowers and other "dust collectors" from the house.
- Choose wooden or vinyl flooring. Carpeting - this is literally a trap for dust.
- If you use heating or air conditioning equipment, change the filters every three months.
- Weekly wash all small mats (for example, from a bathroom or toilet) in hot water.
We have repeatedly mentioned that in the event that yyou are strongly allergic to dust, you'd better remove all carpets. But if this seems impossible to you, then talk with your doctor - perhaps, it will be acceptable for you to treat carpets with chemical cleaners in order to neutralize the waste of life of a dust mite. We advise you to read:
