Common Environmental Allergy Symptoms

Environmental allergies whether it is to pollen, mould or cockroaches can all produce very similar symptoms often making it difficult to pin point exactly what it is you are sneezing at.

Before you start hunting around for cockroaches, you should check out what symptoms can occur from each environmental allergy so that you can figure out exactly what it is you’re allergic to.

Dust Mites
Pollen
Cockroaches
Mould

Dust Mites

Dust mites have proven to be the most common indoor allergy and one of the hardest to control as they are so microscopic in size. They occur from breathing in a specific protein from the dust mites droppings initiating a cascade of allergic symptoms that your immune system has created. Dust mite allergens do not circulate in the air like pollen or cockroach allergies but instead are collected on furniture, rugs and your bed.

Dust mites can trigger asthmatic attacks and a range of symptoms that occur rapidly once in contact with the dust mite. Look at the symptoms listed to see if dust mites are the cause to your problems.

Symptoms:

Eczema: Redness, swelling, oozing of the skin
Constant sneezing
Itchy eyes and nose
Wheezing, short of breath

If you are allergic to dust mites, your symptoms will occur all year round. You will notice them worse when in contact with dusty areas of the house and whilst your sleeping. As you move around in bed, you can shake up the settled dust mite particles which you then inhale! It sure doesn’t make sleeping very easy to do when your sneezing and itchy. Waking up with a stuffy nose, and constant sneezing could be a definite sign of dust mite allergy. Controlling the amount of dust mites in your home is a great start to eliminating those annoying symptoms.

Steps to take to eliminate those dust mites for good;

Wash your bed linen regularly in hot water weekly
Other blankets should be washed monthly
Decorative pillows and toys can also have a lot of dust mite activity as they are not usually washed, so this should be done regularly with your bedding

Pollen

Pollen can be responsible for your seasonal hayfever that you have every year. Sometimes it can be confusing with pollen allergies as the symptoms can start off similar to a common cold. If the symptoms last for longer than 2 weeks then it could be likely that you have a pollen allergy. A pollen allergy occurs when trees, grasses and weeds are pollinating usually between early spring to late summer and is why your hayfever will flare up at this time.

Pollen symptoms that you could experience include:

Itchy or watery eyes
Itchy throat, nose and ears
Repeated sneezing attacks
Loss of concentration
Wheezing and worsening of asthma
Skin rashes such as eczema, if in direct contact with the pollen of grass, weeds or trees
General feeling of being unwell

Experiencing these allergies every season can make spring and summer a rather depressing time, especially if you can’t enjoy time outside in the sunshine like everyone else. But now that you know the signs and symptoms of classic pollen allergies, you can start to put in place treatment strategies that will alleviate these symptoms for you dramatically.

If you would like to find out what sort of treatment strategies are available for hayfever sufferers, please visit our allergy relief page. We hope that it will help you to look forward to the hotter months of spring and summer.

Cockroaches

When you think of allergies, you commonly associate it with dust and pollen allergies let alone a cockroach allergy. Even though it sounds strange to be allergic to these creepy critters, it actually is more common than you think. Most likely, just the thought of cockroaches may be enough to make you cringe, but to make sure cockroaches aren’t the cause to your problems, take a little look to see what happens if you are allergic to cockroaches.

People that are more prone to cockroach allergies are those who have asthma, chronic nasal and sinus congestion or infections as they are already quite sensitive to environmental allergies. Allergies to cockroaches can occur year around, so if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms that never seem to go away you may have a cockroach problem.

Symptoms:

Itchy skin
Persistent asthma
Stuffy nose
Inflamed eyes and ears
Skin rashes

These symptoms occur from inhaling allergen particles from cockroaches that circulate in the air of your home. Cockroaches are commonly a problem in the basement, closets and kitchens. If you think you could be experiencing a cockroach allergy, then one of the first steps to take is to rid your home of these insects immediately. Pest control experts will be able to effectively eradicate them from your home, reducing the build up of allergen particles dramatically giving you fast relief. Keeping food and garbage covered at all times is also a good step to take.

To find out other ways to relieve your allergic symptoms take a look at our allergy relief page.

Mould

Mould allergies can be quite common particularly in people that are also allergic to pollen and animal dander. Even though mould can be found both indoor and outdoors, it is usually indoor mold that affects people the most as mould spores (seeds released by moulds that trigger allergic reactions) can circulate freely in an enclosed space. When you come in contact with mould spores that you are allergic to, your immune system will see them as harmful substances that must be destroyed in order to protect your body from damage. A cascade of allergic symptoms will follow after contact with the mould. Mould allergies can range from mild to severe and will determine how bad your symptoms are once you have inhaled the mould.

If you have a fairly mild allergy to mould, you will generally see symptoms related to your upper respiratory system. So that means you could experience any of the following symptoms:

Itchy watery eyes
Stuff nose
Sneezing
Feeling sick in the stomach
Headache
Fatigue

If you have quite a severe allergy to mould, these symptoms could occur:

Difficulty breathing
Worsening of Asthma
Coughing up blood
Nausea
Chronic lung damage can develop if in contact with mould frequently

If you can see noticeable mould growing on your walls, in your bathrooms, or kitchens and you notice when you are at home you feel generally sick with any of the above symptoms. Then it is possible you could have a mould allergy. Determining a mould allergy is very important before you suffer any possible health consequences. The first step to solving your mould allergy is to eliminate the mould from your house as much as possible. If there is quite a serious mould problem, calling a mould specialist to your home to eliminate the problem may be necessary.

Now that you know more about environmental allergy symptoms we’ll take a look at some ways you can treat your allergies for the short term or long term.