According to the latest data, 20-40% of the total population of each country suffers from allergies. In fact, this is a protective reaction of the immune system to external factors that are perceived by it as sources of threat to the body. Allergens can be such things that at first glance seem completely harmless. Few can perceive house dust as the cause of a sharp cough, runny nose or rash. However, poorly conducted wet cleaning in the room or even neglecting it can cause a person serious discomfort.
Dust allergy is common among people with a sensitive immune system, and household dust is considered by scientists to be the most dangerous irritant. An aggravating circumstance is the presence of tiny ticks in it, the size of which is less than a third of a millimeter. Especially a lot of them in bedding. It is very difficult to get rid of dust mites using standard methods, since parasites are not afraid of subzero temperatures and they can penetrate furniture by 30 centimeters, reliably attaching to the surface with their paws using a resistant adhesive. Unpleasant sensations can also appear from microscopic particles of wool, paint, fluff, viral microorganisms, bacteria.
Whether an allergy to household dust arises or not depends on your physiological personality. But if the first signs showed up, then in no case should they be ignored. A common dust allergy, the symptoms of which we will examine, can lead to more serious and serious illnesses.
Symptoms: how to identify them
How is dust allergy manifested? There are several varieties of the disease, manifested depending on the characteristics of the body and its severity. Each set of symptoms characterizes a specific disease.
Bronchial asthma
The most dangerous sign of an allergy that threatens a person’s life. Immediately after a certain amount of dust enters the respiratory tract, the body begins to react violently: the nasal passage is filled with thick mucus, and its muscles begin to contract. It begins with whistling sounds when inhaling, exhaling and a strong dry cough, accompanied by heaviness in the chest and shortness of breath. As a result, panic begins, the allergic person lacks breathing. Requires instant rescue.
Conjunctivitis
The most common disease, familiar to many firsthand. The adverse effect is on the eyes. Squirrels turn red, eyelids swell, tears flow. Particularly characteristic in conjunctivitis is burning and (or) itching in the eyes, and the entire surrounding space seems blurred and distorted. It also happens that the eyes do not blush, but turn pale, dots of gray-yellow color appear on the edges. With a severe attack of conjunctivitis, the entire face swells. If you wear contact lenses, you need to be especially careful. Prolonged inaction in the event of an attack is dangerously serious damage to the cornea of the eye.
Allergic rhinitis
It manifests itself mainly in the afternoon, its symptoms do not carry a serious danger to human life and health. The initial signs are a tickling sensation in the nasal passage. After a certain period of time, transparent mucus from the nose begins to stand out, burning and itching occurs in the nasopharynx, supplemented by sneezing, headaches and tearing. There is the possibility of the transition of allergic rhinitis to bronchial asthma.
Eczema
Eczema, it is atopic dermatitis, affects the skin and manifests itself gradually. It is characterized by itching immediately after contact with an allergen or stress, the formation of painless ulcers in children and unpleasant peeling of damaged skin areas in adults. In a child, allergies often arise in the area of joints, on the face or on the side of the leg, and in adults - in the upper body, back of the head, arms and neck. With eczema, capillaries are damaged by inflammation, and the skin becomes dry. The lips and skin around them may also become inflamed. Check if you have atopic dermatitis, it is permissible using the usual transparent ruler. It is required to press on the problem area of the skin and wait 20 seconds. If the white mark from the line does not disappear after 2 minutes, then you have this particular allergic disease.
Angioedema
A rare disease from dust, but there have been cases. If you identify the symptoms in time, then your health will normalize within 20 hours. When exposed to dust, swelling appears on the face or hands. Inflamed areas turn red, and the skin above them becomes hot. It takes from several hours to whole days to develop. Angioedema can lead to hives. It is treated with the use of special hormonal drugs.
Hives
When an allergen acts on the body, blisters appear that cause an itchy and burning sensation, swelling. The first symptom disappears no later than 30 hours, and the second - after three days. The pigmentary variety of urticaria is characterized by the formation of spots on the skin of a brownish color, which after combing are converted into blisters.
Often the symptoms subside or completely disappear after eliminating contact with the dust source. If one of these diseases manifests itself in the morning or evening, when you are in bed, then the signs of allergies are caused by ticks.
Laboratory determination of allergies
At the first symptoms that arise, you should consult an allergist. The doctor will help you determine the cause. Initially, information about a hereditary predisposition is collected, the patient is examined for the presence of external signs of an allergic reaction. To make sure of the alleged diagnoses, the necessary laboratory tests are carried out.
Laboratory method | Method Description | Distinctive features of the method |
Scarification Allergy Test | The skin area in the forearm is examined. Several parallel strips of skin scraping are created and each of them is exposed to an allergenic solution. According to the symptoms shown or not, allergies are drawn conclusions | The probability of error is 10-15% |
Application Allergy Test | The studied area of the skin is treated with a disinfectant, various allergic agents are dripped onto it. | It is used for suspected atopic dermatitis with a pronounced moderate or severe form of its manifestation. Also prescribed for hypersensitivity to allergen. |
Prik test | The forearm area is rubbed with alcohol. Then, 1-2 drops of a solution of a possible irritant are applied to the disinfected areas. In the center of the drops, an injection is made with a special tool to a depth not exceeding one millimeter. Allergy is manifested by the appearance of a three-millimeter redness around the injection | The most accurate and safe method |
Direct impact | Dust is applied to the problem area of the body, depending on the type of disease. With conjunctivitis - in the eyes, with rhinitis - in the respiratory tract and so on | It is used in case of failure of other methods or if the patient has contraindications that do not allow for other laboratory tests. |
Household Allergy Treatment
To avoid allergic diseases and improve well-being, it is necessary to act in an integrated manner. It is important to have the necessary impact on both deleterious factors and the symptoms that have arisen. Only after passing the diagnosis and identifying the cause of the allergy, it is necessary to eliminate its source. If this is house dust, then you can minimize the amount of textiles and other things that accumulate the allergen, replace them, for example, with leather items. With the harmful effects of particles of a certain plant, it is necessary to get rid of the subject itself.
What to do with tick allergies? As already mentioned, it is impossible to get rid of such an allergen by cleaning. Therefore, you should get rid of the objects in which they live. You will have to say goodbye to carpets, toys, bedding and furniture made of soft material with natural stuffing, curtains and bedspreads made of fabric.
Prevention
Permanent events suitable for both prevention and treatment of dust allergies:
- Purchase of new bedding with an interval of at least one and a half months. Replacing the mattress every three or four years. The use of special dust-proof covers.
- Acquisition of attributes for a dream with a synthetic padding.
- Wash bedding in hot water every 2-3 days. At low temperatures, it is recommended to leave it on the street for several hours.
- Use for cleaning vacuum cleaners with a water filter only. Refusal of conditioners, fans, vacuum cleaners, only raising dust in the air.
- Frequent wet cleaning.
- Purchase of special devices that purify and moisturize the air.
To eliminate the symptoms of an allergy to house dust and the possibility of complications, the doctor appoints certain medications. With conjunctivitis, eye drops are prescribed that restore the damaged membrane. Rhinitis is treated with membrane-stabilizing sprays or drops and drugs that block histamine receptors.
The fight against the symptoms of eczema is carried out with the help of antiseptic creams based on silver salt and ultraviolet physiotherapy. In severe cases, it is recommended to use natural anti-inflammatory hormones - glucocorticoids. Steroid drugs can provide the necessary assistance to the body to combat severe stress.
Dust allergy in a child
Symptoms that occur in children do not have special distinguishing features regarding adult diseases. Similarly with regard to treatment and diagnosis. Allergies to dust at a young age are often due to heredity or weakened immunity. In the second case, most likely, it will pass after a couple of years, but to avoid complications, the child should be observed by an allergist-immunologist. Self-medication is strongly discouraged! You can understand the presence of problems by the violent reaction of the child to the stimulus. Most often, an allergy to dust in children is expressed by a barking cough and frequent sneezing, disappearing when the situation changes, for example, when moving outside.