Your Allergy And Your Kitchen: Part 5

Water softeners
Moving to a soft-water area, or installing a water softener, can improve the symptoms of eczema. Soft water, either natural or artificially softened, helps to reduce the amount of detergents, soaps, and washing powders you need to use, and the amount of scaling in pipes and kettles. However, don't give artificially softened water to children to drink and don't use it to make up formula milk for babies because it has an increased salt content.

Cleaning products
Many kitchen cleaning products, especially strongly scented ones, can irritate asthma or rhinitis conditions, while people with eczema may find that some types of washing powders and fabric conditioners irritate their skin condition.

Animals
If any member of the family is allergic to dogs or cats it is best not to have them anywhere in the home. If total exclusion is not possible, then confine them to the garden or at least the kitchen, which has few of the soft coverings that mites love. Bear in mind that cat dander is particularly potent at causing symptoms, compared with dog dander, because it stays airborne for longer and is much widespread in the home.

Some dog breeds seem to cause less of an allergic reaction than others, in particular those that do not moult their coats, such as poodles and bichon frises. Grooming your pet outside and washing it, and its bedding, twice-weekly will help to reduce the amount of allergen in the home.

Some dogs are allergic to dust mite-allergen, and research suggests about 30-40 percent of dogs suffer from mite-related eczama. This is usually treated with expensive immunotherapy or steroid creams, but symptoms can often be relieved by covering the dog's bedding with the same type of barrier cover used for human bedding. Some allergy product specialists supply barrier covers especially for dog bedding, but otherwise a pillow-sized barrier cover would provide the same protection, even if it is a loose fit.

In areas of cockroach infestation, pets shoudl be fed at particular times of the day, and the food cleaned up promptly after every meal. Keep pet food in resealable containers and don't leave water out all the time.



If You Want Immediate Anxiety Relief, Check Out Our New Natural Technique To Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Fast!