Do humidifiers help with allergies? YES, they do, by making the environment non-conducive for allergens.
Sensitive people might reduce exposure to allergens outside the home in a low humid environment. But you should know that allergens are also present in the house too.
A humidifier is one of the best instrument to combat allergens today. Due to this, people that suffer from allergies often ask the question “do humidifiers help with allergies?”.
Well, the best humidifiers are always a way out of any condition associated with low humidity. However, humidifiers have their down and upsides. Read more to know their impact on the environment.
What are allergies like today
Due to scientific advancements, more sources of allergies and their peculiar causes are being discovered, raising the level of consciousness. While there are also more effective and efficient ways of combating these problems than there was.
One of the characteristics of allergens is that they are swift. The immune system in the body makes sensitive reactions when triggered depending on the type of substance it receives.
Most allergy causing substances today can be found in the home. They include pollen, pet dander and even some regular good stuff you would typically see around if your peculiar immune system has an adverse reaction to it. Causative agents like the pollen and dander are rather more universal.
If a person is allergic to a substance, the immune system works to destroy it in the body. While in the process of this, a physical manifestation can be seen due to the internal actions going on.
Signs like this varies depending on the person and the allergen causing agent. Few familiar examples are like sneezing, seizure, nose bleeds, or even vomiting. Allergy statistics proved that at least 30% of adults, as well as 40% of kids, suffer from allergies in the United States.
An allergy can be treated with drugs from doctor’s recommendation, however, the presence of allergy itself as a causative agent.
This is the surest way of eradicating future reactions as well as keeping your environment clean. Therefore it is a preventive mechanism rather than having to deal with the aftermath effect on the body.
Also Read: Best Humidifier for dry air
Relationships between allergens and humidity level in the house
Allergens in your home is a result of the environment being conducive enough for their breeding, survival, and multiplication.
As a result, we are going to look into the most important climatic condition to consider in the home. This condition is called humidity.
Allergens and humidity level are linked. As a result of that, too humid conditions or not moist enough can significantly contribute to an increased level of allergens and hence allergic reactions in the home.
Under high humidity levels, most allergen agents like dust mites and insects, are able to absorb the required moisture they need to survive. They don’t really depend on regular respiration like us, but instead absorb through their body surface directly.
It is why in a high moist environment, there is a good chance that molds start appearing.
Dust mites, for example, feed on the shed skin residue from our body. The humid environment further softens this skin pieces, hence making it more readily absorbed by them. Therefore giving them a good meal schedule as well as the already existing conducive environment.
On the flip side of things, when humidity level is deficient, it aggravates already existing allergies, asthma, and eczema symptoms.
Low humid conditions are always accompanied by dry air. This causes irritations to the nasal passages and mucous membranes in the respiratory system, leading to problems like sinuses.
The mucus present in your nose is normally able to trap allergens, viruses, and bacteria. Hence, effectively reducing their numbers and stopping them from getting into the body system.
When non-humid air dries them up, allergens pass through more freely than they normally would. Thus, making the body more susceptible to cold, flu and even allergic reactions and asthma attacks.
Dehumidifier or humidifier for allergies: Which one to go for?
A humidifier is a device that brakes water down into fine mists through different mechanisms based on their type. Then, release them into the environment in order to increase the water vapor content of the air. As a result, raise the humidity levels.
A dehumidifier, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. They instead extract air from the environment and pass it through a condenser. Water vapor in the air condenses into water. Therefore making the air free from moist and releasing it into the environment.
Now the question of which one to go for among the two depends on the type and peculiarity of your environment.
In environments with high moisture content, it is quite apparent that you need to reduce the level of moisture, hence pointing that you go for a dehumidifier, and if your battles are against really low humid conditions and dry air, then you should walk the part of a humidifier.
In all, they are both equally important and of high value, when it comes to maintaining a safe environment and good health conditions.
Do Dehumidifiers or humidifiers help with allergies, Read more Here
How do humidifiers help with allergies: explaining how a humidifier works
A humidifier as earlier said, works by adding a right amount of moisture to the atmosphere, hence increasing the overall moisture content and hence humidity level.
The device adjusts the levels of humidity to a good standard (health levels is between 40 to 50% relative humidity), which is the primary way by which they combat allergens in the home, especially against low moist thriving allergens.
Some humidifiers also come with filters, which is another mechanism of allergen eradication, filtering the water used for making mist, passing it through a screen or some sort of purification system that removes allergens directly from the source before releasing fine mist into the environment.
What type of humidifier is best for allergies?
There are several types of humidifiers out there that differ by the method in which they produce mist, and it is essential you pick the one that really do help with allergies.
Humidifiers generally are either the warm or cool mist type, and when choosing from the best for you, it is essential you put into consideration all they offer, as well as your specific allergy needs.
The warm mist humidifiers are quieter than the cool mists and are also good for combating sinuses as well as mucus and other respiration allergies. They cannot serve vast spaces, as they are specially built for confined areas, and they also offer some sort of warm relief due to their reasonably high temperature, that brings more comfort to your breathing while ensuring a high enough temperature for bacterial to never survive in the unit. For this reason, they would require a lesser cleaning frequency.
Cool mist humidifiers are able to cover more grounds than the warm mist type, making them suitable for larger environments, but they more easily gather up molds that could breed bacteria. Hence you should clean them more regularly. They are also safer to use than the warm mist type due to the lack of a heating element that heats up the water and could lead to burns if tipped and the water touches the skin.
In dealing with allergens, we would recommend a cool-mist humidifier due to their excellent coverage ability, and also the presence of filters used in removing contaminants from the water, that could lead to more triggers if they are released and inhaled into the body system.
Final Answer to the question : Do Humidifiers help with allergies?
YES, Humidifiers do help with allergies.
Rounding up, you should know that the presence of allergens poses a real danger today, therefore if you have been experiencing some sort of reactions in relation to low or high moisture levels, then you should quickly get yourself the best humidifier for allergies and asthma.
They are able to reduce these reactions significantly by merely eradicating the source, which is a habitat in which the causative agents can thrive in, and depending on the type of allergic problems, purchase a suitable dehumidifier or humidifier for your home.
Should it be a case of low humidity, do ensure you get a good cool mist unit, appropriate enough to serve your purposes and size of the home.
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