Allergic to School?

As the new school year begins, many children may feel like they are allergic to school. However, there's a chance that your child actually is. If school makes your child feel ill, don't simply discount it as the end-of-summer-blues. The classroom is a new environment, with new allergens and irritants. These can cause new symptoms – or familiar ones – such as sneezing, runny nose and nasal congestion, eye irritation, headaches. These symptoms can lead to irritability, exhaustion, and trouble concentrating.

Some allergens commonly found at school include:

• chalk dust
• dust mites
• animal dander and allergens from classroom pets
• irritants and by-products from new construction – dust, odors, and the chemicals in new carpeting and flooring
• air fresheners, colognes and perfumes, and other artificial scents

You do your best to make your home clean and allergy-free, but you have less control over the school environment. So what can you do? First, you have to think like a detective, asking questions and paying attention to triggers – carefully evaluate what could be causing your child's symptoms. Second, make a plan. Anticipate that there will be new allergens present, and talk with your child about ways to avoid them. Here are a few tips for parents, children, and teachers, for a healthy and allergy-free school year.

What parents and children can do to avoid school allergy symptoms

• If you suspect that your child is allergic to something at school, try taking a tour of their school and class room. The offending allergen might be hard to identify, but easy to spot once you're there.
• Visit an allergist or immunologist if you haven't already. They can advise you on appropriate medication, immunotherapy, and prevention techniques.
• Ask your child about classroom pets. Hamsters and gerbils can cause allergy symptoms too.
• If your child comes home from school with nasal congestion, make sure their symptoms are alleviated before bedtime. A stuffy nose can keep your child from sleeping properly, hindering their performance in school the next day.
• When playing outside at school, children should avoid fields and weeds, which may harbor large amounts of pollen, particularly during the fall ragweed season.
• Talk to teachers about what they can do to help. Communicating your concerns and some ideas for a more allergy-free classroom may help your child, and his or her classmates as well. Maintain a supportive, communicative relationship with your child's teacher.

What teachers can do to avoid school allergy symptoms

• Make sure that dust does not accumulate in the classroom.
• Keep classroom windows closed, since pollen can come in from the outside.
• Chalk dust can trigger allergies or irritate symptoms. If you use a chalkboard, allergic children should not sit in the front row.
• Choose your classroom pet carefully. Consider an aquarium or a reptile.
• If you have a chemically sensitive child in your class, choose craft projects that don't use known irritants.
• For pre-schoolers who sometimes take naps at school, any pillows provided should have allergy-proof dust mite encasings.
• Cleaning with harsh chemical solutions should be done after hours or at night, when no children are in the classroom.
• Speak to your school administrator about purchasing a classroom air purifier. It will help everyone breathe better.

A Note About Mold
Mold can cause allergic symptoms, and some types of mold can also be a dangerous health concern. Mold problems have forced many districts to shut down schools and spend millions on repairs.
Mold allergy symptoms can include aggravation of asthma, cold and flu like symptoms, eye irritation, nasal congestion, headaches, and fatigue. If you suspect that your school has a mold problem, it is important for school administration to address this issue. More information on the risks and prevention of harmful mold can be found at the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) website.

What's New at achoo!

Have you visited achooallergy.com recently? Come check out our newly re-designed website. We've simplified some things and added others, making the products you want easier to find with just a few clicks. Be certain to visit frequently in the coming months, as we will be adding great new products and informative articles. In celebration, we've decided to give the achoo! review a little face-lift. Have a wonderful, healthy, allergy-free September!
 

Allergy Tips for September

For allergy sufferers, fall can be a rough time. Dust mite populations peak during the summer months, thriving on humidity. Ragweed season also stretches from August to October, causing pollen allergy flair-ups that can make life a little less than pleasant. And, high humidity over the summer may have caused mold growth in your home, sparking mold allergy symptoms.

How to keep these common allergens in check:

1. Encase all bedding with dust mite proof encasings.
2. Wash all bedding -- sheets, blankets, pillow cases, duvet covers – in hot water (140' degrees) and dry on high. Or, use a detergent or laundry additive specially formulated to eliminate dust mites in any temperature.
3. Treat carpeting and upholstered furniture with dust mite sprays and powders.
4. Purify the air with a HEPA air purifier to remove pollen grains, dust mites, and mold spores.
5. Vacuum frequently using a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner.
6. Remove any visible mold growth using a strong cleaner, and coat any mold-prone surfaces with mildew-proof coating to prevent mold growth in the future.

 

September's Featured Products

$11.99 - $29.99	M1 House Wash The Cleaner to End All Cleaners This cleaner is so amazingly versatile, you can use it on practically every surface. And, it's excellent for removing mold and mildew. Water-reducible, odorless, biodegradable, industrial strength. It's great so for many applications – use it to remove mold and mildew build-ups, than do some back-to-school cleaning. Read more
$29.99	Mite-T-Fast Allergen Detection System   Bring Dust Mites to Justice The humid months of summer are when dust mite populations peak. So, if you're worried about dust mites, there's certainly no better time. The Mite-T-Fast Allergen Detection system enables you to quit worrying and start acting against dust mites. You can test the level of dust mite allergens inside your home, on surfaces like carpets, furniture, and bedding. Get results in just 10 minutes.   Read more
$499.99 - $569.99	Blueair 501 Air Purifier Stylish, Energy Efficient, and Whisper Quiet Suffering from pollen allergies even inside the house? You need an air purifier to keep the air in your home clean and breathable. A Blueair air purifier will remove pollen, alleviating ragweed allergy symptoms. And it also removes other airborne particles like dust mites, bacteria, pet dander, and mold spores, so you can eliminate lots of nasty fall allergens. Read more

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