Stop your sneezing

Clutter gathers dust
A messy home = nice digs for dust mites, bugs, mold, and mice. Recycle old newspapers, magazines, cans, and grocery bags weekly—and keep the bins outside if you can.

Carpet harbors dust mites
Dust mites and pet dander love carpeting and rugs, so bust out your vac weekly. Make sure it has a high-efficiency particulate air filter to trap tiny particles. To really ditch allergies, leave your floors bare.

Bedding & Bathroom
Banish mites and mold by washing bedding in 130-degree water weekly. Moist bathroom or basement walls love to breed mold. Wipe them down with a chlorine-bleach solution (1 ounce bleach to 1 quart H2O) to keep fungus at bay. In the fall, mold also moves indoors via wet leaves on shoes and damp firewood. Store wood in a separate dry space, like the garage, and keep the yard leaf-free. Also, see: 10 ways to remove mold.

Crumbs in the Kitchen
Crumbs and overflowing garbage lure mice and roaches—and their droppings can aggravate allergies. Keep your space clean. try boric acid and traps for the pests.

Open windows bring outdoor allergies in
Refreshing fall breezes are great—unless they usher ragweed pollen indoors. Keep windows shut between the high-pollen-count hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (If it’s warm, keep the air conditioner running; it filters out pollen inside your home.) Change the AC (or heater) filter monthly. And remove shoes outside to avoid tracking in pollen particles.

How to fight basement mold
Fight mold with a dehumidifier set between 35 and 45 percent humidity. Dehumidifiers come in several sizes. Before you buy, get a humidity gauge to assess how much de-moisturizing muscle you need.

Houseplants can hold mold
Your potted plants can harbor sneeze-producing mold on their leaves. Remove any moldy leaves immediately, and don’t let water pool in the pot’s tray. Check with a plant-care specialist if the problem persists. Find the healthiest plants for your home.

Pet dander
Pet dander and saliva spell trouble for 30 percent of allergy sufferers. Washing or brushing your pet weekly (do it outside) can lower your home’s dander level. Keep dogs and cats out of the bedroom, and cover air vents with cheesecloth to keep dander from spreading from room to room. Here’s more information on how to eliminate pet allergies from your home.

Fabric furnshings hold dust and dander
Dust weekly. Wash blankets and throw rugs in hot water (or have them dry-cleaned). Pick up pet fur with your vac’s upholstery attachment, and try to keep pets off furniture. Make sure the air temp is below 70 degrees, too: Mites, as well as fungus and roaches, dislike cool temps.

The technically correct medical term for nose bleeds is epistaxis. They are classified on the basis of the primary bleeding site: anterior or posterior.

Anterior (90% of nose bleeds)

• The most common source if bleeding is from the Kiesselbach plexus which is an anastomotic (think multiple roads coming together) network of vessels on the anterior portion of the nasal septum.

• May also be due to bleeding anterior to the inferior turbinate.

Posterior

• Bleeding will originate from branches of the sphenopalatine artery in the posterior nasal cavity or nasopharynx.

• This is much more serious and usually require admission to the hospital and management by an otolaryngologist.

CAUSES of NASAL BLEEDING (epistaxis)

Most cases have no easily identifiable cause.

Local trauma (ie, nose picking, blowing too vigorously, foreign bodies) is the most common cause. Other local causes include:

* facial trauma or surgery
* nasal or sinus infections
* allergies
* nasal polyps
* prolonged inhalation of dry air (climate or too warm house)
* tumors

Systemic causes of nose bleeding include

• Blood disorders (hemophilia, leukemia, polycythemia vera, thrombocytopenia, von Willebrand’s disease, etc)

• Acquired platelet dysfunctions (related to use of aspirin, NSAIDs, dipyridamole, etc

• Anticoagulation therapy (ie warfarin, enoxaparin, etc)

• Hypertension is rarely (if ever) a direct cause of epistaxis. Therapy should be focused on controlling bleeding before blood pressure reduction.

• Vascular abnormalities that contribute to epistaxis may include the following:

1. Arteriovenous Malformations
2. Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasis
3. Sclerotic Vessels
4. Neoplasm (tumor)
5. Septal abnormality (ie perforation or deviation)
6. Endometriosis

WHAT TO DO at HOME WHEN NOSE BLEEDING

As with all bleeding the first thing to do is remain calm, then apply pressure.

How do you apply pressure correctly?

o Sit up straight.
o Lean your head forward rather than back. This way you won’t swallow the blood which can irritate your stomach and make you nauseated.
o Pinch the nostrils together with your thumb and index finger for 5-10 minutes. Pinch them tightly and don’t let go early. Yes, it will be uncomfortable if you have enough pressure.
o Repeat for another 5-10 minutes, if the bleeding hasn’t stopped. You may not have held consistent pressure the first time.

Things that can help prevent a nose bleed or re-bleed:

• Avoid local trauma. No nose picking. Try not to blow your or sneeze for 24-48 hrs after the nose bleed.

• Minimize exposure to dry air. This can be a problem if you live in Arizona or in a heated home in the winter. Adding moisture to the air with a humidifier or vaporizer will help.

• Using salt water nasal spray can help. This can be used with abandon, no limits.

• Using vaseline occasionally to help keep the lining of your nose moisturized. Don’t overdo this.

WHEN it’s appropriate to go to the hospital

* You are still bleeding after REALLY pinching the nose for 10 minutes.
* You are having repeated episodes of nosebleeds over a 12-36 hour period.
* You feel dizzy or light-headed or like you are going to pass out.
* Your doctor instructs you to go to a hospital’s emergency department.

What is allergic rhinitis?

Allergic rhinitis, often called allergies or hay fever, occurs when your immune system overreacts to particles in the air that you breathe—you are allergic to them.

Your immune system attacks the particles in your body, causing symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose. The particles are called allergens, which simply means they can cause an allergic reaction.

People with allergies usually have symptoms for many years. You may have symptoms often during the year, or just at certain times. You also may get other problems such as sinusitis and ear infections as a result of your allergies.

Over time, allergens may begin to affect you less, and your symptoms may not be as severe as they had been.
What are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis? When you have allergic rhinitis:

* You sneeze again and again, especially after you wake up in the morning.
* You have a runny nose and postnasal drip. The drainage from a runny nose caused by allergies is usually clear and thin. But it may become thicker and cloudy or yellowish if you get a nasal or sinus infection.
* Your eyes are watery and itchy.
* Your ears, nose, and throat are itchy.

Which allergens commonly cause allergic rhinitis?

You probably know that pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds cause allergic rhinitis. Many people have allergies to dust mites, animal dander, cockroaches, and mold as well. Things in the workplace, such as cereal grain, wood dust, chemicals, or lab animals, can also cause allergic rhinitis.

If you are allergic to pollens, you may have symptoms only at certain times of the year. If you are allergic to dust mites and indoor allergens, you may have symptoms all the time.

How is allergic rhinitis diagnosed?

To find out if you have allergies, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Knowing what symptoms you have, when you get them, and what makes them worse or better can help your doctor know whether you have allergies or another problem.

If you have severe symptoms, you may need to have allergy tests to find out what you are allergic to.

* Your doctor may do a skin test. In this test your doctor puts a small amount of an allergen into your skin to see if it causes an allergic reaction.
* Your doctor may order lab tests. These tests can find substances in your blood or other fluids that may mean you have allergic rhinitis.
Source : Health