Why Homeowners are Opting for Professional Home Allergen Testing

Posted in Air Quality, on September 11, 2019

When it comes to fighting the symptoms of allergies, professional home allergen testing is an indispensable part of the modern allergy toolkit that can make a huge difference. As any allergy sufferer knows, finding relief can sometimes feel like an impossible task - when medicine, avoidance, cleaning, and other tactics don’t seem to be working, a professional home allergen test can offer you customized, science- and evidence-based results to help target and reduce your symptoms.

Professional Home Allergen Testing

Modern medicine has allowed us to pinpoint the exact cause of many of our allergies - from food to pets to pollen and more, allergies can now be diagnosed like any other health complaint. But when it comes to treating the symptoms of those allergies, it can often be difficult or impossible to achieve total relief. Itchy, watery eyes, a running nose, and constant sneezing (among other obnoxious symptoms) can be severe and debilitating, causing folks to experience day to day tasks as difficult and unenjoyable. Professional home allergen testing is one of the best ways to deal with symptoms as part of your comprehensive wellness plan.

What are allergies?

Many people are unaware of professional home allergen testing or that it could have a positive effect on their life and it’s often because they are unaware they are even having an allergic reaction. While common allergies like tree nuts and ragweed get all the press, allergic reactions (in differing levels of intensity) are part of our daily lives. An allergic reaction is the body’s method of dealing with an unknown substance. For example - when you breathe in pollen from ragweed, you may begin to sneeze or have a running nose. This is simply your body’s immune system trying to expel this unfamiliar particle, and this reaction is part of the arsenal that the body uses to keep us healthy on a daily basis.

Many people in the GTA suffer from allergies that they don’t even know they have. Allergies to mold, household chemicals, and scented products may be causing allergic reactions that seem to be caused by other common health problems, like the cold or flu, making it difficult to know what’s causing you discomfort. This is where professional testing can help - it can bring to light problems you didn’t even know existed, as well as help reduce allergens you’re already aware of.

3 Ways to Improve your Indoor Environment to Reduce Allergy Symptoms

There are a number of ways that you can reduce your exposure to allergens that trigger your immune system. At SafeAir, we have three recommendations when it comes to improving the indoor air environment for allergy sufferers:

1.  Get professional home allergen testing. If you already know what you’re allergic to or are just starting to explore the cause of your symptoms, professional home allergen testing is hands down the best way to deal with allergy symptoms and to improve your indoor air quality. Not only will this test pinpoint what sort of allergens are present in your indoor air quality, but it can also tell us how much and sometimes even where it’s coming from. This sort of information is enormously valuable - it helps us tailor a plan for the unique needs of your home and put into place solutions that actually work.
2. Regular cleaning is the best and easiest way to help control allergen buildup in your home. There are a number of different ways that you can target your cleaning to help reduce the symptoms of allergies, such as:
   • Vacuuming and washing carpets, drapes, and other soft furnishings regularly - allergens stick to these surfaces and can be hard to remove. Thorough cleaning, especially for sofas and carpeting, can have a big effect.
   • Use a damp rag to dust the surfaces of your home - this will let you catch allergens instead of letting them fly back into the air.
   • Keep a rug at the front door to catch any unwanted particles entering on shoes and coats - and then wash that rug frequently.
3. Keeping fresh, clean air moving through your home has a big affect on the frequency and severity of allergy symptoms. In fact, fresh air is crucial to healthy indoor air quality because it affects every part of our homes, from the efficient running of our furnaces to our ability to get a good night’s sleep. Ensure that you open windows frequently (during low-pollen times if that’s a problem for you), use your furnace fan to move air around, and change the filter on your furnace frequently to ensue that any allergens or unwanted particles are caught and removed from your system. At SafeAir we often see underperforming HVAC systems causing problems and even worsening allergies - so maintaining this system properly can reduce or even eliminate many common allergy problems.

How Professional Home Allergen Testing Works

At SafeAir our professional home allergen testing is a quick, painless process that will help you take control of your allergies and improve your indoor air quality. Typically, one of our technicians will visit your home and take a number of samples from both inside and outside of your home - we may even do this more than once to get comprehensive readings. These samples are then sent to a third party laboratory where they are analyzed and quantified; we put those findings into an easy-to-understand report for you that includes recommendations for improvements and modifications to reduce your allergy symptoms and solve any indoor air quality issues.

Contact SafeAir for More Information on Our Indoor Air Quality Testing Services

If you are an allergy sufferer looking for relief, if might be time to considering having allergy testing performed in your home. We spend 90% of our day indoors, which makes the indoor air environment a key part of our overall health and wellness. At SafeAir we’re committed to helping you make your home a safe, healthier, and more comfortable place to be. For more information on our professional home allergen testing, please get in touch! We’d be happy to talk in person or over the phone about how our services can help. Visit www.safeair.ca for more information, or give us a call at 416-414-5690.