How to Deal with Smoke Allergies and Other Respiratory Irritants

Jax Allergy

Updated June 2020: with COVID-19 affecting many in Florida and the First coast people are opting to stay closer to home this summer. Instead of traveling for vacation, many are doing camping trips. Often people may not realize how campfire smoke and other irritants can affect their breathing and asthma. This can lead to serious health issues. Read on for more about protecting yourself from smoke and other irritants.

What to Know About Smoke Allergy and Other Respiratory Irritants

When forest fire smoke levels or other outdoor respiratory irritants are high, even healthy people can experience symptoms or health problems. It’s important to understand how forest fire smoke and outdoor irritants can affect your health, including who is most susceptible to reactions.

The Negative Effects of Forest Fire Smoke on Your Health

Forest fire smoke is a mixture of fine particles and gasses from trees and plant material. The gasses and particles can be dangerous if inhaled. Carbon monoxide is a risk to people who work near smoldering areas.

Smoke can irritate your eyes and respiratory system. This can worsen symptoms for chronic heart and lung diseases. If exposure to smoke causes you to experience serious health issues, seek medical attention immediately.

People Most Susceptible to Health Issues from Outdoor Irritants and Smoke

Those with pre-existing health conditions and those who are sensitive to air pollution may experience worse symptoms. Other groups susceptible to health issues include:

• Individuals with asthma or other chronic respiratory disease
• Individuals with cardiovascular disease
• Individuals age 65 or older
• Infants and children
• Pregnant women
• Smokers (especially those who have smoked for several years)

5 Tips to Reduce Exposure to Smoke and Other Respiratory Irritants

While the best thing you can do is limit your exposure to smoke, a combination of strategies may work best to protect you. The more you can do to limit your exposure to forest fire smoke, the more you’ll reduce adverse health effects.

Keep Indoor Air as Clean as Possible

Keep windows and doors closed at home or at work. Use a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to reduce indoor air pollutions. In addition, remember to change your air filter on your furnace and air conditioner every few months. Avoid smoking tobacco, burning candles, using wood burning stoves or fireplaces, and vacuuming (which can stir up dust and particles).

Use the AC in Your Car

Avoid leaving your windows down and use your air conditioning on the recirculate setting for fresh, cool air.

Drink Plenty of Water

Flushing your system by drinking plenty of water helps remove irritants from your body. Drink up to reduce a scratchy throat and coughing to stay healthy during fire and pollen seasons.

Reduce Time Spent in Smoky Areas

Whether it’s a forest fire, campfire, or tobacco smoke, avoid being where smoke is present. While sometimes it may be unavoidable, less exposure to smoke is better for your health.

Avoid Outdoor Activities

Vigorous outdoor activities such as running, biking, soccer, or other sports should be avoided during times of high smoke levels or outdoor irritants. Limit your workouts to indoor gyms and sports centers.

Wear Proper Protection

In areas with high levels of forest fire smoke, a simple dust mask isn’t enough. An N95 respirator mask fits over your nose and mouth and can filter 95% of smoke particles. N95 respirators do not filter toxic gasses and vapors.

Be aware that these masks can make breathing seem difficult and may lead to increased breathing or heart rates. If you have a heart or respiratory disease, only use the mask under the supervision of your allergist or other health care clinician.

Are you concerned about exposure to forest fire smoke allergies or other outdoor allergies? Talk to an allergist at the Allergy & Asthma Specialist of North Florida about testing and a treatment plan to stay healthy this summer.

How To Deal With Allergic Symptoms

ALLERGY TO SMOKE

When smoke levels or other indoor or outdoor respiratory irritants are high, even healthy people can experience health problems due to smoke allergy symptoms. It’s important to understand how these irritants can affect your health, including who is most susceptible to allergic reactions. How do these effects interact with conditions like asthma or allergies? How to deal with a smoke allergy? Let’s look closely to answer some of these questions, which in turn will help us better understand what health precautions we need to take.

PARTICULATE MATTER IN WILDFIRE SMOKE

The particulate component of wood smoke is made up of particles of varying sizes, based on the material being burned and the temperature it’s burned at. Wildfires introduce a massive amount of particulate pollutants into the air, estimated to be more than urban pollution. The size of the particles is important because smaller particles stay in the air longer, and therefore are dispersed over longer distances and wider areas.

Fine (under 2.5 microns) and ultrafine (under 1 micron) particles are of special concern because particles that small can enter the lungs and become lodged in the tissue there, causing damage to the surrounding cells. When particles this small enter the lungs, they cause an inflammatory response that can extend from the surrounding cells to systemic inflammation. Resulting in greater susceptibility to infections. These are some reasons why there is an increased demand for respirators amongst hospital centers and medical facilities worldwide.

WOOD SMOKE ALLERGY SYMPTOMS

The immediate short-term effects, regardless of sensitivity, are burning eyes, nose, and throat, watery eyes, runny nose, coughing, and shortness of breath. Your body may produce extra phlegm in response to inhaling smoke. These symptoms are, in part, your body attempting to expel particles by washing them away. In addition, phlegm traps particles before they can reach your lungs. Even healthy adults may experience an inflammatory response of wheezing or restricted breathing.

People with asthma may have breathing difficulties in everyday air. The irritation caused by inhaling smoke can trigger asthma symptoms, including shortness of breath, constricted chest, wheezing, inability to draw deep breaths, and chest pain. People with allergies may have an allergic reaction to something in the wood smoke. However, the symptoms of an allergic reaction are virtually identical to the other short-term symptoms of inhaling smoke. Those symptoms may be worse than they would be for someone without allergies. Repeated exposures to wood smoke have been found to cause an allergic sensitization of the respiratory system. However, this is more likely in someone like a firefighter who battles wildfires than someone who experiences wildfire smoke infrequently.

HOW TO DEAL WITH SMOKE ALLERGY

Allergy and asthma sufferers can take several steps to decrease the impact of wildfire smoke:

• Keep track of air quality ratings in your area to assess risk.
• Minimize exposure by staying indoors as much as possible.
• Protect your indoor air quality by keeping windows and doors closed.
• Don’t burn candles, vacuum, or use aerosol sprays—they’re all sources of indoor pollution.
• If your home has air conditioning or a high-efficiency particulate air filter, use it.
• Avoid unnecessary exercise or exertion, both indoors and out.
• If you do go out, reduce indoor pollution by showering and changing clothes when you return.
• If you use a rescue inhaler, keep one on hand.
• Pay close attention to symptoms and seek medical help at the first sign of trouble.

FIRE SMOKE ALLERGY TREATMENT

Treatments for smoke allergy during the winter include:

• Antihistamines, which reduce sneezing, sniffling, and itching
• Decongestants, which clear mucus to relieve congestion and swelling
• Immunotherapy (allergy shots or under-the-tongue tablets), which expose your body to gradually bigger doses of the allergen. This approach can curb your symptoms for a longer period of time than allergy drugs.

FINAL THOUGHT

To conclude, many people believe that as the spring and fall seasons wrap, so do their allergies. But the truth is that they are mistaken. While the onslaught of colder weather and freezing temperatures bring an end to seasonal pollen allergies, it doesn’t mean that your environment is free of allergens. This winter be sure that when bringing in any firewood into the home that it’s been cleaned and checked for mold. In addition, when starting any fire, make sure that the chimney damper is open so that no unwanted smoke comes into the home.

The best way for a person to handle smoke allergies is also the simplest: understand what triggers the symptoms and control them with avoidance. For now, make sure to stay safe and stay warm this holiday season!

Did you enjoy reading this article? Do you have any smoke or other winter-related allergies? What do you normally do to deal with the symptoms? Leave a comment below!

How to deal with an allergy to the smell of burning and smoke: advice from an allergist / October 15, 2021 | Yekaterinburg, News of the day 10/15/21

Due to peat fires in the south of Yekaterinburg, the city has been covered with waves of burning and smoke for several days. Such a smell can often cause poor health of citizens. Symptoms such as itching, runny nose and watery eyes can signal an allergy to the smell of burning and smoke. Svetlana Styazhkina, an allergist in private practice, told New Day how to alleviate her condition.

“An allergic reaction to the smell of smoke and burning is similar to a respiratory allergy (it is caused by dust, wool, etc.), the symptoms of which, in turn, are similar to colds,” says the doctor. – If you suddenly have a runny nose, tearing, itching in the nose and mucous membranes, drowsiness – this is it – an allergy. Experienced patients immediately drink pills, but, of course, not everyone has such an opportunity. You can give yourself first aid by other means.

The allergist listed effective methods and means of dealing with allergies in the current conditions, when one cannot hide from the smell of a burning peat bog.

“First of all, I advise you to make an appointment with an allergist, pass allergy tests and tests. This, of course, is not a quick process, but the doctor will prescribe a treatment that can even completely get rid of the disease, Svetlana Styazhkina advises. – If the allergy attacked suddenly, the surest remedy is to take a pill. “Suprastin”, “Cetrin”, “Tavegil” – they are sold without a prescription, and they can be drunk once if discomfort occurs. However, let me remind you that only a doctor can prescribe a course. If the allergy caught you in the most unpleasant way, when there is no pill at hand, then here I also have tips that will not completely eradicate the problem, but may help to survive this condition a little better.

1. Plain water helps to relieve the condition. With allergies, the temperature of the mucous membranes rises, so the allergist advises to wash your face more often.

“There used to be a myth that frequent washing destroys the protective barrier that blocks allergic reactions. However, this is all speculation. If you want to wash yourself to cool your burning eyes, do it as many times as you like. Go to the washbasin at least every 10 minutes, this will not destroy any balances, ”said the allergist.

2. Use a wet mask and flush the nasal passages.

“This advice is good for people with allergies to dust, but during fires it can also save you from the smell of burning. You can rinse your nose with plain water, or with special drops that can be purchased at a pharmacy, or with saline solution (be careful with this!). The mask, the usual medical one that everyone has in the house, can be moistened with either plain water or a decoction of chamomile, which has a calming effect. Wearing such a whole day, of course, will not work, you can do it intermittently: we wear it for 20 minutes, we rest for 10, ”says Svetlana Styazhkina.

3. Use saline-soaked sheets on windows.

“Also quite banal advice, but tested on myself. This summer, many people covered the windows with wet sheets during hot nights. In the same way, you can escape from the smell of burning, only use not just water, but a saline solution, the doctor recommended. – For one liter of water – 100-120 grams of salt. Dip the sheets into this solution, and then hang the windows with them, from which, in fact, the fumes penetrate into the apartment.

4. Use a fan or air conditioner in your home.

“Of course, this is a strange piece of advice for winter, but the fan speeds up the air flows quite well,” the specialist noted. “Try to put him in a room and go to another.”

5. Change towel every day and do daily cleaning.

“The towel, of course, is not directly related to this case, but it accumulates bacteria and dirt. Mucous membranes during the allergy period are more vulnerable, so they can become inflamed from the penetration of dirt. In general, do wet cleaning, wipe the surfaces on which dust microparticles accumulate, ”said the interlocutor of Novyi Den.

Among other things, she advised me to refrain from smoking and using feather pillows during the allergy period. “Usually, such an allergy to burning or smoke is accompanied by another, for example, to the smell of cigarettes, dust, pollen and more. It is best to have pills with you and visit an allergist once a year. And yet, if you were tested in childhood and no allergies were found, I hasten to inform you: it can also appear in adulthood, since this is an acquired disease, ”concluded Svetlana Styazhkina.

Ekaterinburg, Maria Zykova

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causes, symptoms and what to do

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Allergy is a special form of immune response, which manifests itself in the body’s acute sensitivity to foreign antigens. They are called allergens.

Usually antigens are foreign proteins that provoke an immediate immune response in a wide variety of forms. This condition usually manifests itself in the form of a skin rash, burning in the nose and sneezing, which is a way to get rid of antibodies.

Is it possible to be allergic to smoke?

Fire smoke contains a lot of processed organic compounds, which, if they enter the respiratory tract, and then into the bloodstream, can release biologically active compounds and provoke a pathological condition.

Causes of allergies

In today’s world every fifth adult and every second child faces such a problem. Allergens can be microbes and their metabolic products, house dust, tobacco or smoke from a fire, almost any food and medicine.

The biological significance of allergy is still unknown. Scientists consider it as a pathological disorder of the functioning of the immune system . This disease progresses more and more every year, covers vast territories. The environment becomes unsafe for life.

Emissions into the atmosphere contain heavy metals, proteins of unknown origin and configuration, a hose descends into water bodies, biological pathogenic floras provoke changes in human DNA, heredity acquires certain features, therefore allergies appear. In the smoke from the fire there are resins, biologically active substances, protein structures that can cause a response in the body. Smoke is the strongest allergen.

Usually the first contact with the allergen is painless, but with prolonged contact near the fire, violent signs develop due to the formation of special class of antibodies . They are not found in human blood, but are attached to the cells of tissues and organs. With the appearance of a smoke screen, that is, allergens, the release of a huge amount of substances such as histamine is provoked, which causes further manifestations of allergies.

The reason for this reaction to smoke may be the use of antibiotics or drugs that adversely affect the natural immunity and its reactions. Development can be facilitated by heredity, psycho-emotional stress and a sedentary lifestyle. Pathology can also occur with the use or abuse of nutritional supplements.

Smoke allergy symptoms

Sneezing and itching are the eternal companions of the immune response. When a focus appears, a person may have swelling of the mucous membranes, larynx, in the absence of proper medical care or drugs that relieve inflammation and constrict blood vessels, in extreme cases this can lead to death. The manifestation of urticaria is very familiar to many. Smoke can cause irritation and itching on the surface of the epidermis.

There are very frequent cases of vomiting in case of smoke poisoning, the body tries to expel everything unnecessary, the stomach begins to contract and throw out the remnants of food and liquid. Headache on inhalation is a common symptom of an incipient attack.

What to do, what and how to treat

You need to contact an allergist, he will help you understand the problem, identify the cause and make a correct diagnosis. Prescribe a course of treatment. This may be a course of physiotherapy that has a beneficial effect on the immune system and restores it. The doctor usually prescribes drugs to reduce the body’s activity and sensitivity to allergens, antihistamines.

Very common antiallergic drugs such as:

• Suprastin. The most common remedy that is recommended to be taken already if an allergic reaction is suspected, before going to the doctor.
• Diazolin . Another effective and high-quality drug for allergic cough, which has a calming effect and relieves all allergy symptoms.
• Tavegil. Synthetic preparation of all-round action. It is produced not only in the form of tablets, but also in the form of aerosols, ointments, suppositories, solutions.

The best way would be to completely limit visits to smoky places . Anti-inflammatory drugs well relieve irritation in the nasal cavity and help relieve symptoms. Often a manifestation of an allergy is a cough, in this case it is worth consulting with your doctor so that he can prescribe a herbal preparation or herbal remedy for coughing.

Doctors with manifestations of allergic cough usually prescribe Fitosbor №4 (for dry cough).

Asthma is a spasm of the smooth muscles of the bronchi. A very dangerous manifestation. It is necessary to carry with you a drug that relieves swelling of the mucosa.

In this case, Seretide is used. Relieves an attack of allergic asthma. Best to carry with you at all times.

Prevention of allergies

Stress is one of the main causes of various pathological conditions, including allergies. In order to be less nervous, you need to spend more time communicating with wildlife and animals. Communication with loved ones and relatives is an excellent prevention of mental overstrain.

An active lifestyle will protect against allergies, a person’s immunity is able to recover to its original form, if you do not interfere with it.