Humidity and most breathing problems are closely interconnected.
For example, asthma and allergy symptoms flare up in dry conditions and improve in humid environments.
Hence the need for a humidifier for allergies and asthma.
The best technique to boost your home’s moisture levels and also your breathing is through a humidifier.
However, there’re a whole lot of vital facts regarding humidifiers that you must know to get the best out of them. And that’s what you’re about to uncover here.
So please, read on…
Asthma and Humidity
The nasal passages need humid air to perform at optimum. Numerous respiratory illnesses tend to heighten in a low-humid environment.
When your home lacks adequate moisture, you expose your mucous membrane to dryness.
Unfortunately, dryness can irritate your whole respiratory system, flaring up your asthma and allergy symptoms.
In the absence of adequate moisture, the mucous lining, the first line of defence, is tampered with—making you susceptible to attack from allergens.
Does dry air make allergies worse?
Parched air can have a nasty effect on allergies. As mentioned above, it alters the structure of the mucous linings, making it easy for invading allergens to attack the respiratory system.
In addition…
Not only does low humidity affect our health, but it also causes damage to our homes. Dry air can cause cracks in our walls, wooden floors, and furniture.
Crevices make way for the dust to enter and for insects and termites to grow and create more dust.
So you want to ensure you seal up all fissures in your house. But unfortunately, all of this has a compounding effect that can trigger or aggravate your asthma and allergies.
So, it’s a need for a humidifier for your asthma and allergies.
Is dry air or humid air worse for asthma?
As an asthmatic or allergy sufferer, you should ensure that every home part is well-humidified.
As opposed to dryness that causes or worsens breathing dilemmas, humid air helps provide a pacifying effect on the entire respiratory system.
A moist environment adequately moisturises the mucous membrane. As a result, your respiratory muscles relax, so you can get enough air to your lungs and breathe effortlessly.
On the other hand, dry air constricts your respiratory tracks and flares up your asthma symptoms, such as phlegm secretion, wheezing, trouble breathing and more.
At this point, a humidifier comes to the rescue.
Do humidifiers help allergy sufferers?
As you know, cold, arid air is one of the most significant triggers of asthma.
Therefore…
Humidifier can be beneficial in such environmental conditions. Not just for seasonal allergies or asthma.
But also for people who live in cold, arid provinces. Obtaining the correct quantity of vapour to help their breathing can be challenging.
Humidifiers feed indoor air the moisture required to inhibit allergens’ growth, improving your allergy symptoms.
Why are humidifiers bad for asthma?
As much as humidifiers are fantastic instruments for breathing distress, they can seriously threaten your respiratory system.
Now, this is the reason…
A humidifier’s water tank can function as a habitat for germs, allergens, such as bacteria, and molds to grow and cause havoc on your health.
When a poorly maintained humidifier can cause mold, and disperse infected mists into the atmosphere, you inhale them, and an allergic reaction triggers.
If you have severe allergic asthma, this can jeopardise your health.
To prevent such, you must wash your humidifier regularly and ensure it’s always clean and tidied.
Types of Humidifiers for asthma and allergies
Humidifiers are of two kinds. According to the temperature of vapour they dispense into the atmosphere, humidifiers are of two types; Cool Mist and Warm Mist.
Cool Mist Humidifier for Asthma and Allergies.
Cool mist humidifiers release moisture at room temperature into the air. Because of the simplicity of their operation, they’re very affordable.
These apparatuses are not only long-lasting, but they’re also safer to use around pets and kids. Plus, they help alleviate the manifestations of cough and cold.
However…
Because of the lack of a heating unit, the cool mist humidifier tends to accumulate molds and bacteria.
Furthermore, its fans are louder than those of a warm mist humidifier.
Warm Mist Humidifier for Asthma and Allergies.
A warm mist humidifier has a heating unit that boils and transforms the water into mists. The mists cool while being released into the air.
Compared to the cool mist humidifier, this gadget is more effective in reducing the growth of molds and bacteria.
Plus, its fans are quieter. And it also delivers a warm, soothing effect in a cold climate.
But…
The warm mist humidifier could cause steam burns. So it’s neither child nor pet friendly.
Plus, it could worsen cough and cold by causing swellings of the nasal passages.
In addition, it consumes more power than the cool mist device.
Can you use tap water in a humidifier?
Never use a humidifier with tap water, particularly a cool mist humidifier which lacks a heating unit for sterilisation.
Unsterilised tap water may contain germs and allergens, which you want to avoid as asthma and allergy patient.
And not just that…
Tap water provides a rich medium with a lot of minerals, which foster the growth of molds, bacteria and allergens in the humidifier.
In addition, these minerals are dispersed into the air as white dust, settle on surfaces and cause a mess in your room.
Over time, its water tank accumulates germs and mineral dust and ejects them into your home’s air. As a result, you inhale them, aggravating your asthma and allergies.
So, always use demineralised or distilled water in your cool mist humidifier.
Humidity For Your Home
Humidity must be optimal in your home, specifically if you have breathing difficulties.
To achieve this, you need to have humidity sensors installed in the various rooms in your home.
This way, you can effectively scrutinise your indoor humidity and keep it under control.
Examples of such humidity-checking devices are hygrometers, humidistats, and thermostats. Any of these tools will do a good job.
What is the best indoor humidity for asthma?
According to experts, the recommended humidity level is 30 to 50%.
Any humidity level within this threshold is ideal and perfect for your asthma.
On the other hand, too low and too high humidity levels can intensify your respiratory issues.
What level of humidity triggers asthma?
The humidity level from 30% and below is under-humidity, indicating that your home lacks enough moisture and could provoke or intensify an asthma attack.
Likewise, humidity greater than 60% is Over-humidity, which means your indoor humidity exceeds the ideal threshold.
In such an over-humidified condition, molds, dust mites, and spores flourish in your home.
Consequently, these circumstances can increase your home’s dust and flare up your asthma.
Humidity levels outside the advised range can adversely affect your asthma and allergies.
Click here to get the best cleaning hacks to help eliminate dust in your home and improve your asthma and allergy symptoms.
Is it okay to sleep under a humidifier?
Sleeping under a humidifier is okay. It helps relieve coughing and respiring difficulties in adults and children.
For people with nocturnal asthma, a humidifier provides an ameliorating and relaxing effect, enabling them to get the sound sleep they crave.
Sleeping with a humidifier overnight generally improves your well-being. It thwarts the spread of viruses in the home, sinus congestion, and dry skin and lips—even a bleeding nose stops.
Do people with asthma need a humidifier or dehumidifier?
Asthmatics must always ensure their indoor air has enough moisture.
It would help if you had a humidifier and dehumidifier or the combo to achieve that…
So when your humidity levels drop too low, your humidifier pumps moisture into the air.
Similarly, when your humidity is on the high side, the dehumidifier sucks in the excess moisture.
Both humidifier and humidifier help to keep your in-house humidity within the ideal scope.
What is better for allergies, a humidifier or an air purifier?
A humidifier and an air purifier perform different roles in achieving the best air quality in your home.
A humidifier supplies moist air to improve your breathing while simultaneously creating the optimal humidity conditions for dust mites, and some fungi to thrive.
So as an allergy sufferer, an air purifier and a humidifier are essential in mitigating your allergy symptoms.
To resolve this challenge, you’ll need to install a HEPA filtration system in your home. HEPA filters remove all allergens and impurities as small as 0.3 in size.
You could also install a purifier-humidifier combo instead. This machine does both the job of humidifying and purifying indoor air simultaneously.
Conclusion
A humidifier is a must-have for asthmatics. If you want to control your allergic asthma signs, installing a humidifier for asthma and allergies in your home should be in your plan.
However…
Please make sure your humidifier is clean and well-regulated to keep your moisture indoors within the recommended level to get the best result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is opening windows good for asthma?
You should open your windows for 5 to 10 minutes every morning to let out the stuffy and musty air and allow in some fresh humid air.
It can be good for your asthma. But you want to be extra careful not to open your windows for too long.
Dust from the outside could come in and trigger or intensify your breathing problems.
Should a humidifier run all night?
Running a humidifier all night can help with breathing and allergy problems….
Not just for asthmatics and allergy sufferers alone, using a humidifier all night has beneficial health effects for everyone…It improves your sleep, skin texture and your general well-being.
Can humidifiers cause Lung problems?
A poorly maintained humidifier can cause more harm than good to your health.
As much as a humidifier is known to improve allergies and asthma, it can cause severe breathing problems.
If your humidifier is not clean, it might harbour germs, and mold spores. Breathing in the infected vapour from such humidifiers may result in full-fledged asthma and allergies.