With the wintry weather setting in, it’s common for many of us to develop the usual sniffly cold. But cold germs aren’t always the culprit – it could be that you’re actually allergic to your own house! Airborne allergies expert and creator of HayMax allergen barrier balm, Max Wiseberg, explains why as many as 12 million of us could suffer with a condition he terms ‘house fever’. Here he talks about the symptoms and how we can help prevent them…
Max recalls his own experiences of house fever. “Knowing that I suffer from hay fever and that it should stop at the end of the summer, I always wondered why I carry on having horrible allergy symptoms, often throughout the winter. And then I realised that although the pollen had stopped, there are many other allergens hanging around the house, ready to give me grief when I start to hibernate though the winter – including dust mite, mould spores and even animal dander. I thought, ‘Blimey, I’m allergic to my own house! Instead of hay fever, I’ve got house fever’.”
Max continues: “House fever could be nearly as big a problem as hay fever. Currently around one in five people suffer with hay fever in the UK and NHS Choices report that indoor allergies are very common and that 10-20 per cent of the population has an indoor allergy. And we can’t even escape it at Christmas time as the mould, pollen and dust collecting on our Christmas tree can trigger symptoms.”