As the weather gets warmer and we start to enjoy the great outdoors, some of us start to sneeze more, cough more, itch more, and generally feel a bit crap.
That's because it's a time of year that exacerbates allergies, asthma and respiratory problems for a lot of Kiwis who live with them.
But luckily, the knowledge and tools we have to combat such issues are ever-growing.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ chief executive Letitia Harding recently chatted with Newshub about how to best deal with the transition into summer.
Her top respiratory health tips for this time of year are as follows:
- Vacuum and wipe down surfaces more often
- Declare war on privets
- Keep your windows shut early in the morning to avoid excess pollen
- Wipe down your window sills after having your windows open during the day
- Use a purifier with genuine HEPA filtration
- Make sure inhalers aren't passed their expiration date
- Air out your duvet under direct sunlight.
"Probably the biggest thing to point out is that from December through to May is the dust mite breeding season," Harding told Newshub.
"During this period we get a really big proliferation of dust mites coming out. The females can lay between 60 and 100 eggs and each individual dust mite produces about 2000 faecal pellets, which is what people can be allergic to.
"Then it's pollen season as well. So people have to be aware of the dust mite season, but also that there's a lot of pollination going on. It's a double-whammy."
People with ornamental plants like olive trees might not realise they produce a lot of pollen, Harding said, along with known culprits like birch.
Pollination occurs more in the early morning, so it's recommended people with allergies keep windows closed during that time.
And while we may like a lot of the plant life around our homes that produces pollen, no one should like the pest that is privets. People with allergies in particular should kill these pests mercilessly.
"People certainly need to get rid of that. It's notorious for really exacerbating those hayfever and allergic rhinitis symptoms like a runny nose and sneezing," said Harding.
Vacuuming more regularly during this time will help control the pollen that does get inside, as well as being one of the primary weapons for dust mite management.
It's well known that a powerful, good-quality vacuum is a great weapon for attacking dust mite problems, but Harding also recommends using the power of the sun.
"Put your clothes and bedding out on the line to air - now is a good time to just throw them on the line on sunny days," she said.
This is particularly useful for duvet inners. Sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases - that type of bedding can be washed in hot water regularly to kill dust mites, while the mattress and pillows themselves can be fitted with dust mite proof covers that can also be washed.
But the tricky old duvet inner is likely to be ruined if you put that through the washing machine. Fortunately, Harding said we don't need to worry too much about exposure to pollen if we hang a duvet inner on the line.
"Get the inner, hang it on the line on a sunny day for about six hours, then give it a good, big shake before bringing it back inside. Not near any open windows or doors, but pollen is often big enough to see - unlike dust mites - so you can usually see if it's OK to bring back inside before you do."
We're never going to completely eliminate allergens in the home, but one of the best tools for combating them is an air purifier.
"Using a HEPA filter - which is a high efficiency particulate air filter - is great because they capture down to 2.3 microns. So they catch dust, pollen and mould spores," said Harding.
Some air purifiers, such as those from Dyson, include indicators on them and in their companion apps that can be used to measure spikes in pollutants in the home.
"For someone like myself with a diagnostic, geeky side I quite like seeing if there's been an influx of pollen coming into the house and certainly if you open a door out to the deck, you'll see the graph spike up," said Harding.
Speaking of monitoring, if you have a little one with asthma it's important to keep a record of their symptoms to more effectively take care of them.
Harding said it's a good time to check the expiry date on any inhalers and to make use of the Child Asthma Action Plans and Child Asthma Symptom Diaries available free online.
