Hire help

If you’re allergic to house dust or something else like pet dander that hides in your carpet, get someone else to take care of cleaning that carpet - a teenager or a professional cleaning service. The cost of a hired hand is a small price to pay for guaranteed escape from an allergic reaction.

Seal your bedding in plastic.

Ajoint communique from Dr. Podell and Dr. Lang: If dust mites are the bane of your existence, encasing your mattress and pillows in plastic will help bring relief. The little bugs love bedding, but with the plastic in place, you breathe clean air instead of mite wastes.

Throw out your carpets

For an allergic person sensitive to house dust, pet dander, or mold, carpets are an absolute no-no. They make an almost perfect home for dust mites and molds, and the tightly woven modem carpet very effectively attracts and holds pollen and pet dander. Even steam cleaning may not help. “It’s not hot enough to kill the mites,” Dr. Platts-Mills says. “About all it really does is make it warmer and wetter underneath -an ideal climate for both mites and mold.”

Buy throw rugs

Replace your carpets with throw rugs and you’ll achieve two major benefits. You’ll eliminate that part of your home that captures and holds more dust, pollen, pet dander, and mold than any other, and you 11 make keeping it allergen-free much easier. Rugs can be washed at temperatures hot enough to kill dust mites, and the floors underneath - courtesy of a rug’s loose weave - stay cooler and drier, conditions distinctly hostile to mold and mites. “Mites can’t survive on a dry, polished floor,” Dr. Platts-Mills says. “And that kind of floor dries in seconds versus weeks for a steam-cleaned carpet.”
Buy synthetic pillows. Dust mites like synthetic (Hollofil or Dacron) pillows just as much as those made from down and foam, but synthetic pillows have one major advantage-you can wash them in hot water.

Treat your symptoms.

A certain amount of exposure to whatever bothers you is unavoidable. Allergy shots available from your doctor are a great way to make sure your forays into the outside world are pleasant instead of painful. But you don’t have to rely on them. Over-thecounter antihistamines, available from your local druggist, work wonders on drippy noses and red, itchy eyes. “For the most part, they do a good job,” says Richard Podell, M.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “But if you have an allergy that persists for more than five to seven days, you should probably see your doctor.”

Wipe down humid areas with fungicides.

Clorox kills mold, and unlike some other exotic chemicals, you can get it in many grocery stores. Wipe down surfaces in your bathroom as needed to control problems. The Clorox label suggests you clean floors, vinyl, tile, woodwork. and appliances (Cloroxwill bleach fabrics) with a solution of % cup Clorox bleach per gallon of water. Let stand 5 minutes and rinse. Use a regular fungicide for tough locations like the basement.

Isolate your pets.

Pet dander is something many people are allergic to - cat dander usually causes the most problems. The simplest solution: Give your pets away. But for many people, that’s not an option. Allergies 11 The alternative: Make your bedroom a haven, sealed off from the rest of the house and absolutely forbidden territory for Whiskers. “One walk a week through a room is all it takes for a pet to keep a dander allergy going,” Dr. Podell says.

Wear a face mask.

Use one when doing anything that’s likely to expose you to the material you’re allergic to. A simple chore like vacuuming can throw huge quantities of dust and whatever else is in your home into the air, where it will hang for several minutes, says David Lang, M.D., a senior staff member in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. And gardening can expose you to huge volumes of pollen. A small mask that covers nose and mouth, known professionally as a dust and mist respirator, can cut the allergen reaching your lungs. The 3M Company makes an inexpensive version that comes highly recommended and can be found in most hardware stores.

If you have a known allergy, notice any of the following symptoms, and have never experienced them before during an allergy attack, you should see your doctor.

• A whistling sound when you breathe-otherwise known as wheezing.
• Congestion of the chest severe enough to make breathing difficult, often accompanied by wheezing-also known as asthma.
• An attack that doesn’t respond to over-the-counter medications within a week.
• Welts that spring up in response to exposure to an allergen-also known as hives. They may indicate the onset of anaphylactic shock-an allergic reaction severe enough to kill. Anaphylactic shock-a very severe allergic reaction-is most commonly associated with bee or fire ant stings, but it can occur in response to other allergens, too. If welts erupt following a sting, it could indicate a severe allergic reaction and should be viewed as a warning flag for prompt medical attention.

Buy a dehumidifier

Keeping the air clean in your home will bring relief from pollens, molds, and pet dander. Keeping it dry will help put a stop to dust mite problems, too. “They really don’t do very well at humidities below about 45 percent,” Dr. Platts-Mills says. “Generally, the drier, the better.” If that creates a problem for a child or someone else sensitive to dry air, try putting a small room humidifier close to his bed.

Air-condition your house.

This is probably the Single most important thing you can do to alleviate pollen problems, and it can help with two other chief inhalants-molds and dust mites. “The basic idea is to create an oasis of sorts,” says Dr. Podell. “You want your home to be a place of sanctuary, a place you can count on to provide escape.”
Air-conditioning units can help in two ways. They keep humidity low; which discourages mites and molds, and they can filter the air in the course of cooling it - if you also install an air cleaner. But it’s the sealing of the house that provides the real benefit, Dr. Podell says. “If you’ve got the windows open, then hey, the inside of the house is essentially the same environment as the outside ofthe house-full of pollens.”

Air-condition your car.

If walking outside makes you start wheezing and sneezing, imagine what tearing through all those pollen clouds at 55 miles per hour is going to do! Be sensible, air-condition your automobile, too. And if the expense bothers you, remember-you’re doing it for your health.

Install an air cleaner.

When the experts say install an air cleaner, they don’t mean the $14.95 special at the local hardware store. They mean one of the industrial-quality models that bolts into the air intake or outlet of your central heating and cooling unit. The room air cleaners certainly take particles out of the air, but they can also move it around,” Dr. Platts-Mills says. “The cure can be worse than the condition.” They’re good, however, at removing pollen that’s already in the air.

An allergy is what happens when your body detects a foreign substance it doesn’t like. Your nose plugs up and starts dripping, your eyes itch and run, your lungs bum and wheeze. Like people, allergies come in almost infinite variety. But most fit into three basic categories; contact, food, or inhalant allergies. Inhalant allergies - allergies we experience in response to material in the air we breathe - are the most common. The four biggest airborne troublemakers are house dust, pollen, pet dander, and mold. “You find a bit of everything in house dust,” says Thomas PlattsMills, M.D., head of the University of Virginia Medical Center’s Division of Allergy and Immunology. “Different people are allergic to different things-pieces of cockroach are pretty potent, actually- but the single biggest cause of problems is the dust mite.” For the record, the dust mite is an almost-microscopic relative of ticks and spiders.

But the living mite is not the problem. It’s the fecal material they expel in their wanderings about our carpets and furnituretheir primary residences-and the bodies of dead mites that cause reactions. As for the other common allergens, pollen blows in from outside, pet dander falls off Fido in a shower of dead skin, and mold grows wherever it’s dark and humid-under your carpet, in the basement. But it doesn’t matter which one you encounter. Inhale anyone of them, and if you are allergic, you’ll start sneezing, Not every home can lay claim to all four of the Big Four, but every home that’s not hermetically sealed can lay claim to one or more. So what to do? Is there ever any escape from these ubiquitous denizens of the modem home, or are the allergic masses condemned to a life of endless snuffling and eternal sniffling? Rest easy-there’s a lot you can do to minimize the misery your allergy brings to your life. The following doctor-tested and -recommended tips will plant you firmly on the path to easy breathing and dry eyes.

Don’t be fooled by the numbers.

Acne medications contain concentrations of benzoyl peroxide ranging from 2.5 percent to around 10 percent. The percentage, however, has little to do with the product’s effectiveness. “In most tests that have been conducted, the lower-strength products were as effective as the upper-strength ones,” says Thomas Gossel, PhD., RPh., a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Ohio Northern University. “Five percent works as well as 10 percent.”

Give dry skin extra care.

Dry skin can be sensitive to benzoyl peroxide, so Dr. Gossel recommends you start with a lower-strength product first, then increase the concentration slowly. “You’re going to get reddening of the skin when you put it on, but that is a normal reaction,” he says.

Stay out of the sun.

Acne medications may cause adverse reactions to the sun. “Minimize exposure to sunlight, infrared heat lamps, and sunscreens until you know how you will react,” cautions Dr. Gossel, who advises a patch test for sunscreen sensitivity.

Scrub that skin.

“Cleanse your skin thoroughly every time before applying any over-the-counter acne medication,” says Dr. Gessel. A clean face is a happy face.

Use one treatment at a time.

Don’t mix treatments. If you are using an OTC acne product, you should stop using it if you are given prescription medication for your acne. “Benzoyl peroxide is a close

Know when to squeeze.

Although most pimples are best left alone, there is one kind that you can squeeze to help get rid of it. “Sometimes a pimple will have a little central yellow pus head in it,” explains Dr. Pochi. “Gentle squeezing usually pops these open very nicely. Once the pus is out, the pimple will heal more quickly”

Attack blackheads.

You can also get rid of a blackhead by squeezing it. ”A blackhead is a very blocked pore. The material inside the blocked pore is solid, and the surface of the pore is widened,” explains Dr. Po chi. The black part of a blackhead is not dirt. In fact, dermatologists aren’t really sure what it is, but whatever it is, it will not result in a pimple.

Use OTCs to KO acne.

You can fight back an acne attack with over-the-counter products. “Use OTCs with benzoyl peroxide in them,” says Dr. Fulton. “The benzoyl part pulls the peroxide into the pore and releases oxygen that kills the bacteria that aggravates acne. It’s like two drugs in one. The benzoyl also suppresses the fatty acid cells that irritate the pores.”

OTC acne products come in various forms, such as gels, liquids, lotions, or creams. Dr. Fulton suggests using a water-based gel. It is the least likely to irritate the skin. He also suggests using it for an hour or so in the evening, then washing it offvery thoroughly at bedtime, especially in the areas around the eyes and neck.

It may sound fishy, but if you are prone to acne, there is at least one doctor who believes that seafood and other foods containing iodine could bring on an attack. “Iodine is a factor in some people who are prone to acne,” says James E. Fulton, Jr., MD., PhD. “Iodine enters the body and mixes into the bloodstream, with the excess excreted through the oil glands. As it is excreted, it irritates the pores and brings on an acne flare-up.” If you’ve been fishing around for a clue to the cause of your acne, here’s a table of some foods and beverages and the amount, in parts per million, of iodides that they contain. Dr. Fulton does not currently know at what level the iodides could bring on an acne attack, but he warns that “excessive long-term ingestion can induce acne attacks.”

Iodides         Iodides

Food/Beverage     (ppm)     Food/Beverage     (ppm)
Dairy Products         Salt
Cheddar cheese spread     27         Iodized     54
Butter     26         Seasoned     40
Homogenized milk     11     Seafood
Sour cream     7     Kelp     1,020
Cottage cheese     5     Squid     39
Yogurt     3     Crab     33
Drinking water (U.S. average)     8     Sale     24
Meat and Poultry         Clams     20
Beef liver     325     Shrimp     17
Turkey     132     Lobster     9
Chicken     67     Oysters     8
Hamburger     44     Vegetables
Miscellaneous         Asparagus     169
Tortilla chips     80     Broccoli     90
Wheat germ     46     Onions (white)     82
Potato chips     40     Corn     45
Pretzels     15     Brussels sprouts     23
White bread     8     Potato     9
Coca-Cola     3     Green beans     7
Sugar     2
Iodides         Iodides
Food/Beverage     (ppm)     Food/Beverage     (ppm)
Dairy Products         Salt
Cheddar cheese spread     27     Iodized     54
Butter     26     Seasoned     40
Homogenized milk     11     Seafood
Sour cream     7     Kelp     1,020
Cottage cheese     5     Squid     39
Yogurt     3     Crab     33
Drinking water (U.S. average)     8     Sale     24
Meat and Poultry         Clams     20
Beef liver     325     Shrimp     17
Turkey     132     Lobster     9
Chicken     67     Oysters     8
Hamburger     44     Vegetables
Miscellaneous         Asparagus     169
Tortilla chips     80     Broccoli     90
Wheat germ     46     Onions (white)     82
Potato chips     40     Corn     45
Pretzels     15     Brussels sprouts     23
White bread     8     Potato     9
Coca-Cola     3     Green beans     7
Sugar     2

Read the labels.

Cosmetic products that contain lanolins, isopropyl myristate, sodium lauryl sulfate, laureth-4, and D & C red dyes should also be avoided. Like oil, these ingredients are too rich for the skin.

Rinse that rouge.

Wash your makeup off thoroughly every night,” says Dr. Fulton. “Use a mild soap twice a day and make sure you rinse the soap entirely offyourface. Rinsing six or seven times with fresh water should do it.

A Slick Test for Oil

Here’s an easy test that you can do at home to find out just how oily your cosmetics really are.
Get a sheet of 25 percent cotton-bond typing paper and rub a thick streak of your makeup onto it. Wait 24 hours and then check for an oil ring. “Within a day the oil will spread out and you’ll see a big grease ring,” explains James E. Fulton, Jr., M.D., PhD. “The bigger the ring, the more oil there is in your makeup. Stay away from makeup that produces big oil slicks.”

Go for the natural look.

“Whatever makeup you use, the less you use of it, the better,” says Dr. Fulton.

Blame it on the Pill.

Research conducted by Dr. Fulton indicates that certain birth control pills such as Ovral, Loestrin, Norlestrin, and Norinyl can aggravate acne. If you’re on the Pill and have an acne problem, discuss it with your doctor. He may be able to switch you to another pill or prescribe another birth control method.

Leave well enough alone.

“You shouldn’t squeeze pimples or whiteheads,” says Dr. Pochi. ”A pimple is an inflammation, and you could add to the inflammation by squeezing it. You may cause an infection.” You can’t do anything to a pimple to make it go away faster, he notes. “Normally a pimple will last from one to four weeks, but it will always go away.”
A whitehead is a noninflamed plugged pore, notes Dr. Pochi. “The core of a whitehead is much smaller than the core of a blackhead. When you squeeze the whitehead, the wall of the pore could break and the contents could leak out into the skin and cause a pimple. A pimple naturally forms from the rupture of a whitehead pore wall.”

You think that tiny, little pimple on your face is unsightly? Well, imagine how you would feel if that pimple were, say, the size of a 30-gallon garbage can.
That’s the size it would appear to be if you were a star of the silver screen.
Bette Davis’s big, beautiful eyes would go unnoticed compared to the pimple on the tip of her nose if that pimple were allowed to remain in sight.

Ah, butwe never see pimples, whiteheads, or blackheads on the faces of the stars. And why is that? Don’t these folks break out? “You bet they do,” says Hollywood makeup artist Maurice Stein. “The difference is, they can’t let their pimples or any other blemish show.”

Stein has been a makeup artist for over 25 years and he’s touched up the famous faces in such movies as M *A*S *H, Funny Girl, and all five of the Planet of the Apes films.

Guerrilla warfare is the only way you can fight the pimple that always sprouts at the wrong time. So here are a few combat tips from the trenches in Hollywood. Stein says he’s used these on “some of the most expensive faces in the world.”

Go under cover. You can totally block out the discoloration, whether it’s pink, red, or purple, according to Stein. To do that, “a person should look for a foundation makeup that has a high pigment level,” he says. The more pigment per ounce, the better chance there is of putting the product on thin and still getting good coverage. “When I cover a pimple on an entertainer’s face, I look for a pigment level of 50 to 70 percent. The normal range for most foundations is around 15 to 18 percent.”

Do a swatch test. You can’t really tell the pigment level by looking at a product, but you can tell by sampling it. “Take a drop of it and rub it on your skin,” suggests Stein. “If it’s so solid in color that you can’t see your own skin underneath it, then you know it has a high pigment level and will do well in covering your blemish.”