Humidifiers: Could They Be Good For Asthma Patients?

Can Humidifiers Help With Asthma Symptoms?

Having asthma is not easy. A home’s high humidity level can attract dust mites and mold, triggering allergic reactions, while a low humidity level can irritate and dry your throat.

In other words, you must be careful with your environment because it may make it harder for you to breathe. Some people use humidifiers to make things easier, but is it worth it?

A Chandler allergy expert will tell us if a humidifier is necessary when suffering from asthma.

The True About Humidifiers and Asthma

Air temperature and weather conditions affect the indoor humidity level. When there’s cold weather, the air in your house may be dry. This issue can affect your lifestyle if you live in a dry climate year-round.

A humidifier can help you keep the right amount of indoor humidity. However, there’s no medical record about the benefits of humidifiers to alleviate asthma.

Moreover, you should be aware that humidifiers can worsen asthma depending on their use. These are some cautions you should notice:

Humidifiers that run nonstop or too high can worsen asthma.
Humidifiers can irritate your lungs if you fill them with tap water.
They can also worsen asthma if they are not cleaned properly.
You should not clean your humidifier with chemicals that irritate the respiratory system.

As you can see, you must be extremely cautious when using humidifiers, especially if you are an asthma patient. Humidifiers do not alleviate asthma symptoms per sé, on the contrary, they can worsen these symptoms if not used properly.

What About Dehumidifiers?

Humidity can occur in any type of weather. Breathing humid air can cause respiratory issues and worsen asthma.

Queen Creek allergists recommend staying alert to humidity and dampness because both factors can attract mold and other allergens in the environment. These allergens can affect the respiratory system and worsen most asthma symptoms.

In extremely humid environments, dehumidifiers can help. These electrical items remove water from the air, bringing the humidity down in an overly humid space. They reduce the buildup of mold and dust mites too.

If you have mold in your house, a dehumidifier won’t remove it, but it will reduce additional mold growth.

Dehumidifiers are a great option for overly humid environments.

Which Option Is Better?

There’s not a concrete answer about the best option for asthma. A humidifier or a dehumidifier does not necessarily have to be the best alternative to take care of asthma symptoms. The final choice will depend on the specific individual situation and the triggers. Therefore, you may not even need any of these appliances.

If your house becomes too dry in some seasons, like winter, a humidifier can help by adding humidity to the air. It can help you breathe better too, but you must take care of this item if you don’t want to worsen your asthma symptoms. You can also ask your Mesa asthma doctor if a humidifier is necessary in your case.

If you live in a damp environment, a dehumidifier may be better because it traps water from the air, making it more comfortable to breathe. But, once again, you must also take care of this item and use it properly.

You should also consider your health status. Reaching for a humidifier when you have a cold or respiratory issue is not always the smartest decision. A humidifier will not help break up congestion, so you should not rush the decision.

A humidifier can make it easier for you to breathe in some cases, but it can also worsen your respiratory infection if you have asthma or an allergy to mold.

The best you can do before buying a humidifier is to analyze your environment and ask a doctor.

Care Tips For Asthma

If you are an asthma patient, you may be already taking rescue medications. However, you should also follow these tips to manage the asthma symptoms better:

Identify your asthma triggers to avoid them.
Don’t smoke.
Avoid secondhand smoke.
Obtain your flu shot annually.
Wash your hands often.
Exercise often.
Eat nutritious food.
Get enough sleep (at least 7-8 hours).

Contact Trusted Mesa Allergy Doctors

While it’s difficult to control the weather, you can reduce your exposure to asthma triggers. But, if you still have issues with your asthma, you should see your doctor. At San Tan Allergy & Asthma we will be proud to help you! We are Arizona’s top-rated allergy and asthma clinic, so our doctors are well-equipped to help manage patients with a variety of immune deficiencies. Contact us now for more information about our services!