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In the overwhelming adventure that is multiple factor allergy, or allergy triggered asthma, one of the biggest concerns is often carpeting and upholstery. Some allergic and asthmatic sufferers are able to tolerate carpet with varying degrees of comfort, while others can hardly breathe without the aid of medicines or inhalers while present in a carpeted home.
There are many pros and cons which need to be examined when deciding to remove or keep carpeting in a house where an allergic person or allergy-triggered asthmatic lives. It takes a good deal of time and thought to decide whether the sufferer will thrive or decline in the presence of carpeting, and consultation with professionals in the allergy and pulmonology fields may influence the decision greatly.
Sometimes it is important to start the removal of carpeting off small. If the allergic or asthmatic child has a bedroom all to himself, or shares with only one other, it is not a difficult challenge to remove the carpeting from just that one room. Many older homes already have other flooring underneath (lino or tile), and the taking up of the carpet only requires the removal of carpet and underlay, while in newer homes this process may require that new flooring be laid. Because of the cost involved with laying new flooring, the process of carpet removal may end up being a long-term process anyway. If this concerns you, you could lift up one corner of the existing carpet to see if some other kind of flooring is underneath, or if there is only bare subfloor.
If cost is a factor in whether or not to remove the carpeting, at least try to ensure that the allergic or asthmatic person is able to sleep in a carpet-free environment. Doing this provides a long stretch of time each day when the sufferer is less exposed to allergens, and gives the lungs and immune system a much needed rest.
After the carpeting is taken up in the bedroom and other upholstered products there (mattress and box spring) have been covered with hypo-allergenic products (usually cotton casings, sheets and pillows), you can monitor the sufferer a few days (or weeks) to see if their condition improves. If it does, then, obviously, the carpeting was a factor in their state of health, and you might want to consider removing the carpet from all common-use rooms as well.
If the degree of health does not change, or goes down, then carpet was not a sufficiently mitigating factor for you to have to be concerned about carpet in the rest of the house. Frequent washing and vacuuming of the carpeted and upholstered products in the house will probably be enough to keep the sufferer in relative health.
Certain times of the year, though, may be worse than others, because of what ends up in the carpet during those times of the year. At this time, precautions (like removing boots and shoes before coming in the home) and an increase in the sweeping and vacuuming may help to alleviate symptoms. As well, pets in the home, especially dogs and cats, have periods throughout the year when they shed more copiously, and if one of the allergy or asthma triggers is pet dander or uric residues, an increase in home cleaning at these peak time may also help alleviate symptoms - especially when coupled with frequent daily brushing of the pet in an outside environment. If you do not have an outside area where you can brush the pet, or the pet is an inside only animal and likely to be stressed by outside exposure, do the brushing only in one room in the house (like the bathroom) with the door shut to contain the flying hairs. This will also make clean up substantially easier as it will only be necessary in the one room
Some in-home carpet cleaning companies promote themselves by relating the concept that the removal of carpet is now not considered necessary for the allergy sufferer and that removing the carpeting actually allows more dust and residue to enter the air. However, while this may indeed be true, the facts are that carpeting in the home is trapping all of these residues, and if one ever does take up the carpeting in the home, the amount of dirt, dust, dust mite bodies, and human skin particles under there will be appalling to even those least sensitive to their presence. In the long run, for severe allergy and asthma sufferers, removal of the carpet often proves the most effective treatment, as well as the least costly over all.
It must also be mentioned that there are now, available on the market, several products touted to be effective in keeping down dust mites and other allergens frequently found in carpeting. For some sufferers these products work well, but it must be noted, that for others, these products simply add to the number of triggers acessible in the home, and can make the condition worse rather than better.
In the end, whether you take up the carpet or not, depends heavily on the reaction of the sufferer and their response one way or another. Check with professionals and speak with other sufferers, or their parents, before you make a your decision on this issue.
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