Perfume allergies are a common workplace problem. Use these tips to stop the cause or lessen the symptoms.
Walking into work, you feel a wave of happiness wash over you as you leave the outside world of pollen, dust, and dander behind. But your happiness quickly dissipates; a nearby coworker's hideous overuse of perfume causes you to sneeze. Gasping for air and trying to pretend like nothing is wrong, you run away. This unfortunate scenario is not uncommon, and if it has ever happened to you, then you need to know how to deal with perfume allergies in the workplace.
Allergies are the result of your immune system overreacting to relatively harmless substances. For example, you might breathe in some pollen or perfume chemicals, and your body thinks it's under attack and launches a counterattack. In respiratory allergies, the long chain of events that follows results in a sniffling, sneezing, wheezing, coughing, red-eyed you.
Although allergies can be triggered anywhere, perfume allergies in the work place are exceptionally annoying for several reasons. Although you can simply walk away from most poisonous environments, you cannot leave work; you are stuck there for better or worse. Also, most people accept allergies caused by naturally occurring substances like pollen as unavoidable, but perfume is not an inevitable nuisance. There is no reason for you to suffer from perfume day after day, yet you do.
If the perfume was being worn by a stranger, you would just walk away. If the perfume was being worn by a friend or relative, you would complain until the offender washed the poison away. But when the offender is a coworker, tact is necessary, especially if the coworker is your boss. However, the best way to deal with perfume allergies is to eliminate them, so you should try talking to the offender. In order to avoid sounding insulting, try blaming yourself while complimenting the offender. For example, you might say something like "Your perfume is so lovely. Unfortunately, I am horribly sensitive to perfume; my allergies flare up like crazy. Could you maybe wear a little less perfume?"
If the offender ignores you, you never get up the nerve to say anything, or there are simply too many offenders to deal with, then there are other strategies that you can employ. If you are a severe allergy sufferer, you have probably already tried a smorgasbord of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. If you have found a pill, nasal spray, or eye drop that works for you, continue using it. If you have not found anything that works, you could try some of the newer medicines. Look for medicines that are specifically designed to fight perfume allergies, and ask your doctor for help.
You can also try to purify the air around you. Opening a window might help, although in the spring this might prove to be more harmful than helpful. You could also try placing a fan or air ionizer, or even a fan with an air ionizer, by your desk. And, of course, you could always try moving to an area of the office that is not so perfumed.
Allergies are as common as they are horrible; most likely you are not the only person suffering in your office. Try these tips and share them, and hopefully your suffering with abate.
