Asthma, Mold, And Your Child: Managing The Problem

Health & Medical Blog

Mold is a major health problem that causes a variety of concerns, including severe allergic reactions and even asthma attacks. If your child suffers from problems with asthma, it is important to understand how mold can affect it and what you can do to avoid it.

Places Your Child May Run Into Mold

Mold is a common trigger of asthma attacks, especially if your child has a negative mold allergy. There is a variety of places that your child might be running into mold, including:

  • At school, especially in out-of-the-way areas
  • Outside, especially when climbing trees
  • In basement areas of your home, especially if the basement is damp or rarely cleaned
  • In attics that are warm and filled with dust

Check these areas for mold to see if your home is infested. If they are, it is worth understanding if your child is suffering from asthma attacks related to mold or from a different trigger.

Symptoms Mold May Be Causing Asthma Attacks In Your Child

Asthma attacks can be caused by a wide variety of triggers, so knowing how to gauge a mold-caused asthma attack is crucial. Essentially, you want to gauge when your child is having asthma attacks and try to keep track of where they are located when they occur. If these attacks occur in a damp, warm area where mold might grow, there's a good chance it is causing their asthma attacks. Symptoms of asthma attacks include the following:

  • Difficulty breathing in a variety of circumstances
  • Struggles to eat, especially food that may have been in cupboards with mold in them
  • Sudden asthma attacks when your child is in a potentially moldy environment, such as in your basement or in wet areas (such as an uncleaned bathtub)

If you believe you may have mold in your house contributing to your child's asthma attack, it is important to get this dangerous item removed as soon as possible.

Managing The Problem

The first step in managing mold-caused asthma attacks is to eliminate the mold that may be in your home. Check your basement, out-of-the-way areas, and areas in your cupboards that may be affected with mold. Call a professional mold remediation expert and have it removed as soon as possible. Now you should also remove other asthma triggers from your home:

  • Dust
  • Pollen
  • Animals that may trigger allergic reaction
  • Aerosol sprays
  • Areas with cold air

Going through your home in this way and eliminating all triggers, especially focusing on mold, can help keep your child safe from mold-caused asthma attacks. However, if your child suffers from an asthma attack even after you've finished this process, call a professional and purchase appropriate asthma treatment medications.

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23 September 2016

Help Others Make Health Decisions when They Cannot

One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.