A lot of the symptoms we attribute to a cold or allergies, like coughing, sneezing, and runny nose, are oftentimes not that… In many cases, these are symptoms of an unhealthy home.
You might be wondering, “how can your home be unhealthy?” Well, there are several different ways it can be but the number one cause of an unhealthy home is due to poor indoor air quality. According to healthline.com, having poor air quality in your home is due to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).
The symptoms of SBS are very similar to the conditions of allergies and the common cold. These symptoms include itchy or irritated eyes, sneezing, headaches, coughing, and difficulty breathing. If you’re experiencing these symptoms in your home, it can be hard to tell what to attribute the symptoms to. But there are certain signs around your home that you can check out to at least possibly rule them out as a potential cause.
You may not even realize it but some of the lifestyle habits you have, the way you “clean” your home, and items we bring into our homes all play their own pivotal role in the overall health of your home.
Take a look at how your home could potentially be making you sick.
SIGNS YOUR HOME IS TAKING A TOLL ON YOUR HEALTH
WATER SPOTS ON THE CEILING AND WALLS
When you see water spots on your ceiling or walls, it’s an immediate sign that there’s a leak somewhere in your home. But in discovering these spots, it’s also a sign that mold and mildew will soon follow if the leak isn’t found and fixed as soon as possible.
When mold spores are present in your home, it can lead to serious respiratory problems, so if you’ve noticed yourself getting a bit of a cough or coughing in certain areas of your home, then you need not ignore it, especially if there are water spots in your home. You first need to hire a plumber to find the source of the leak and fix it. And then, depending on how long the leak has been going on, you may need to hire a roof replacement company or even mold specialists.
This is why it’s always best to tackle these issues as soon as you see them arise, so that they don’t turn into even bigger problems.
YOU USE AIR FRESHENERS IN YOUR HOME
This particular aspect is going to be hard to take for lots of people. There’s no greater feeling in the world than getting off work and walking into a home scented like fresh linen. But the only bad thing about that is that those scents can negatively impact your health. Things like certain wall plug-ins, candles, and aerosol sprays can actually disrupt your endocrine system.
So if you notice you start having changes in your appetite, sleep cycles, body temperature, and blood pressure, it could be a number of things but you also can’t rule out the possibility of the chemicals found in air fresheners impacting your health as well. Instead of air fresheners, use essential oils or fresh flowers to improve your home’s air quality.
YOU HAVE BILLS IN YOUR ROOM
Keeping bills out of your room is actually an important aspect of Feng Shui in the bedroom. Bills, regardless of where they are in your home, are a major contributor to stress, so having the bills in the very place where you’re supposed to relax can prove to be detrimental to your mental health. So at all costs, try to keep them out of your bedroom.
Now, if your bills are indeed getting to be a little too expensive, look for ways to reduce your bills. For example, if you live in Houston, powersetter.com is a great place where you can look up and compare electric rates in Houston to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
But the main takeaway is to keep your bills out of your bedroom for better mental health. It’s going to help if you’re able to lower your bills, obviously, but keeping them out of your room will positively impact your health.
AIR FILTERS ARE DIRTY
It’s always a good rule of thumb to at least check your air filters every 30 to 60 days to see if they need changing. If they don’t, then you can keep them in another 30 days, but after that, you probably want to go ahead and change them.
When your air filters aren’t changed properly, they’re going to circulate the dirt inside the filters, every time you use your heating and cooling units. This is going to prevent the filters from picking up new pollutants, allergens, and contaminants in your home, thus, contributing to your home’s poor indoor air quality.
