Mold Allergy Symptoms: Is It Mold Making You Sick?
If you are dealing with sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, itchy or watery eyes, coughing, or postnasal drip that seems to get worse in one specific place—like your home, office, or your child’s school—you may be experiencing mold allergy symptoms rather than a cold or seasonal allergies. Mold exposure can also worsen asthma, triggering wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and acute coughing, and in more serious cases—especially with black mold or toxic mold—may lead to headaches, fatigue, dizziness, skin rashes, flu-like symptoms, and trouble concentrating.
Signs of a mold allergy and symptoms of mold exposure include:
- Sneezing
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Itchy eyes, nose and throat
- Cough and postnasal drip
- Watery eyes
- Wheezing
Mold and Asthma
If you are allergic to mold and also have asthma, your asthma symptoms may be triggered by exposure to mold spores, and can sometimes be severe. In addition to the usual symptoms, you may experience acute coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. To reduce asthma attacks caused by mold, have your home or office environment tested for mold to see if your indoor environment is the cause. Also, speak with your doctor about managing your condition.
Black Mold or Toxic Mold Exposure
Although allergies to mold are common, some molds, like black mold or toxic mold, can cause illness and serious health effects without an allergic reaction. These molds can cause a host of problems, ranging from skin infections and rashes to pneumonia and flu like symptoms. In addition to mold allergy symptoms and eye and skin irritations from black mold, you may also experience headaches, more severe breathing troubles, fever, dizziness, nervousness, extreme fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.
Mold in Schools and Work Environments
Schools, classrooms, hallways, offices, and building corridors often harbor mold and dust mites, as do their ventilation systems.
If you are allergic to mold and work in an office building, or are a parent with children who are allergic to mold, you should find out how often the school or building cleans their vents, and if they use high-efficiency air filters to remove mold, pollen, and other particles from the air. This may help to alleviate some of your mold allergy symptoms.
What Can I Do About My Symptoms?
Unfortunately, there is no cure for a mold allergy, but there are ways to reduce the symptoms. While a change in diet and simple over the counter drugs can help relieve your pain, it is important to try and avoid mold whenever possible. Indoor environments may contain high levels of mold and poor indoor air quality, and since we spend 90% of our time indoors, we are very susceptible to it.
Because mold often hides behind walls, under floors, or in HVAC systems in homes, offices, and schools, the only way to know for sure is to have the indoor environment professionally tested by an independent company that does not perform remediation, so there’s no conflict of interest or pressure to pay for unnecessary work. RTK Environmental provides unbiased mold testing, pinpoints the source of mold growth, and gives you a clear remediation plan to help reduce your symptoms and improve your indoor air quality.Obviously you cannot avoid mold altogether, but removing it from your home or work environment is a huge leap in the right direction.
Call us at 800.392.6468 to schedule an independent mold inspection today.
