Blazing Star Herbal School

Posts Tagged ‘allergies’

The poison ivy plant is a common one that is found in most parts of the world. There are two forms of the plant. The one type grows close to the ground and looks like a weed. It is usually present among other plants and grows to heights of about three feet. The other type is a vine which would normally grow up the trunk and branches of a tree.

This plant contains urushiol which is oil. The oil attaches to the skin when it makes contact with it. Since it seems that most people are allergic to this plant, as soon as you make contact with it, you will get a red, itchy rash.

The oil will make contact with your skin by you touching the plant. If you touch any clothing or shoes that have touched the plant, it will affect you. Any gardening tools that have come into contact with the plant which has oil on it will also have an effect. Sometimes pets will retain the oil on their body hair and this can affect you. You can also be affected if you burn the plant as the oil which comes out of the plant will be carried within the smoke.

The rash will show up within one to two days after a person has come into contact with the oil. The area will become swollen and red. Within a day or so little blisters will start to form and then the rash will increase in itchiness. It is imperative that you try not to scratch the blisters as dirt from your fingernails can enter the blisters and infection will set in. The blisters should start drying up after about 7 days and the rash will start disappearing. If the rash has covered big sections of your body, it may well last a lot longer.

As soon as you think you may have come into contact with poison ivy, use cold water to clean the area. The use of cold compresses and taking cool baths will have an impact on the relief of the itchiness of the areas that are affected. The oil is quite potent and will be active for a long period of time and therefore wash everything that has come into contact with it. This includes sports gear, tents, shoes, tools and all the clothes you had with you.

There are several over the counter ointments and other medications that can relieve the condition of the rash. Hydrocortisone lotions and creams are excellent. Calamine lotion will relieve the itching. Anti-histamine pills may also be prescribed. Try to relax in an oatmeal bath as this will also help with the treatment of the rash.

You should seek medical advice if you have a high fever. Do the same if the rash is covering very large sections of the body. If the rash appears on your genitals or in your eyes or mouth, you should seek medical assistance.

If there is pus present in the blisters caused by the poison ivy, you should definitely visit your doctor. If the rash does not disappear within a few days, you should get advice from your health-care professional.

Do you need a poison ivy cure? You should look and gain knowledge about poison ivy spray before you do anything else. We have a blog designed especially for those who want to know about poison ivy.

The right air purifier for you will depend upon your needs. The decision can be hard but by undersanding the key differences between the air purifiers available you can make an educated choice. There are a large number of the available on the market, and they all work to a varying degree. So how do you choose the correct air purifier for you?

Firstly, decide exactly why you want it. Is it to remove allergens, viruses, odour, gas? Believe it or not there are differences between all these and not all machines can filter them all. Your need will be your first guide. If you are wanting to remove/filter allergens than you need to filter particles. This is usually done via a prefilter that can catch larger particles easliy, such as a HEPA filter. But it is important to know that there are smaller particles that the HEPA filter may not catch. These are commonly refered to as the lung penetrating particles and consist of viruses, some bacteria and germs, some home dirt mite allergens, cat allergens, smoke, soot, fumes, and smog.

This fact is essential to understand. The more severe your allergy then the more serious the filtration that is needed. Not everyone that is allergic to dust will react in the same way. If you dont need strong serious filtration then you dont have to pay for the more expensive machines, a much cheaper but less effective machine will probably do fine. But if your allergy is severe you might not want to take the chance. If you have asthma for example you may want to go for the gas filtration machines so that the aesthma is not triggered by odours or gases. Anyone with severe substance sensitivity will also need to be careful, as they can react to almost anything, including the filter itself. When dealing with gas, odor, and chemical situations, the higher concentrated and quantity of gas contamination with perhaps a high rate of recontamination, the stronger the gas filtration system needed. So, for example if you wanted to remove general cooking odors, you would only need a basic gas filter. However removing cigarette and cigar smoke will require a really big and powerful gas filtration system.

The location of the machine is also a consideration when selecting your machine. You need to know where you intend putting it. If it is a smaller room that is relatively sealed from outside air then a smaller machine wil be enough. If however it will go in a high traffic area where it will be working hard then a larger machine will be required.

Now you will need to look at the effectiveness level of the machine. Does it need to be a top end machine? And how will you know this effectiveness level? Read the manufacturers specs, look for the amount of air the machine can clean in 1 hour, as well as the percentage of pollutants it can remove as the air passes through. For example, if the particle count per cubic foot of air going into the air purifier is 1,000,000 and the count from the air coming out is 300, than the efficiency from the air purifier would be 99.97%. Higher is better.

Another very handy addition would be a light indicator telling you when the filter needs cleaning or changing. Remember that the particles you are filtering are likely to be hard to see and therefore simply relying on dates and eyes to tell if they need changing is not reliable. Therefore a light would be handy indeed.

There are still a few other things you need to compare, such as the mobility and weight of the machine, very important if you intend to move it around a lot. You will also want to compare warranty and the reliability of the machines. We recommend machines using the media charged filters as they are highly effective and dont emit ozone.

There are more things you might want to know, go to Dan Wilcox’s excellent Air Purifier Reviews, and Air Purifier Blog.