Asthma And Your Bathroom

The bathroom can be a scary place if smells exacerbate your asthma. Humans have an overwhelming need to mask their natural odors, something clearly reflected in the wide variety of personal grooming products. Since most of these products are scented and represent potential asthma triggers, I suggest temporarily placing all toiletries in an outside storage shed or the garage. This will give your lungs a break and you can see if your breathing gets better. Don't worry, you'll be able to present yourself in public one day! We will gradually reintroduce this stuff back into your life to discover which products cause your asthma to flare up.

 

What about the necessities? Toilet paper is a necessity, so use scentless toilet tissue. Also available are scentless soaps, free of dyes, formaldehyde, lanolin, parabens, and perfumes, all of which can cause trouble in susceptible asthmatics. There are even asthma-friendly hair-care products, such as Free & Clear shampoo and conditioner. Other than these necessities, try to exile your toiletry collection from your home on the weekends and see how your lungs react. Ideally, you should go one month without toiletries to give your lungs time to recover. After four weeks, introduce one personal grooming product back into your life every three days. Take two good whiffs of each product prior to bringing it back home; if your asthma flares up, then perhaps it's time to change or eliminate that product.

 

Most people want to resume using toothpaste and underarm deodorant as soon as possible. Toothpaste usually doesn't cause trouble, although some asthmatics are sensitive to the mint odor. There are retailers who offer scentless, nontoxic personal care products (toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and hair conditioner) for people with asthma, allergies, and chemical sensitivities.

 

There are several odorless skin moisturizers, such as Vanicream (made by Pharmaceutical Specialists, Inc.). Also available are sunscreens that don't contain benzophenone, dyes, formaldehyde, lanolin, PABA, perfumes, and preservatives. Be wary of lotions that are "fragrance-free"—-this means there is no heavy perfume, but it does not mean the product is odorless or entirely free of additives that may cause asthma trouble. For people with sensitivities, the more toiletries you add to your life, the more likely you are to have a reaction. You can learn which grooming products you can and cannot tolerate by keeping a careful diary of what you use and how you react.

 

Finally, if you like to leave the toothpaste cap off, you should be aware that roaches adore toothpaste, even sniffing your toothbrush for residue. To keep roaches out of your bathroom, cap the toothpaste after every use and seal your toothbrush in a roach-proof container.