Indoor Allergy Triggers
Allergy triggers can find you anywhere. But knowing what kind of allergens may affect you and where they can predominantly be found can help you prepare yourself and your family to find an appropriate way to cope with them.

Mold and Mildew
• As you probably already know, molds are something you should stay away from. Inhaling or touching them can cause immediate or delayed symptoms, including sneezing, runny nose, red eyes and skin rash. Exposure to mold can even affect non-allergic people, irritating the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs.
• Mold reproduces through tiny airborne spores. When they land on a wet surface, mold can start to grow indoors. Since mold needs moisture to survive, the trick is to keep your home dry. Places to guard against mold are: basements, closets, bathrooms, shower stalls, refrigerator drip trays, house plants, humidifiers and garbage pails.

Pet Dander
• Animal allergies are very common. However, many people don't know what triggers the allergy. Most think it's the fur. The major culprit is the saliva that sticks to the fur when your pet cleans itself. The saliva contains a protein that causes a reaction. Cats can be worse than dogs because they lick themselves more often, and spend more time in the house.
• Allergy-causing proteins can also come from your pet's urine. This explains why some people are allergic to guinea pigs, gerbils and other rodents.
• A pet allergy can take more than 2 years to develop, and may not show signs of improvement until 6 months after the animal has stopped living with you. Pet allergens can remain in carpet and furniture for 4 to 6 weeks, and can linger in the air for months. So before you move into a new house or apartment, find out if a pet has been living there.
Dust Mites
• Even though you may not always see them, depending on where you live in the US, chances are dust mites are all over your house. They thrive in bedding, upholstered furniture, and carpets. These tiny creatures are perhaps the most common cause of perennial allergies and can trigger symptoms similar to pollen allergy.
• And even though they're microscopic, they're not completely invisible. Those particles you see floating around in a shaft of sunlight? Some of them are actually dead dust mites and their droppings. The proteins in the droppings are what cause the allergic reaction.

Cockroaches
• Cockroaches live all over the world, from tropical areas to the coldest spots on earth. Cockroach allergen is believed to derive from feces, saliva and the bodies of these insects. Cockroach allergen particles are large and settle rapidly on surfaces. They become airborne when the air is stirred by people moving around or by children at play. People with chronic severe bronchial asthma are most likely to have cockroach allergy. Also likely to have it are people with a chronic stuffy nose, skin rash, constant sinus infection, repeat ear infection and asthma.