About ten years ago, I suffered from allergies that affected my sinuses. Sinusitis, sinus infections, headaches, and colds were regular occurrences.

I tried everything: Allergy specialists, medication, food testing, eliminating dairy (…ok…except for ice cream) with soy milk in my diet, and even had all of the silver fillings in my teeth replaced with resin.

What are the facts about allergies?

Experts estimate that only about 2 percent of adults, and 2 to 8% of children are truly allergic to foods.
According to the ACAAI (American College of Asthma and Immunology), more than one third of all Americans suffer from allergies.
It is estimated that 90% of all allergies is caused by the fecal matter of dust mites.

Dust mites? Yep. These little critters love to burrow into carpeting, rugs, bedding, pillows, drapes, and any other soft surface. There are ways to reduce the amount of dust mites in your home, so you may want to research it a bit.

What can you do about allergies? After spending a small fortune to alleviate my allergy problems, I decided to purchase a HEPA filter for my home. HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) technology is not new: it has been used in hospitals to clean the air of surgery rooms. I can personally testify that of all the solutions I tried, a HEPA filter was the least expensive and helped the best to reduce the symptoms to nearly nothing. HEPA filters eliminate nearly all of the particles in the air, including mold, fungus, and some bacteria. I’ve known many people who have tried HEPA filtration, and it has worked wonders.

Recommendation: If you suffer from allergy problems, I’d recommend to purchase a good HEPA filter (approximately $60-100) and place it in your bedroom. Point-of-source solutions (e.g., located in the room) are much better than an inline air filtration system installed in your HVAC/furnace system. (As a chemical engineer, I studied air filtration in college). Why? Because mold, fungus, and bacteria grow in the air ducts of your home. So “clean” air leaves the inline air filter in the HVAC, it gets pretty “dirty” before entering each room in the air ducts. Assuming you sleep about eight hours each night, placing the HEPA filter in your bedroom will help clean the air where you breathe most.