Is your festive fir Christmas tree making you feel sick? Yes, it is that time of the year when you start to deck the halls with trims and decorate your live tree. Unfortunately, you have done your tree decorations after bringing in your fir tree only to find you have the sniffles.
It is winter, and your centrepiece making your living room festive is causing the classic hay fever. Why? As your tree harbors mold and the longer you have your tree up, the worse your problem gets. Now, if you had flocked artificial Christmas trees, the likeliness of this happening is rare. But why is this happening with your live fir tree? Let’s find out!
Why Are You Getting Christmas Tree Syndrome?
When you bring a live tree inside, it has moisture that turns to mold and is naturally occurring. When you get the tree inside, it creates an ideal place for the mold to grow. The truth is that most people suffer from hay fever symptoms during Christmas resulting from real trees.
Hence, the name Christmas Tree Syndrome is a substantial festive health complaint. It includes wheezing, itchy noses, chest pains, watery eyes, and coughing that affects kids and adults. The cause is the mold spores that grow on your Christmas tree.
The mold spores disperse around the house in the air, leading to health problems when breathed in. If you are one of those people that prefer having real instead of flocked artificial Christmas trees, keep an eye on the following symptoms:
- Itchy eyes
- Sore throat
- Watery eyes
- Persistent cough or wheeze
- Blocked or a runny nose
While the symptoms might not arise when putting up your tree, you may only notice it a few weeks after it stands in the home. The reason is that the mold spores grow and flourish in your warm central heated living spaces.
A Few Things You Can Do
If you want to prevent sneezes during the festive holiday, you can do a few things:
- You can move the tree to a cooler room to keep it close to a door.
- Or alternatively, choose flocked artificial Christmas trees. Still, remember to hoover off the dust if you bring it down from the attic or take it out of the basement.
If you are concerned about the above symptoms, we recommend you talk to your GP for advice. Invest in an artificial tree that will not bring allergies to your home. The fantastic thing is that you can find a faux tree that looks exactly like the fir, and you can spray it with some pine scent to give it the smell of bringing the outdoors inside.