Black Mold Symptoms + 12 Natural Remedies
Black mold exposure and black mold poisoning can cause a wide range of health problems. Some black mold symptoms can actually be really serious. You may have found this article from googling black mold in shower or mold in house. Unfortunately, mold problems are not unusual in the home, and the shower is a classic location to find black mold flourishing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, molds in general are very common in homes and buildings and they can grow anywhere indoors where there is moisture.
You can help your body recover if youve been exposed to black mold. You can also naturally rid your home of black mold and prevent it in the first place! Black mold symptoms are highly unpleasant so you really dont want to deal with them if you dont have to.
Signs Of Mold In Your House
No matter how dreamy the bathroom is if there is water damage, mold forms in 24-48 hours.
The house we moved into was freshly renovated Because a pipe burst, which caused extensive water damage. This damage wasnt handled properly, so the place was infested with toxic black mold.
Our kitchen smelled musty, and our wooden utensils grew mold spots overnight. But the signs not always as obvious as that.
So, before you put your Sherlock Holmes hat on, lets clarify what mold is.
Molds are the most common forms of fungi found both indoors and outdoors. No surface or material is immune to mold. As long as moisture and oxygen are available, mold can and will grow. Mainly, mold reproduces through the formation of spores. These are microscopic cells resistant to drying, and they float in the air.
Once the spores land on a surface, they grow, digest, and destroy the area.
You might be most familiar with the term black mold. But in reality, theres no one type of toxic mold. People started naming indoor molds this, but in fact, theyre referring to any toxic mold. As youll see, not all mold is black, but theyre all toxic.
Mold comes in many different shapes and colors. You can even have more than one type of mold growing in the same spot.
Here are some of the most common types of mold:
Cladosporium is brown, green, or black . This mold can grow in both cold and warm locations. Look for it on carpets, fabrics, wood surfaces, and AC/heating outlets.
Retrace Your Past Experiences
A case in point is a young male patient who came to Amen Clinics with complaints of sleep disturbance, anxiety, and brain fog. He was initially seen by one of our psychiatrists and referred to me for further workup. A careful history-taking found that these symptoms all started when he moved back home from college into his parents basement apartment. The whole family seems to have forgotten that the basement flooded on several occasions. Mold diagnostic testing revealed the patient had high levels of mold toxins in his body.
The first step is always to remove oneself from the moldy environment, and then treatment can begin. Treatment for a Toxic Brain typically consists of binding agents and other medications, such as antifungals, and metabolic support supplements. This patient improved with proper treatment and remediation of the mold problem. Here was a patient who didnt need any psychiatric medications he simply needed the correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. What would have been the outcome for this patient without the proper diagnosis? He almost certainly would have been misdiagnosed as having a mental illness and treated with psychiatric medications.
The good news is that there are ways to determine if a patient has been exposed to toxic mold and that there are successful treatments available.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Mold Exposure
Mold allergies are progressive. The more contact you have, the more likely you are to experience severe symptoms.
In some instances, no symptoms or only vague symptoms of mold exposure may occur. These can go unnoticed, especially in babies.
Even without immediate, noticeable symptoms, long-term health effects, such as asthma, have been associated with mold. Its not currently known whether this is a direct cause of mold or merely an association.
Mold may cause:
- skin irritation
- sporotrichosis, a skin infection that starts out as a small pink, red, or purple bump on the skin
- itchy, red eyes
Knowing More About Mold That Grows On Bread
If you have experienced mold on bread many times before, you might have noticed that it has a different color each time. In fact, the color difference is determined by the taxonomical structure of the mold.
At least, there are three mold types that are often found on bread. Based on its colors, below are the most common ones:
You may have experienced black mold on bread. It comes from the species Rhizopus stolonifer, and it is one of the most common molds on bread. This species of mold can also grow on fruits which cause the fruits to rot.
Among other mold species, black mold has the fastest growth. Black mold lives by dissolving the bread and absorb the nutrition. Furthermore, it can cause infections on a human.
Neurospora crassa is red mold that typically grows on bread. It has a pinkish red color, and it grows easily on the right media such as bread. However, it has been used in numerous experiments relating to circadian rhythms, epigenetics, gene silencing, and cell fusion.
It is sometimes called as model fungi because it has a full life cycle and consists of both fungi and yeast.
Penicillium might be the most common mold on bread. It has a blue-green or gray appearance with white borders. It grows in patches and dissolves the bread to grow. This species of mold grows easily at a low temperature with low light.
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Is It Safe To Sleep In A House With Black Mold
While black mold is not as dangerous as common misconceptions may lead you to believe, prolonged exposure to any mold can pose more severe consequences. Sleeping while exposed to black mold may cause more intense symptoms that make it harder to fall and stay asleep. Even if you manage to fall asleep just fine, you may wake up with symptoms similar to that of a common cold i.e., fever, sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath or irritated skin.
If its at all avoidable, try to find somewhere else to sleep when your home is afflicted by black mold. If you arent able to go anywhere else, do your best to sleep as far away from the mold as possible. Find an area in your home where the mold has yet to spread or isnt as severe, and seal off any areas that are affected if possible. Try to keep the mold quarantined to the best of your ability until you are able to start treating the damage.
You may consider sleeping with a face mask to help reduce the side effects of mold exposure. If you choose to do this, be sure to consult with your doctor first not all face masks allow you to safely breathe while sleeping, so you may need a recommendation for a sleep-safe mask from your doctor.
I Found Mold Growing In My Home How Do I Test The Mold
If you can see or smell mold, a health risk may be present. You do not need to know the type of mold growing in your home, and CDC does not recommend or perform routine sampling for molds. No matter what type of mold is present, you should remove it. Since the effect of mold on people can vary greatly, either because of the amount or type of mold, you cannot rely on sampling and culturing to know your health risk.
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What Are Symptoms And Signs Of Mold Exposure
Molds produce irritating substances that may act as allergy-causing substances in sensitive individuals. Furthermore, some molds produce toxic substances known as mycotoxins, but mold itself is not poisonous or toxic. The term âtoxic mold,â therefore, refers to the fact that certain kinds of mold can produce mycotoxins. The conditions under which some molds produce toxins are not understood, and the presence of mold, even a mold that is capable of producing toxins, does not always imply that toxins are being produced or that a health risk or problem is present. Mold may not cause any health problems, or it may lead to allergy or other symptoms in people, including adults and children, who are sensitive to molds.
Allergic reactions to mold are the most common health effects of mold and are therefore the greatest health risk related to mold. Allergic reactions may happen immediately or develop after a period following exposure. Both growing mold and mold spores may lead to allergic reactions. Symptoms and signs of mold allergy may include
Mold or mold spores may cause asthma attacks in people who have asthma and are allergic to mold. Even in some non-allergic individuals, mold can cause symptoms of irritation in the eyes, skin, and airways. For example, the âblack moldâStachybotrys, along with some other types of mold, produces toxins known as mycotoxins that can cause irritation of the skin and airways in susceptible individuals.
Can Black Mold Spread From House To House
Yes. If you have had mold in your old house and youre moving into another space, it is possible to cross contaminate this new environment.
Because mold spores are not visible to the naked eye, it is hard to tell which surfaces are contaminated. Therefore, the mold has to be completely cleaned before you renovate or move to a new home.
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What Should You Do While Waiting For A Mold Remediation Expert
If youre not experienced in dealing with widespread mold, you may need professional mold remediation. If you arent sure what to look for, how to safely handle the issue or how to properly dispose of things contaminated with mold, consider contacting MoldRemediation.io to connect you with a certified, bonded and insured mold remediation company in your area.
With that said, there are steps you can take to limit mold exposure to yourself and anyone else in your home.
- Seal off the area. You want to minimize the surface area that mold can spread to. Try to keep the interior doors to the mold-affected areas closed and open them as infrequently as possible. Consider keeping the space under the doors blocked by foam insulation or plastic.
- Use a fan. Not only can fans help circulate the air and disperse any free-floating mold spores, but they can also help dry any moisture in the area and make it harder for mold to grow. If youre using a fan, make sure the windows are open and that the fan is blowing toward the windows and out of the house. You dont want to redirect the mold back into your home!
- Wear a mask. Any time you need to be in an area affected by black mold, try to wear some sort of face covering to filter the mold spores and keep them out of your lungs. While surgical masks or respirators are ideal in these cases, something as simple as a dry T-shirt can make it easier for you to breathe in the afflicted area.
What Is Toxic Mold Syndrome
According to the CDC,certain molds are toxigenic, meaning they can produce toxins .
Mycotoxins, as defined by the World Health Organization, are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain fungi they are commonly found growing on certain types of food, including cereal, nuts, spices, dried fruit, apples, and coffee beans.
Though mycotoxins are commonly found in food, they can be found in other parts of the home where mold is present, which is why remediation is so important. But according to the CDC, There are very few reports that toxigenic molds found inside homes can cause unique or rare health conditions such as pulmonary hemorrhage or memory loss. These case reports are rare, and a causal link between the presence of toxigenic mold and these conditions has not been proven.
The bottom line: If you have any mold, no matter its color or prevalence, removal is strongly recommended. And if you have any medical issues that you think may be related to mold, its best to contact your doctor.
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Symptoms Ofblack Mold Exposure
If you suspect that you have symptoms of black mold exposure, then it is important to talk with a doctor as soon as possible in order to prevent serious health problems. The dangers of black mold should not be taken lightly, because they can cause both short-term and long-term health conditions. Many people donât realize how severe these health conditions can be, so this article is designed to help you understand the serious nature of mold exposure.
If you arebeing exposed to black mold, it is best to talk to a doctor and a mold removalspecialist as soon as possible. The doctor will be able to help you treatsymptoms that are already present, and the mold removal specialist can clean upthe mold in order to prevent additional symptoms from occurring.
What Are Black Mold Health Symptoms
We all know mold isnt welcomed in the home, but did you know too that breathing in the presence of mold can harm your health? There are over 2,000 different species of mold and the most dangerous of all is called Stachybotrys Chartarum, also known as black mold or the invisible killer.
Why is black mold so dangerous? Black mold releases toxic spores that linger in the air and attack your respiratory health. The potency of these toxic spores has proved to be the most detrimental to human health.
Black mold often appears as slimy and greenish-black. If its water source runs out, it can also appear as dry and powdery. Black mold is also dangerous because its sometimes difficult to distinguish from other species of mold.
The following are health symptoms associated with black mold exposure:
In severe cases, symptoms caused by inhaling black mold can lead to the following health troubles:
- Respiratory complications
Sometimes mold invades spaces that are hard to see and reach. It spreads fast, burrowing into walls and ceilings and hiding in cupboards and under carpets. Quite often, people are exposed to black mold without even knowing it. If you or anyone in your home is experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms without knowing why, you may be exposed to mold.
Black mold should be approached with extreme caution. Tackling it without proper knowledge and equipment is unsafe. The suspected contamination should always be examined and removed by professionals.
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How Much Mold Exposure Is Harmful
Molds are a type of fungi, which can flourish both indoors and outside. There are millions of mold species.
Mold is important for the planets ecosystem, because it helps break down waste products and organic matter, such as leaves, dead trees, and garbage.
Some people get sick from exposure to mold. Others have no symptoms and dont experience ill effects of any kind.
In this article, well talk about the potential dangers of mold exposure, identify whos most vulnerable, and provide solutions for keeping your environment mold-proof.
How Can You Be Exposed To Black Mold
You can be exposed to black mold, or any species of mold, by breathing in microscopic mold particles in the air, or through consumption of food that contains it.
Stachybotrys is unique because its spores are sticky and easily adhere to a surface when the mold colony dries. They are not regularly found in the air unless the mold colony has been disturbed. Though its spores are not readily airborne, black mold can produce other harmful contaminants more easily found in the air .
A disruption to a black mold colony can be as simple as slamming a door, opening a window or knocking into contaminated furniture. More force is required for Stachybotrys spores to become airborne, as compared to other commonly found indoor molds .
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Preventing Mold In Your Home
The best way to keep your family safe from black mold is to prevent it from growing. Since mold grows in damp, dark places, you should aim to improve ventilation and reduce humidity in areas that are prone to mold.
In your bathrooms, for example, you can use a shower squeegee to remove excess water from shower walls and bathroom mirrors. You can also install a vent fan or open a window when showering to allow humidity to leave the room. These steps help reduce the moisture in your bathroom and make it more difficult for black mold to grow.
Make searching for black mold or potential growth areas a part of your spring cleaning routine. The sooner you catch a mold growth, the better chance you have to get rid of it before it causes health problems.
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How Will I Know When Ive Been Exposed To Mold
Chances are you may not know right away. Some individuals are so sensitive to mold, they can tell the moment they step into a moldy room. For the rest of us, it can be more difficult to sense. If you, a co-worker, or a family member are experiencing the harmful symptoms of mold exposure, the best thing to do is consult a physician.
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