Fragrances and Asthma / Allergies

Bravo! Mayo Clinic.
Today, I checked my patient portal about my upcoming appointment schedule, and I sa new feature that I want to share. Each each appoinment (so far) has a red exclamation mark and the words, "Important Instructions -
Perfumes: Do not wear scented products (for example: perfume,hair spray, aftershave, powder,lotion) to this appointment. These products can cause breathing problems for some patients."

Has anybody else seen this or something similar anywhere?

I have not seen that information posted in the Allergy & Asthma Center where I go in Fort Wayne, Indiana but the staff does not wear fragrance, and there are no room fresheners. I have been there a couple of times when other patients come in the office wearing heavy fragrance and wonder WHY? Being an asthmatic and also having an asthmatic Cat, we don' use fragrance in our home, not even cut flowers and I am a gardener.

Here is a website that talks about non toxic house cleaning with safer common ingredients like dish soap, baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, etc. We don't really need special cleaning products full of chemicals.

Are you serious about expecting people to not wear their fragrances in public? Where else are we going to wear our fragrances? You are the one with inferior genetics, you figure out how to function in society surrounded by people who wear fragrances. I don't wear perfume, but I do use a very nice fabric softener that has a noticeable fragrance. Should I switch my laundry product on the off chance I just might bump into someone with a sensitivity to it? What do you expect the entire world to do? Go fragrance-free for the small percentage of the population that is sensitive to it? Not gonna happen. Given that this is on the Mayo website, an institution of science, I am sure you are comfortable with the theory of "survival of the fittest". You are the unfit ones. You need to adapt.

Hi @n0tacrybaby, Mayo Clinic Connect is a welcoming, supportive community of people sharing experiences and improving their health and wellbeing. Please see our Community Guidelines https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/about-connect/tab/community-guidelines/ These 10 short rules of conduct help keep the Mayo Clinic Connect community safe, supportive, inclusive, and respectful.

I'd like to bring to your attention guideline number 2
2. Remain respectful at all times.
- Exercise tolerance and respect toward other participants whose views may differ from your own. Disagreements are fine, but mutual respect is a must.
- Realize that sarcasm and joking will often be misunderstood.
- Be inclusive. Not everyone shares the same religious or political beliefs. Don't impose your beliefs on others.
- Personal attacks against members or health care providers are not acceptable. Such posts will be removed.

Your message's tone reads as an attack, which is not constructive for conversation. Let's reframe the valid point raise.

How do people with a sensitivity to fragrances live well in a society where scents are liberally included in daily hygiene?
How can people who do not have fragrance sensitivity be encouraged to be more aware?

@colleenyoung Thank you Colleen for your comments. I am grateful that Mayo recognizes the problems of fragrance sensitivities to people with lung problems and includes a recommendation in their patient appointment information that asks patients and visitors not to wear fragrances in the pulmonary exam and waiting areas because it will cause problems for sensitive patients. Many medical providers also are not wearing fragrances at their patient appointments and everyone at Mayo who saw me as a patient in multiple departments had no fragrances. Lung problems can start after an illness or exposure to something, and that person may become sensitive to exposure to chemicals, fragrances or smoke. If you have some respiratory infections or pneumonia, you can develop asthma after that which has no cure, but is managed instead. Sometimes it can be an impaired ability to detox from the exposures in the everyday world that makes a person sensitive to chemicals including environmental exposure to chemicals. This is a disability, and may not improve even with medical expertise, and if it were possible to choose, no one would want this disability. Lungs are fragile and easily damaged. It can happen to anyone and be very debilitating, and no one knows how many people are affected. It used to be that people were allowed to smoke in public buildings, at work, and at bars and restaurants. That has changed because of awareness, and because of an understanding of the health problems that are caused by smoke exposure. Even having allergies can change a person's lungs over the years causing permanent resistance to breathing. I have seen signs at other doctors offices asking people not to enter if they are wearing fragrances or scented lotions and that helps everyone. Even if you feel well, the body has to work harder to detox all this extra stuff in addition to the detoxing required from living and processing the food we eat. The question is.... how long will a person be able to do this detoxing effectively and how and why does it change over time? It can happen to anyone.

You are so right about the fragrance problem. I do not have allergies but I do have a hyper sensitividy to fragrances. Ever as I walk daily thru our neighborhood, the fragrance from the scented drier sheets can be smelled outside. Due to scents, I have had to move from church seats, restaurants and some stores in the mall. A few doctors' post no fragrance signs.
Thank you for bringing up this subject. Perhaps, those who wear scents will be advised how it affects those with allerigies and those without allergies.

@shaneilya I notice the dryer sheet fragrances outside too in the neighborhood. I am glad for the doctors who post and enforce no fragrances policies. I have been at hospitals before (not Mayo) where a nurse comes in to check on the admitted patient and in with her comes a cloud of fragrance that lingers long after she is gone. Frustrating if medical personnel don't recognize it. I think once a person becomes hyper-sensitized to fragrances, they don't have a choice to stop that from happening. I do have HEPA air filters that also have activated carbon to absorb VOCs from the air.

I realize it's my problem and I don't expect the world to change for me. I just wish there was a little more compassion and a desire to understand something they don't. No one gets it until they see what their fragrances do to me. I hope I am making a difference and helping others one asthma attack at a time.

Hi Msabu,

Why not expect the world to change for those of us that experience fragrance like cigarette smoke? Fragrance is the new secondhand smoke and is another environmental assault among many every day. Companies do not have to disclose the chemicals they use in creating fragrances or as the label says, "perfume or parfum" because it's considered proprietary information.

I've had people say in a very smug way, well, it doesn't bother ME. I tell them, it may not now but don't count on that forever. Your body and what it can tolerate changes.

We need to become a force for change just the way nonsmokers became a force for change. Let's get people educated so that we can help prevent more generations of more people with lung dis-eases.