How To Get Rid Of The Unwelcome Bed Guests?

When you close your eyes to sleep each night, do you know that you’re also lying down with millions of unwelcome visitors that are doing more harm to your health than you think? Jennifer Ho calls these microscopic threats out and describes how you can ensure a healthy sleeping environment for quality and hygienic sleep!

- Jennifer Ho

The average person spends 25 years sleeping – that’s roughly a third of a lifetime spent in the bedroom! Part of a great night’s sleep depends on the comfort you feel in your bed; but while it can be a cocoon of warmth, it is also a heaven for microscopic bugs called dust mites.

Dust mites can be found in almost every corner of every home. These tiny organisms live, die, and reproduce in the same bed sheets that you sleep in. Like bed bugs, they love warm temperatures, humid environments, and the steady supply of dead skin cells and animal dander that is found in the recesses of your bedding. This makes your bed, which includes your mattress, pillows and comforter, the perfect home. In fact, dust mites can also live in your clothing, stuffed toys, carpet, and towels.

Under Your Nose 

There’s more bad news. If you wake up sneezing, itching or wheezing in the morning, it is most likely because of these mites and their excrement.

As the name suggests, dust mites excrete an average of 20 waste droppings each day, which are common allergy triggers. When you breathe in the droppings or when they come into contact with your skin, your body first reacts by producing antibodies. This, in turn, releases histamine, which is an important neurotransmitter involved in many allergic reactions.

As gross as dust mites are, they aren’t the only allergens hiding in your bed. Your mattress can also become reservoirs of: 

Oils – Your body secretes natural oils that end up on your bed sheets as you sleep. 

Sweat – Unless you on the air-conditioning to sleep at night, your body will sweat to cool you off. The sweat will be absorbed into your clothes and mattress, which creates the humid environment that dust mites thrive in.