How to Prevent Dust Mite Allergy

Dust mites mites can be quite difficult to eradicate completely from your home. Because no matter how clean your house is, these tiny little organisms will always find a way in.

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So in this post, we will discuss how to prevent dust mite allergies; measures  you can take to limit your exposure to dust mites and thus drastically reduce the possibility of dust mite allergy.

House dust mite

                                                                    Photo by Martin/ CC BY

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Dust mite allergy is a serious health burden for many individual in America and across the globe. It’s a year round allergy -If you are allergic to dust mites, you are likely to experience allergy symptoms all year round.
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WHY YOU SHOULD LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURE TO DUST MITES

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Dust mites allergy can be difficult to control. Treatment options for dust mite allergies don’t often  provide 100 percent relief. In fact most of the treatment are meant to reduce your dust mite allergy symptoms.

Many people sink a lot of money into these treatment options. But very few are usually pleased with the results in the end. Preventing the allergy in the first place is therefore the best thing to do.

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Also remember that the symptoms of dust mites allergy can be severe at times. Especially if you are an asthmatic, you will struggle to control both conditions. Dust mite allergy can exacerbate asthma symptoms.  And in some cases, it can lead to a full blown asthma attack!

Allergens from dust mites can equally lead to sinus infection by blocking your nasal passages.

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SO WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO PREVENT DUST MITE ALLERGY

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The best treatment for dust mite allergy is to avoid the allergy in the first place by limiting your contact with dust mites.

Completely evicting dust mites from your home might be difficult, but preventing thier allergy  is possible and doable.

Below are some of the best ways you can use to prevent yourself and/or your family from dust mite allergies.

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1. USE HYPOALLERGENIC COVERS TO ENCASE YOUR MATTRESSES AND PILLOWS

Dust mites are found at many places in your home. But the place they like to dwell most is your bedroom.  Especially on your mattress.

Dead skin cells shed by animals and humans attracts dust mites. A normal human being can shed a quantity of dead skin enough to feel one million dust mites in a day.

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Most of us spend at least 7-8 hours a day on our mattresses, so a large portion of the dead skin cells we shed stay on the mattresses. And that’s why dust mite love mattresses. Thier delicious meal is abundant on beds!

To cut off your contacts with these allergy symptoms triggering microorganisms, get a hypoallergenic mattress cover and encase your mattresses and pillows.

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Hypoallergenic mattress protectors are made of synthetic fabrics.  The pores in these covers are so small for dust mites to penetrate. By encasing your mattress and pillows, you condemn them to life in prison. They can never escape. They will stay there without anything to feed on. Eventually they DIE!

Avoid wool blankets. They can easily trap allergens. The very things you are trying to run away from.

You can check this POST to see the best of hypoallergenic mattress covers available.
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2. WASH BEDDING IN HOT TEMPERATURES AT LEAST ONCE EVERY WEEK.

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Remember you shed dead skin cells daily, so there’s the possibility that you will always attract dust mites into your bedroom. To drastically reduce this possibility, it’s necessary to wash your bedding in hot temperatures of about 130F to kill any dust mites that might have accumulated on them.

Washing bedding in hot waters once every week is also important in keeping and maintaining the hypoallergenic nature of your mattress and pillow covers. In fact almost all hypoallergenic mattress protectors come with this instruction.

Sometimes it might difficult to get water heaters that heat waters above 130F. In this case , you can alternatively purchase a detergent called ALLERGEN LAUNDRY DETERGENT It’s a special detergent that contains ACARIL, a powerful ingredient for removing dust mites, pet dander , molds and pollen from fabrics.

So you can use this detergent to get rid of dust mites and other allergens without higher temperatures.

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If you don’t want to use a detergent, there’s a product called DeMite Laundry Additive. It is so far the only known product specifically made to target dust mites. It kills mites with its natural tee trea oil.

As its name suggests, It’s only an additive. Not a detergent. It removes the dust mites in your bedding. But the dirt and skin oil will remain. So must use it together with soup.  It’s also cool because you can use it in all water temperatures.

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3. USE A DEHUMIDIFIER TO KEEP HUMIDITY LOW IN YOUR HOME.

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Dust mites  don’t drink water. A relative humidity of about 70-80 percent is necessary for them to stay hydrated.  They can’t survive dry conditions. Specifically a relative humidity below 50 percent.

So always keep the relative humidity in your home below 50 percent. You can get a hygrometer to measure the humidity in your home.

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If you have plants and fish tanks in your bedroom, get them out. They add moisture( humidity).

Keeping the basement of the house is very difficult.  If not impossible. So don’t live there. The humidity is always high there.

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4.  USE AIR PURIFIERS WITH HEPA FILTERS TO PURIFY THE AIR

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In most cases the dust mite itself isn’t usually the problem. It’s its waste products and droppings that are the really allergens.  These allergens often become airbone over time and stay in the air for a very long period of time.

Allergens are very minute. It’s impossible to see them with your naked eyes. So you inhale them in without knowing.

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Air purifiers with HEPA filters are the best devices to trap and capture these  airborne allergens in your home.

HEPA filters can capture almost 99.97 percent of both large and small particles that pass through them. It can even trap particles that are as small as 0.3 micron.

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Check the review of this wonderful Air purifier.

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5. REPLACE WALL TO WALL CARPETS AND UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE.

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Carpets and upholstered furniture are some of the places dust mites live.

Consider replacing wall to wall carpets in your home, or at least in your bedroom with hardwood flooring, tile, linoleum or vinyl flooring if possible. Hard surface floors are good because they don’t have any fiber that traps the dust mites allergens.

Upholstered furniture should also be replaced.

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Use roll up window shades instead of drapes. And if you must have curtains, then buy washable curtains and make sure you wash them in hot waters regularly.

You may use Allergen eliminators to treat carpets, upholstered furniture, stuffed toys and othe fabrics in your home.

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6. YOU CAN ALSO USE VACUUM CLEANER WITH HEPA FILTERS  TO THOROUGHLY CLEAN YOUR HOME.

.Vacuum cleaners  may not remove a large number of the mites. They just shoot the airbone dust mite allergens into the air after sucking them.

A HEPA vacuum cleaner is the answer here. HEPA filters will capture 99.97 percent of the airbone allergens that pass through them.

Steam cleaning might kill the dust mites. Consider Steam cleaning your home often.

It’s better to allow a person without allergies to vacuum clean your home. Since the vacuum cleaner might stir up dust. But if you can’t find someone to clean your home for you, wear a mask to avoid contacts with the dust.

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In Conclusion….

Yes, completely eradicating dust mites from your home might be tough , but limiting your contacts with them and as a result preventing  dust mites allergy  is POSSIBLE and DOABLE.

Implement the measures we have outlined above to deal with your dust mites allergy. You can do it. Do it.

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Related Posts;

Best Mattress Cover for Allergies

Dust Mite and Allergies

How to Reduce Allergens at Home

Indoor Mold Allergy

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