It’s an urban legend that the weight of your mattress will double over the course of 10 years from dust mites. Is this fact or embellishment? We’ll have to call Myth Busters to find out, but we can definitely be certain that dust mites are a major presence in the houses and beds of many Americans. However, before we dive into the effect these dust mites have and what you can do to mitigate them, we’d like to take a minute to help you get to know the creatures that you are sharing a bed with.
An Introduction To Dust Mites
Though not visible to the naked eye, dust mites are a powerful force in households across America, but they cannot live just anywhere. Dry climates, such as those found in America’s Southwest, are not hospitable to dust mites. These tiny creatures need moisture in order to thrive, making humid states such as Florida (or Tennessee) dust mite heaven. Or hell, depending on your perspective.
Only about 0.4 millimeters in length, Dust mites feed on flakes of our dead skin. And just like any living thing, they will eventually dispose of the food that they take in. In the case of dust mites, this often happens in our beds. This problem with using our beds as toilets is, in addition to it just being plain gross, that dust mite feces contains a substance known as DerP1, which happens to be quite a powerful allergen.
Cue our jump into the world of allergies.
Dust Mites & Allergies
Roughly 25% of Americans suffer from some sort of allergies. And of this quarter of our population, 2/3rds are allergic to dust mites (and their feces). Or, to make this more simple, if you have any sort of allergies at all, you’re probably also allergic to dust mites.
What are the symptoms of dust mite allergy? They vary, but in their earliest stages, they have been known to include all of the following…
Scratchy eyes in the morning
Sneezing in the morning
Chronic stuffy nose
Frequent sinus headaches
It has been shown that children who exhibit symptoms of dust mite allergies are at risk to develop asthma, so it’s critical that this allergy be identified as early as possible to prevent it from becoming something far worse. But figuring out whether you (or your child) has a dust mite allergy can be tricky. The symptoms are often subtle. Are your eyes scratchy because you are allergic to dust mites? Or simply because it’s May in Nashville? This is a hard question to answer.
Identifying & Dealing With Dust Mite Allergies
It can be very difficult to say for certain if you are allergic to dust mites or not. Indeed, the symptoms of dust mite allergies are not unlike those that accompany just about every other type of allergy. However, there are medical tests that can be conducted to come to a definitive answer on whether or not you are, indeed, allergic to dust mites, and to what degree.
Don’t worry! This allergy test is quite affordable—usually well under $1,000—and covered under most insurance policies. It only takes an hour, and then you will be armed with the knowledge you need to protect yourself from those tiny blanket-hogs. Oh, and did we mention that we can actually perform this test for you right here at Otolaryngology Associates of Tennessee? All you have to do is schedule an appointment!
So, if it turns out that you DO have a dust mite allergy, what do you do next?
We’ll cover that in our next article! Stay tuned…
