Dust mite encasements are some of the most important allergy control products to have, especially during the deep winter.
If you suffer from allergies (especially waking up with allergy symptoms), dust mites are probably the cause. It’s impossible ever be completely rid of them, as “at any given time, there are as many creatures on our bodies as there are people on earth,” but there are things that can be done in the realm of allergy control to help the problem. First, though, it’s important to understand the enemy before arming yourself against them.
Dust Mites: What Are They?
According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, dust mites are “microscopic, eight-legged creatures closely associated with us, but they are not parasitic and do not bite. They don’t burrow under the skin, like scabies mites or live in skin follicles, like skin follicle mites.” They are of the arachnid family–such as spiders or scorpions–and they can cause awful allergies.
In fact, what many people are allergic to is the waste left behind by dust mites (the shed skin, the droppings). Considering a bed can have from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites living in it at any time, and considering humans tend to spend about a third of our lives in beds, it becomes ever more important to defend against them.
This video, while older and sporting some less than stellar quality, offers some important information about dust mites and why dust mite encasements are so important.
Dust Mite Encasements: What Exactly Do They Do?
Dust mite encasements do not kill dust mites, as is often thought, nor does it prevent them. That is not possible. What dust mite encasements do, though, is keep the waste of the mites (and many of the mites as well) from you as you sleep. As the video noted, mites are photophobic, which means light is harmful to them. Because of this, they burrow deep in mattresses and pillows. Good dust mite encasements filter the allergens from the inside out, so that they will stay in the mattress and not on you. And, if you get one along with a brand new mattress, it can help keep dust mites out of the mattress. There are many different kinds of dust mite encasements, so it’s best to find the one that best suits your needs.
Make sure it fits your mattress. Putting a king size dust mite encasement on your queen sized bed won’t do much in the way of allergy control, so make sure you get the dimensions of your bed exactly.
Dust Mite Encasements: How Does Winter Factor In?
Like other allergens, dust mites tend to build up indoors more in winter. The creatures need moisture to survive (something our bodies naturally bring), and during the dry winter months, indoors is the best place to find said moisture. This coupled with the fact that most people tend to remain indoors for longer periods of time during the winter can make dust mites become far more of a problem than they are in the summer. And running the heat all the time doesn’t help at all. So, while it is important to have dust mite encasements all year round, it is more important than ever to have them in the winter.
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