Dust Mite Allergies:

I grew up with allergies to trees, grasses, and animal dander, but I don't recall ever hearing the word "dust mites" mentioned. I got allergy shots during my childhood to help combat my symptoms of watery eyes, stuffy nose, and suspectibility to sinus infections. As I grew into adulthood most of my allergies subsided and I seemed to outgrow many of my issues. Now that I have 2 children some of those allergies have reappared in them. My wife still suffers from allergies (mostly indoor) so I guess our children have inherited our "bad genes". Around the time my daughter turned 2 we noticed she suffered from fairly bad eczema and we tried to determine what was causing it as well as how to treat it best. The pediatrician we went to didn't necessarily solve her problem so we continued our search for the solution through an allergy specialist. Allergy testing proved that my daughter had a pretty severe dust mite allergy and if left untreated it would definitely exacerbate her eczema and cause some pretty bad skin problems. Keep reading to find out about dust mites and how to get rid of them in your house.

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Dust mites are microscopic creatures that survive by absorbing both oxygen and moisture. Dust mites have no sight, no respiratory system and they do no drink. Another misconception is that dust mites bite, this is NOT true. Dust mite droppings are the real cause of allergy problems for millions of Americans. A major part of a dust mites diet is discarded skin scales of humans. Therefore, house dust mites can be found most commonly in bed, couches, and in carpeting. The digestive enzymes in the dust mite droppings is what causes the reaction on people with severe eczema, like my daughter. Other people react to dust mites with sneezing and constant runny nose. Asthma is another complication that can result from being exposed to dust mites and their droppings. It sounds kind of gross that many of us are allergic to dust mite excrement (droppings), but that is the case. Ultimately it's hard to get away from ALL dust mites since there are carpets, beds, and upholstered chairs in homes, businesses, schools, airports... almost everyplace you go. The good news is that you can help to eliminate some of the dust mites in your house by following some simple measures. Keep in mind that not all things are cheap and some things may not be feasible given your place of residence. In our next section below, we will delve into the precautions and steps you can take to keep dust mites and the resulting allergies to a minimum in your house.

Dust Mite Proofing:

To help reduce dust mite allergens in your house, follow some of these basic instructions. Firstly, cover all your beds and bedding with dust mite proof coverings. I purchased both dust mite proof mattress covers and pillow covers to put in my daughters room. Next, use dust mite killing sprays on upholstered furniture. Use high-filtration vacuum cleaners on any carpets in the house to control dust. Some experts also recommend getting high efficiency dehumidifiers in bedrooms. Get rid or limit any exposure to stuffed animals, they are a total breeding ground for dust mites. Most of the steps mentioned above are rather inexpensive and shouldn't break your wallet. I bit the bullet when my daughters dust mite allergies were causing severe eczema breakouts on her body and bought leather furniture and replaced the carpet throughout our house with hardwood floors. The leather furniture is an expensive way to eliminate dust mites since they really only thrive in upholstered couches, sofas, and chairs. The hardwoods in 90% of our house have made it so we don't have worry about her playing on the floor and being exposed to the dust mites that thrive in thick carpets found in many homes. Of course, we know that once our daughter walks out the front door she can't be protected from dust mites. We feel that at least the majority of her time spent each day will be in a dust mite proof environment.

Dust Mite Products and Bedding Covers:

How much will the dust mite products cost? As mentioned above hardwood floors and leather furniture is the costliest solution at $1000's. The other things like dust mite covers for bedding and pillows is reasonable. I do my shopping online at Natlallergy.com. National Allergy is the #1 rated allergy relief website on the internet with products that will definitely help your allergy problems. The first product to buy is a mattress encasing for anyone in your house that suffers from allergies so that the dust mites in the mattress will be enclosed. Dust mite proof mattress covers are about $20-$50 depending on brand and bed size. Since you spend at least 8 hours every night in your bed, it's important to get dust mite covers on immediately. It's not totally necessary, but you can also get box spring dust mite encasings for around $15. Don't forget that you put your head on pillows each night and that those pillows can also house millions of dust mites. Dust mite proof pillow encasings cost between $6 to $17 each. Continuing with the bedding theme, you next biggest danger is the duvet on your bed. There are comforters that are made with allergy free down, but most don't guarantee they are dust mite proof. You can purchase a comforter dust mite encasing that goes inside a duvet cover (an inner liner) for $30. With all the dust mite proofing we've done in our house, we have seen a dramatic improvement in my daughters allergies to dust mites and her overall eczema. I strongly suggest starting with the rooms that you or your child spend the most time in (bedrooms, playrooms, family rooms, etc) and get rid of carpets, upholstered furniture, and all the stuffed animals that are laying around your home.

Allergy Shots as a Treatment:

Allergy shots are a good way to try and help your body built up immunity to allergens that cause it problems. We decided to "hit" my daughters allergy problems on all fronts by cleaning up our house and starting her on allergy shots when she was just 4. Allergy shots are designe to give you a long term resistance to certain allergies that you suffer from. They are not cheap and currently are not covered by our BlueCross Health Insurance coverage. We go twice a month and the cost is roughly $35 each time ($70/month) and the allergy extract is about $300 for the two bottles that we order every 3 months or so. The hardest part of the process is building up to maintenance where we had to go 3 times a week for almost 4 months straight. Once our 3 years of shots is done, the effects are supposed to last 10 years minimum. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the best results possible.

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