When you suffer form asthma or allergies, getting a good night’s sleep can not be taken for granted. Allergens irritate your nasal passages when they enter your nose, and this can often trigger symptoms that can cause wakefulness, thus negatively affecting your sleeping pattern. These symptoms, such as nasal congestion, watering eyes, sneezing or snoring, affect your ability to breathe easily, and lead to a poor quality of sleep.
Lack of sleep, leaving you feeling overtired, can – and does – affect your mood; productivity levels drop and reaction times slow. Together with below-par performance at work of school, this can have a significant and negative on your mental health and personal wellbeing. Lack of sleep creates a negative cycle: poor sleep leads to increased levels of stress and heightened feelings of anxiety, therefore making the ‘task’ of falling asleep more difficult, resulting in lack of sleep. And it goes on. Breaking the cycle, while not as easy feat, can improve things immeasurably.
Getting rid of dust mites in your bedroom
Falling asleep is not the only challenge, however, and can also be affected by allergies and asthma. Staying asleep can be just as difficult, with regular waking due to discomfort or reactions leaving you feeling even more tired. It is important, therefore, to employ anti-allergy bedding solutions and anti-dust mite sheets to ensure you can maintain an asthma and allergy-free zone. There are a number of ways to make sure your bedroom is space safe from causes of asthma or allergy-related discomfort.
The main thing to focus on is the eradication of dust mites.
Dust mites cause both allergic reactions and are a danger to those prone to asthma attacks. Dust mites thrive in most bedrooms due to the amount of fabric and soft furnishings. Sheets and bedding tend to be the most common areas to find dust mites. It is recommended to wash any and all bedding weekly, on a hot cycle, to remove all traces of dust mites. Other hypoallergenic bedding options are also highly recommended to ensure your bedroom remains a safe space where you can easily sleep.
Best bedding for allergies
Certain materials, such as bamboo, are ideal for anti-dust mite sheets and bedding, as it has its own naturally hypoallergenic properties. Similarly, not only is bamboo a recommended alternative to other materials for sheets, but also duvets and mattresses. Duvets especially, when made from bamboo, are a good choice when aiming to make a space dust mite-free, and are a recommended substitute for down feather bedding, which is very difficult to keep free of dust mites. Easily washable and naturally hypoallergenic, bamboo bedding makes having an allergy-friendly bedroom more achievable.
While limiting dust mite exposure is key, many asthma-sufferers have other triggers too. One of them is high humidity, which leads to a worsening of symptoms due not only to dust mites, but also mould, both of which thrive in humid conditions. Excess fabric in the bedroom can be a cause of reactions, so it is recommended to remove that which is not required as much as possible.
A roadblock in taking the necessary steps to create a bedroom that is friendly to both allergy- and asthma-sufferers, is cost. Regularly washing sheets at high temperatures means they don’t last as long as they may otherwise and require replacing more regularly. The same is also true for duvets and other bedding for the same reasons, together with the cost, time and effort involved in upkeep.
Once again, bamboo can offer a workable and proactive solution to achieving anti-allergy bedding at an affordable price. Bamboo bedding, while more expensive than cheap cotton options (which incidentally would not be able to withstand continual washing at high temperatures), is far more affordable than expensive, ‘top quality’ cotton options. Bamboo also offers an unparalleled level of durability.
Altogether more durable and affordable, with antibacterial and hypoallergenic properties, bamboo is a widely recommended choice. Additionally, the growing of bamboo doesn’t require the use of pesticides or potentially toxic agrochemicals, making it a friendly option for sensitive skin, especially important to those susceptible to allergic reactions.
Turning any room into allergy-free, asthma-friendly spaces is difficult; when it’s a bedroom, even more so. It will, however, make a positive difference to you and your families’ sleep, and subsequent mental and physical health and wellbeing. Not only will the chance of asthma- or allergy-related issues decrease significantly but falling (and staying) asleep will be easier.
Improving your sleep schedule and routine can change your life for the better. Upgrade your sleep today.
