Dust Mites

Dust mites are archnids, that is, they are related to spiders. They are tiny invisibe spiders that you inhale. The thing that’s really creepy about dust mites is that they like to live in innerspring mattresses. If you have allergies, there is a pretty good chance you’re allergic to them.

 But get this. It isn’t so much the inhalable spider that you’re allergic to. It’s their byproducts. Dust mites produce waste matter and then die off in a shor time. Their corpses and excrement are what stay in your mattress, and it’s that stuff that prompts the worst allergies.

I’m going in for allergy tests in a few weeks to see if they’re on my list of allergens.

Dust mites don’t live where humidity goes below 50% and they don’t live in waterbeds, aerobeds, or foam mattresses.

Mattress Shopping

A recent experience at a hotel in Atlanta underscored to me how much something as prosaic as a mattress can contribute to your overall health and well-being. I got a hotel room with two double beds, although I was staying alone as part of a business meeting. The bed was done up in spa whites and it had a thick down comforter on top and piles of soft down-filled pillows.

I could hardly sleep the first night. Apparently, I am allergic to feather-filled pillows. I actually suffer from a variety of allergies and since I don’t normally put my face into a big nest of feathers, I did not realize that down was one of them. I managed to create a sort of fake pillow using the terry bath robe the hotel provided, but that did not solve the comforter problem. By this time, the comforter was now a dis-comforter. I cranked up the heat and slept under the sheet.

This, plus an allergy pill, solved some of my problems. Then I got up and had terrible lower back pain. I could not even bend over. I figured that I had sprained my back dragging my behemoth of a suitcase around the hotel or something. By mid-morning, the aches had worked themselves out.

Fast forward. The hotel has graciously provided foam-filled pillows. But for some reason, I switch beds. Not only do I sleep better, but I have no back pain at all.

The other mattress was much firmer. They appeared to be identical, but I suspect that the first mattress got more wear-and-tear. Standing at the foot of the beds, it was the right-hand mattress and the clock-radio in the room faced it. I suspect it might be the “default” mattress that gets more use.

It’s easy to think that mattresses aren’t such a big deal, but they contribute massively to the quality of our sleep. In my case, the first bed in its first downy incarnation literally made me sick!