One of the main culprits of poor sleep quality is sleeping with the presence of allergens on your bed; an endless night of wheezing and sneezing is all too familiar for people living with allergies.
The presence of dust mites, mildew, pet dander, dead skin cells and other irritants can easily cause an allergic reaction and disrupt a good night’s sleep.
While allergy sufferers can take antihistamine or anti-allergy medications, preventing an allergic reaction is better than alleviating symptoms.
We spend about a third of our day in our beds, so ensuring that your bed and your mattress is hypoallergenic can go a long way in preventing allergy attacks as you rest.
Are You Getting Allergies from Your Mattress?
Runny and Stuffy Nose
If you feel that you often get a runny or stuffy nose right before you sleep or when waking up, then that might be a sign of an allergy.
The presence of dust mites and house dust on your bed can cause these triggers.
Watery Eyes
Watery eyes are caused by an irritation of your eyes to tiny foreign bodies such as dust.
Dust mites are microscopic and can easily get into your eyes which can cause excessive tearing; which is your body’s automatic response to flush out foreign bodies.
Excessive tearing can also be associated with rhinitis or allergy-induced runny nose.
Skin Irritation and Itchiness
Sleeping on a bed that’s home to allergens may irritate your skin and cause discomfort throughout the night.
Although dust mites only feed off dead skin, their fecal waste that accumulates on the bed surface can irritate your skin. It’s gross, we know.
Likewise, bed bugs can also be an issue wherein you can get bitten and cause skin irritations as well.
How Can Hypoallergenic Mattresses Help Reduce Allergies?
They Reduce the Dust Mites on Your Bed
Dust mites are the number one enemy of allergy sufferers; they thrive on beddings since they feed off the dead skin cells humans shed throughout the day.
In terms of size, dust mites are barely visible to the human eye. Due to their small size, they enjoy living in the pores of foam pillows and mattresses.
Hypoallergenic mattresses usually utilise memory foam or a composite of it as its main material since memory foam has closed pores, thereby not giving dust mites any space to squeeze in.
The mattress cover used also plays a role in preventing dust mites from penetrating mattresses; having a very tight weave for your mattress cover would help decrease your allergy triggers.
Using a dust mite resistant hypoallergenic mattress will not only reduce the number of dust mites present on your sleeping surface, but it also lessens the frequency of dust mite allergies.
They Inhibit the Growth of Mould and Mildew
Another allergy trigger from your mattress is the buildup and accumulation of mould and mildew on your mattress’ surface.
Mould can grow anywhere where there is moisture. The sweat, and fluids coming from our body contributes to the moisture of our mattress and beddings, which can be a thriving environment for mould.
Some memory foam mattresses are combined with natural latex, which is more resistant to the buildup of mould and other microorganisms.
Exposure to mould may be detrimental to your health and some of the symptoms of mould exposure are very similar to allergy symptoms.
They Have Antibacterial Properties
Both your mattress and your bedding should be made from hypoallergenic materials.
One popular material for hypoallergenic beddings is bamboo fibre. Bamboo has its natural antibacterial properties which do a great job in resisting bacterial growth.
A property of bamboo fibre is it’s breathable, which stops anaerobic bacteria from settling in. Likewise, bamboo fibre is efficient and effective in absorbing and evaporating moisture coming from human skin.
The less moisture on your bed’s surface, the less ideal it would be for bacteria to live on.
Other Reasons to Get a Hypoallergenic Mattress
It Feels Softer
Hypoallergenic beddings and mattresses are usually made of a higher thread count to create tighter weaves that keep out bed bugs and dust mites.
With the higher thread count, the fabric would feel smoother to the touch and softer to the skin, leaving you with a silky feel every time you crawl into bed.
The soft feeling of a hypoallergenic bed not only gives you an allergy-free sleep, but it also ensures that you always get the feel of high-quality bed material.
You Get Fewer Sleep Interruptions
Sleeping with allergies is not an easy task for a lot of people, especially with a runny nose.
Constantly blowing your nose or trying to consciously prevent yourself from sneezing is a task of its own and could easily make it more difficult for you to fall asleep.
Sleeping without allergy symptoms not only benefits you, but it can also greatly benefit your partner as there’s less of you waking up in the middle of the night to sneeze or to blow your nose.
It Benefits Your Overall Health
Sleeping in an area with mould and mildew is already considered a health hazard; sleeping on a surface with mould further enhances the health risks.
Ensuring that your bed does not become home to mould and mildew can help you sleep more comfortably knowing that your sleeping arrangements do not deteriorate your health.
Likewise, frequent allergy triggers and attacks aren’t healthy for your respiratory tract. With the lessened onset of allergy symptoms, it’s easy to see why a hypoallergenic mattress is a wise investment.
Summary
If you frequently experience allergies, especially during bedtime, then it might be time to reconsider your sleeping environment.
Try regularly cleaning your room, using a dehumidifier to reduce moisture and inspecting your room for the presence of mould, mildew and general cleanliness.
But making sure that your bed is also made of hypoallergenic materials further ensures that you would sleep better and experience allergy symptoms less frequently.
If you’re looking for a new hypoallergenic mattress, check out the Ecosa Memory Foam mattress.
