Simple but highly effective ways to get rid of dust mites

Dust mites, according to medical statistics, are the main causative agents of such a serious disease as bronchial asthma. And in the main risk group are babies with allergic to these creatures and their metabolic products. These small parasites live next to us, feed on particles of dead skin and settle where there is animal pile: pillows, carpets, blankets, mattresses, books, etc.

Characteristic

It is impossible to see with the naked eye what a dust mite looks like, since its dimensions are very small - no more than 0.1 mm. The life span of this creature is 80 days, and during this time it manages to lay 60 to 300 eggs.

Dust mites belong to the class of arachnids, and today science knows more than 150 of their species. Among them there are so-called house mites, which are divided into such groups:

• pyroglyphide and barn - they are in the first group;
• the second group is predatory mites, food for which are species from the previous group;
• random ticks - they may well be brought into the dwelling, but at the same time there they will neither reproduce nor form populations.

Being a synanthropic organism living next to a person, a dust mite prefers warm air, the temperature of which will be +22 ... 26 ° C, with a humidity of more than 55%, ideally 75-80%. As food, he uses dead particles of our skin and natural pile. This creature feels especially comfortable in places where dust constantly accumulates: carpeting, corners of upholstered furniture, books in cabinets, baseboards, etc.

If we consider multiple enlarged photos of such places, then we can see that dust mites live there in colonies, and per 1 g of house dust can account for 10 to 10 thousand active individuals.

Important! If there are few dust mites - not more than 100 individuals per 1 g of dust - a person withstands such a neighborhood quite easily. But when the concentration of arachnids increases and exceeds 500 individuals per 1 g of dust, there is a risk of developing an asthmatic attack, and if there are even more ticks - from 1 to 2 thousand - a severe allergy, chronic rhinitis and other complications appear!

Malware

Not all people are sensitive to the presence of dust mites and in most cases the human body does not react to them in any way. But there is a certain group of people (asthmatics, allergy sufferers, and sensitive to these creatures), for representatives of which such a neighborhood becomes a real torment. Children and elderly people will feel especially bad in dusty rooms.

On a note! One mattress can become a real hotbed of dust mites, in which tens of thousands of harmful individuals will live! And the first place in terms of population belongs to the carpet, in one square meter of which there can be more than one hundred thousand of these microscopic arachnids! While on hard clean surfaces they never dwell!

For human health, the danger is not the mites themselves and not the dust in which they live, but the substances that they excrete along with excrement. These are digestive enzymes by which arachnids feed, breaking down dead skin cells of the human skin: Der f1 and Der p1. These are the very allergen proteins that the allergic system perceives as an alien component. As a result, a person may develop contact, food or respiratory allergies, provoking conditions such as:

• bronchial asthma;
• rhinitis;
• conjunctivitis;
• rhinoconjunctivitis;
• acariases;
• respiratory allergosis;
• Quincke's edema;
• atopic dermatitis and acarodermatitis.

The listed diseases are combined by modern medicine into the concept of tick-borne allergy and this condition is corrected with the help of antihistamines.

Signs of tick-borne allergy

The following symptoms will speak about the development of an allergy to a dust mite:

• Nasal sinus congestion, which is accompanied by profuse discharge and frequent sneezing. In parallel, the nose will constantly itch, and the mucous membrane may swell. In children, itching of the tip of the nose is usually noted.
• Due to nasal congestion, a person begins to breathe through his mouth, which, in turn, provokes oxygen starvation, and this condition is often accompanied by headaches, general weakness and loss of working capacity.
• Due to the fact that breathing is carried out through the mouth, the throat dries up and gets irritated, as a result there are attacks of dry cough.
• There is irritation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, their redness and itching, which are accompanied by severe lacrimation. Often swollen eyelids. Perhaps the development of conjunctivitis.
• There is intense itching in the sky.
• Over time, the situation worsens and wheezing in the chest area is already being heard.
• Night awakenings, arising against the background of shortness of breath, become more frequent, severe shortness of breath is noted, sometimes asphyxiation. Gradually, bronchial asthma develops.
• The skin is irritated - redness is noted on them, the skin begins to peel off, itch, burning appears in places, rashes are possible, which develop into dermatological problems, such as eczema and urticaria.

With special sensitivity to dust mites, it is quite possible to develop Quincke's edema, which in the future is fraught with hypoxia and even death.

Methods of struggle

How to get rid of dust mites at home? In fact, it all comes down to one thing - the creation of unfavorable conditions for their existence, that is, a thorough cleaning of all rooms in the house, without exception.

• Regularly carry out wet cleaning throughout the house, it is advisable to do this no less than every other day. Carefully remove dust not only from visible surfaces, but also in hard-to-reach corners of the room, since it is there that the largest amount of it accumulates, and, accordingly, the mites themselves. During cleaning, you can use a weak saline solution - 5 tablespoons per bucket of water. This simplest tool will help to better clean surfaces and at the same time destroy harmful individuals in crevices and small cracks.
• As for the use of a vacuum cleaner, to achieve the goal it is necessary to use units equipped with special filters that will prevent mites from spraying during the cleaning process. Such devices have a higher cost, but at the same time provide the necessary cleanliness in the house. And the key to success in this case is the especially small size of the cells in the filter, through which dust mites, falling into the vacuum cleaner, are not able to get out.
• If a tick allergy is found in one of your family members, then it is advisable to remove all natural carpets and bedspreads from the house. This will remove a significant number of provocateurs of an allergic reaction and prevent their further reproduction.
• It is desirable that the elements of furniture were not wooden, but iron. A significant role is played here by the fact that dust mites quickly settle again on wooden surfaces, renewing their numbers, while on iron ones they exist in much smaller quantities. If we talk about the upholstery of upholstered furniture, then it should be replaced with leatherette or leather, completely removing all fleecy fabrics.
• Wardrobes and cabinets where clothes and bedding are stored should always be tightly closed. At the same time, they must also be wiped with a damp cloth both on the outside and inside. In addition, do not make a warehouse of things on the cabinet itself, since there dust will settle no less intensively. All bundles, old folding beds, boxes and pillows must be packed in plastic bags and hidden in the pantry or taken out to the basement.
• As for the filling of bookcases and sideboards, you will also have to work here. Books should be regularly cleaned from dust, and the dishes should be rinsed with boiling water.
• It is advisable to replace ordinary bedding with a special one - for allergy sufferers. It is made of hypoallergenic tissues, which have a special structure, where the dust mite has nothing to cling to. The same goes for mattress covers.
• From duvets and feather pillows should be completely discarded. They are recommended to be replaced with synthetic ones, where the parasite will have nothing to eat.
  

  Important! But even synthetic bedding should be changed regularly - about once every five years, for children more often! This is due to the fact that the same dust, dirt and waste products of randomly wandered ticks can accumulate in them!

• Do not rush to get your child soft toys, especially if he has an allergy. It seems that such things can only bring joy - but not always. Sometimes they become the cause of the development of complex diseases, because of which children are more likely to suffer.

In addition, in order to get rid of the dust mite, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the room no higher than +18 ... 20 ° C and reduce the humidity to 40%, and this should be done both in summer and in winter. And do not forget to air the rooms several times a day - this will allow you to clean the air and make it drier. For the same purposes, you can use household air dryers and air purifiers that perfectly cope with dust mites, and with their waste products, and with the dust itself. Apply them according to the instructions that are always attached to the device.

Exposure to high and low temperatures

If you do not want to get rid of soft toys, decorative pillows and bedding made from natural materials, then it is quite possible to destroy dust mites in them, knowing at what temperature they die. Fatal for these parasites are especially low rates - from -18 ° C. In this case, it is recommended to use a freezer - you can put infected things in it and leave it literally for one night. A similar procedure can be carried out with soft toys, putting them in the winter at night on an unglazed balcony.

An alternative to freezing a dust mite may well be the effect of high temperatures. For this, it is necessary to wash things more often in automatic mode at a temperature of at least 60 °. This can be bedding, clothes for a night's rest, and bedspreads, and even children's toys.

The use of special drugs

Today on sale there are special tools for dust mites, which are available in several forms:

• surface spraying;
• powders, concentrates and foams for cleaning carpets;
• dry mixes and liquid products that are added to water during washing;
• shampoos for washing vacuums, etc.

These drugs are based on substances that help break down the protein structures of allergens and as a result, the immune system no longer perceives them as foreign objects, respectively, an allergic reaction does not develop.

There are also acaricides for dust mites, the action of which is aimed at the destruction of the parasites themselves. They are produced in the same forms and help neutralize the source of infection.

But remember that combating a dust mite must be comprehensive and regular. After all, if you just change the pillow, the parasites will immediately come back to it from the blanket, treat the soft toys and wash the floor - the mites will settle on them again after some time after the next use of the old vacuum cleaner. Accordingly, it is impossible to completely eliminate the allergy in such conditions and relieve the patient’s condition.