The Disgusting Way Your Bed Sheets Are Making You Sick
If you think of your bed as a big, fluffy slice of heaven on earth, then stop and picture this: a small pool full of millions of tiny dust mites and dead, castaway skin cells. That's what your bed really is, according to home hygiene expert Dr. Lisa Ackerley.
As if that weren't gross enough to hear, it gets worse. Dr. Ackerley says that the dust mites increase a person's risk of getting a cold or suffering from allergies. But that's not all; our bed sheets can also harbor bacteria that causes the flu or food poisoning. She calls this "Sick Bed Syndrome," and told the Daily Mail that most people don't realize it's happening to them.
Homes, which are insulated, trap moisture inside, especially when all the windows are kept shut. This creates a cozy environment for dust mites, who thrive in warm, damp areas. Basically, a recently slept-in bed is like a paradise island for dust mites, whose feces and body fragments irritate allergies, eczema, hay fever and asthma.
"If you make the bed when you go out, that traps the duvet and the moisture, and the dust mites have a great time," Dr. Ackerley explains. Not surprisingly, this also traps in the germs and bacteria that cause stomach viruses like the flu or food poisoning.
"If people have a cold, it can survive on the bed linen and it can survive a wash. Someone with food poisoning could be excreting salmonella into the bed," she says, adding that sleeping naked only increases the risk of spreading these germs.
In order to ward off mites and other bacteria, Dr. Ackerley suggests washing bed linens in 60-degree water, or at a lower temp, while using antibacterial detergent. Also, keeping your windows open whenever possible helps relieve humidity in the bedroom and reduce the likelihood of dust mites gathering there. Vacuuming regularly also helps, and hardwood floors make it more difficult for mites to survive.
And just to be safe, you should probably wash your pajamas regularly, too.
[via Daily Mail]
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