Doctor explains why making your bed when you first wake up can be bad for health
Failing to make the bed in the morning can actually offer health benefits, top doctors have claimed.
Medic and TikTok sensation Dr Myro Figura explained that our duvets, mattresses, and pillows hoard a plethora of human skin cells that attract dust mites.
In news that is likely to delight teenagers, a messy bed creates the ideal conditions to combat these pests, which can trigger allergies and worsen the symptoms of eczema and asthma.
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Dust mites thrive in warm, damp conditions. By tossing the sheets to one side we ventilate our beds, helping them to become cooler and drier. This crucial change to the pests' habitat causes them to dehydrate and die.
Taking to Instagram, Dr Figura stressed: "Whether you have a partner or not, you are never sleeping alone. There are over 10million dust mites on an average mattress."
He added: "When you sleep, you sweat and they feed on that moisture. When you make your bed you're trapping all of that moisture in and the dust mites are having a party."
Figura's comments were echoed by another doctor on the other side of the Atlantic.
In a TikTok video, London-based GP Sermed Mezher said of dust mites: "They're surprisingly vulnerable to the air, so just half an hour to one hour leaving your bed unmade in the morning can release that moisture of you being in the bed overnight, your sweat being in the area, and kill them."
Dust mites are present in all homes, irrespective of their cleanliness. Although the minute creatures do not bite or carry diseases, they can pose some serious health challenges nonetheless.
Emma Rubach, head of health advice at Asthma + Lung UK, warns that the unwanted guests “can trigger dust allergies and cause flare-ups or potentially life-threatening asthma attacks”.
She points to symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, wheezing, a tight chest and breathlessness as signs that dust mites could be seriously impacting your health.
Beyond leaving your bed unmade, Dr Figura also advised washing pillowcases once a week, or once a fortnight at most. Vacuuming the bed and regularly washing bedsheets above 60 degrees can also help to kill the mites, the Mail reports.
If you develop health issues from dust mites despite these measures, it is recommended to seek help from your pharmacist. Eczema flare-ups can be treated by regularly applying moisturising treatments directly to the skin to soothe and hydrate it.
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