Sleeping Well Despite Allergies - 5 Things That Will Minimize Allergy Symptoms At Night

Sleeping well promotes good health. So it's really important to stop allergy symptoms from interrupting the length and quality of your sleep. Here are 5 ways to reduce nighttime allergy symptoms and maximize sleep.

1. Encase Bedding -- Dust mites are one of the most potent allergens known. These invisible critters make their home in dark, warm, and moist places making your bed an ideal spot. They feed on dead skin flakes and because humans are constantly shedding dead skin, their food source is unlimited.

Enclosing bedding with zippered allergen covers prevents these critters from going deep into your mattress and pillows and increasing their numbers exponentially. This is a proactive yet non-invasive way to really make a difference in their numbers and your symptoms.

2. Wash Linens -- Mites are killed by water temperature that exceeds 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Washing linens weekly will keep their numbers low. They are also killed when exposed to direct sunlight, so leaving the bed covers pulled back so that the sun can shine in is also an effective well to kill them.

3. Limit Upholstered Fabrics -- It's such a temptation to load up the bedroom with soft cushy fabrics, rugs, and carpets. And if you're a dust mite or allergen you would think it's a great idea too. However, natural woven materials make great hiding places for particulates to accumulate. Once there, they have the opportunity to go airborne with normal movement. This creates the opportunity for them to be inhaled and cause symptoms, and sometimes full blown flare ups.

Keeping window treatments sparse with washable surfaces will keep the air cleaner. Hard floors with rugs that can be washed often will also help decrease the total allergen count in the room.

4. Fish Only -- For those of us who love a warm and fuzzy pet, this is going to be a tough one. Warm-blooded pets such as dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, and ferrets shed dead skin flakes too. This provides more food for dust mites. The dander from pets also contains a potent allergen that can send allergies into over drive pretty quickly.

By limiting pets to the cold-blooded variety, this irritant is taken out of the mix. Fish are soothing to watch and can be a visual feature that can add to relaxation in the bedroom.

5. Filter The Air -- Removing particulates will be a continuing process. Filtering the air with a high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) air cleaner is one of the best ways to keep airborne triggers low giving you a better chance at getting a good night's sleep each night.

Designed to remove 99.97% of airborne particulates that are.3 microns or larger, HEPAs can take out dust, dust mites, mold and mildew spores, pet dander, seasonal pollens as well as bacteria and viruses that often attach to bigger particles.