Beat the Morning Sniffles: Choosing the Best Mattresses for Allergies
This is the fourth night in a row that you’ve woken up feeling congested. You can’t keep doing this. The insomnia is causing your work to suffer.
The congestion problem is most likely caused by your mattress. Until you replace it with one that’s made with allergy suffers in mind, you’ll keep waking up in a sneezing fit.
The best mattresses for allergies are typically made out of latex or foam. These materials can resist dust mites, pet dander, and other common irritants.
Materials aren’t the only thing that you should be looking out for. Check out this guide to learn how to find a hypoallergenic mattress that will suit your needs.
Common Reasons for Allergies
Before we get into choosing hypoallergenic mattresses, let’s talk about what’s causing your sniffles in the first place. The three most common culprits are dust mites, pet dander, and mold.
Dust Mites
Dust mites are tiny microscopic creatures that thrive in warm, humid places. Your mattress fits the bill on both accounts. It’s warmed by your body heat, your sweat provides plenty of humidity, and they have dead skin flakes to feed on.
As they sit on your bed and feast, they produce small amounts of feces that don’t bother most people. For many allergy suffers, however, it’s a nightmare. It triggers skin rashes, watery eyes, congestion, the whole nine yards.
Pet Dander
Who can say no when your pet asks to hop up in the bed with you? Nobody can resist the allure of a warm puppy snuggle. The problem is that those snuggles are coupled with pet dander.
Dander is a protein that falls off animals in the form of flakes. These flakes can cause itchy eyes, difficulty breathing, and chest tightness.
Mold
Mold is a fungus that grows in dark, damp environments. If your mattress gets wet and you don’t follow the proper procedures to dry it, this fungus will creep up on you.
Many people don’t notice that they have a mold problem until it’s too late. If you begin experiencing sharp chest pains, congestion, wheezing, or a dry cough, start hunting around for the fungus right away. It can cause serious health problems if left unchecked.
Best Materials for Allergies
Natural materials are your best bet if you want to put an end to your sneezing. Pandas like bamboo, but dust mites aren’t a fan. It also resists mold and mildew.
Silk is a lot like bamboo. Dust mites stay away from it, and mold can’t grow on it. Cotton is both breathable and resists moisture. This makes it less likely to gather mold.
Wool keeps moisture away so you won’t have to worry about mildew and dust mites don’t want anything to do with it.
Best Mattresses for Allergies
There are different types of mattresses out there that can provide allergy relief. Which one you choose all depends on what your sleep needs are.
Hybrid
If your partner tends to toss and turn a lot, a hybrid mattress is for you. The coils are packed to provide more motion resistance. Whereas memory foam allows you to sink down a little, hybrid beds have a bit more bounce.
They will hug your body as you sleep to give you the best night of rest you’ve ever had. They’re made with layers of either foam or latex.
Both of these are hypoallergenic materials that will keep those nasty dust mites off of you. You’ll never have to deal with mold or mildew either.
Airbed
Airbeds provide support using an air-filled chamber. Most come with a built-in pump that will allow you to adjust the air levels where you want them to be.
Some fancier airbeds have duel chambers. You and your partner can adjust your own side of the bed for the ultimate comfort. Dust mites tend to stay away from the air chambers.
It’s not a good environment for them. The comfort layers in many airbeds are made with materials that can resist mold and mildew as well.
Latex
Latex mattresses are made completely out of well, different types of latex. Dunlop latex is pretty sturdy, so most manufacturers use it as the core.
Talalay latex is softer, so it comprises the comfort layers. The end result is a breathable mattress that resists moisture buildup. As an added bonus, you won’t have to worry about dust mites.
What you will need to worry about is breaking out if you have a latex allergy. Most of the time, the protein that causes the allergy is taken out, but it’s still good to exercise caution.
You might be okay if you place a cover around the mattress. It’s also not a bad idea to talk to your doctor before making your purchase.
Foam
Memory foam mattresses conform around the body for one of the most comfortable nights of sleep you’ll ever have. They take pressure away from several points on the body to stop you from waking up in pain.
The dense material isn’t an ideal environment for dust mites to live in. There are only two issues with foam. One, sometimes you sink too far into the mattress, which isn’t comfortable.
Two, stomach sleeping is great for those with allergies. It provides a natural head position that gets rid of congestion. You may not be aware, but sleeping on your stomach gets hot pretty fast.
Memory foam isn’t exactly the best cooling mattress option on the market. Not unless you opt for the right one anyway.
Put an End to Your Allergy Suffering
Are you tired of being kept awake by sneezing? The only way to stop it is to buy one of the best mattresses for allergies. There are several of them out on the market to choose from.
You’re sure to find something that can fit your budget. If you’re looking for more ways to stop your morning allergies, check out the Health Matters section of our blog for more information.
