Any tips for bedroom of teen with dust allergy?

[Houseoftherisingdust]

DS (13) was diagnosed with dust mite allergy a year ago. He has had frequent colds/ viruses that turn into prolonged coughs, now diagnosed with probable asthma with inhalers when it flares.

I’ve been doing the major things to include: replaced mattress, duvet, pillows, now have dust mite protectors for all, all washed weekly at 60 degrees and have replaced carpet with hard floor.

I try to hoover and damp dist weekly but this has been challenging due to clutter. His room is full of stuff and he’s very untidy. I did a huge clearout and clean yesterday and there was so much dust. I’m planning to replace his bookshelves with one with doors and have got rid of quite a lot of old stuff behind his back (he would keep everything). He also loves to collect stamps, coins, antique figures etc 🤯 Plus there’s his desk with schoolbooks, papers, folders…

Does anyone have any tips on improving the space for a teen with a dust allergy especially one who is untidy by nature?

Just bumping to see if anyone has any ideas or better still miracle solutions to teenage chaos vs dust!

Search up air purifiers with a hepa filter.

Definitely less stuff. Books actually in a book case with doors is a great idea as they awful at collecting dust. I think you are doing all you can. Floor boards were always better than carpets for my child.

Less stuff, a high quality air purifier, and if he has carpeting in his room, get rid of it.

I have had dust mite allergy since I was in my 20s. The problem with this allergy is while you can take every precaution in your own home (unfortunately, not always with total success), there's little you can do elsewhere - and dust mites lurk just about everywhere.

I have, for all my adult life, had a repeat prescription for antihistamine tablets, and take one a day (sometimes it has to be two) to keep the symptoms at bay. The doctor who originally prescribed them was of the view that when it comes to dust mites, it's better to treat the symptoms because it's impossible to eradicate the cause.

Thanks. I will definitely look into air purifiers as that is something we don’t have. Carpet is already gone. The books/ paper/ desk/ folders issue is hard because his studying space is in there. I’m not sure how to tackle that one 🤔

Thanks that’s a really interesting perspective. He’s not on an antihistamine at all but due a review with the Dr soon so I will ask about that.

Instead of getting rid of stuff could you put it in storage boxes? Teenage me would have been raging if my mum threw my things away behind my back.

Obviously too late for you but DH has a really bad dust allergy that only became apparent when we moved to a flat with hard flooring throughout. Dr said that actually (contrary to most advice) hard flooring means that dust mites are constantly being disturbed and blown into the air, whereas they settle into and are trapped in carpets. We moved house and have carpets everywhere and DH no longer needs to take a daily antihistamine. It’s been a complete game changer. We do hoover regularly but not excessively (every few days).

I have a younger child with the same diagnosis. After spending 18 months on ever increasing doses of antihistamines (well above the recommended for their age and size), we tried a steroid inhaler and it has worked brilliantly to control it. We only need antihistamines when pollen count increases or weather starts to get colder, they are otherwise very well controlled on a low dose of steroid inhaler. The rationale was that this will also treat the probable asthma (too young for a formal diagnosis in our case)

My DS's allergist said the same. He ended up having immunotherapy for dust mites which helped quite a lot. He was also prescribed daily antihistamines. And while his allergies were at their worst, he would do sinus rinses most days.

Buy a dust mite allergy vacuum cleaner for the mattress. The light shines red when there's vacuuming to do then green when you're done. Can spend 20 minutes vacuuming bed for my little girl who also suffers! Ditto the HEPA air purifier suggestion above.

I’ve got dust mite allergy ( plus asthma) , I take a daily antihistamine, we have very little clutter and my husband dusts / vacuums regularly . We did have an air purifier / filter machine in the bedroom but it broke and I don’t seem any worse without it

Put collections in glass fronted cabinets, frames or boxes. Papers and files in drawers or boxes.

It is also worth looking into other things that might be placing the immune system under stress. In my experience, reducing the overall load can result in less reactivity to the things that are less easy to control.

Food: gluten, dairy, sugar, nightshades, additives, caffeine
Water: use an inline filter
Chemical exposure: cleaning products, personal hygiene products, foam including 'antiallegen' pillows, memory foam mattress
Detoxing / supplements: vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, probiotics, epsom salt baths, butekyo breathing, oil pulling
Stress: meditation, reduced screen exposure, yoga nidra for sleep

My son sleeps on a wool and coconut fibre mattress on a tatami mat, keeps his clothes in drawers on the landing. We make displays from his collections and frame them. He doesn't have a computer in his bedroom and studies in the lounge.

If your doctor feels antihistamine tablets might be an option, it's worth knowing that it can be hit and miss between different types before finding one that's the most effective. I've had quite a few variations over the years.

I'm currently taking Fenofexadine 180g, which is prescription only (although the 120g tablet is available over the counter), and topping-up, if needed, with Cetirizine 10g, which costs 75p for 14 tablets from Lidl or Aldi.

I hoover everything instead of dusting. Low setting and little brush over all surfaces including piles of paper and school books.

Getting dc into habit of contained clutter helps. So, one or two shelves of little bits and bobs, like coins or badges or whatever,which I am prepared to move and hoover the area if not every little thing.
And a bowl or small box on side table where they put the rest or if they don't they know I will.

It's a faff but I try telling myself half an hour a week on this and it's done.

High quality dust mite encasements on mattress, pillow and duvet.
Bedframe with as few nooks and crannies as possible
Use a steam cleaner, then a hepa filter vacuum every two weeks..the steam kills the mites, the vaccum collects their poop (which is what triggers the allergy)
All bedding gets wanes and tumble dried twice over every two weeks. The timble drier kills the mites (but I dont want to tumble without washing in case there are some stains that would set in. The wash after the tumble clears out the dead mites and poop.
Antihistamine daily
Switch curtains for wooden or plastic blinds and steam clean them
Air purifiers and change the filters regularly
If there is a mess from a desk, can you set up the desk in another part of the house? If possible the bedroom should be as mite free as possible as they spend 8 hrs a day in there just for sleep. By cutting back to just a bed and just the essential clothes, it cuts back on the places for the mites to hide

I have a dust allergy and the hard floors and blinds/not velvet fluffy curtains make a big difference. Other than one child's room I have no carpet or rugs in my house and it's made the biggest difference (much easier to clean too!)

Be aware a big clean like you are doing stirs it all up so makes it worse for a few days.

I'm always suffering at Christmas because everyone gets dusty decorations out and has big cleans and I wheeze for weeks.

I personally found all the vacuuming of the mattress made no difference and was so much effort. Using a water proof mattress protector seems to help I've noticed since I've had my kids. Change the bed weekly and wash the duvet fairly frequently (I have a thin summer one that fits my 10kg machine and add a throw if I'm cold).

When you dust use a wet cloth and do it as soon as he leaves for school so it's got time to settle before he's back.

Remember a dust allergy does not mean he cannot clean for himself. If he kept his room better he would suffer less he's got this for life teach him to keep on top not pass off to you/future partners