They are tiny. They are dirty. There are probably thousands if not millions of them in bed with you every night!! They are called dust mites and if you suffer from asthma or allergies, they make your symptoms even worse. So whether you have an adjustable bed or a regular bed, these little critters are nothing but a nuisance.

Dust mites make their home in mattresses, pillows, blankets, quilts, carpets and fabric covered furniture, thrive in the summer and usually die in the winter. They may continue to thrive in the winter if your house is warm and humid.

The bedroom is an area that has an environment that the dust mite loves. An adjustable bed, or any bed for that matter, can contain hundreds of thousands of them and an old pillow can have 20% of its own weight made up of dust mites, dead and alive, and dust mite droppings.But mainly their droppings. Kind of makes you look at your bed a little differently tonight.

Why do they love to get in bed with us ? Because most animals, including humans shed skin flakes every year. We all naturally lose skin, head and pubic hairs by the thousands every year. A household of four normal adults shed over three pounds in weight of skin flakes annually. Over 80% of the dust particles floating in the air and settling on your furniture is made up of dead skin cells. Since dust mites eat dead skin cells, our beds are like an all you can eat for free smorgasbord.

Dust mites are related to the Spider and they have eight legs, but no eyes and no antennae . Female mites lay between 40 and 80 eggs in a lifetime which lasts up to seven weeks. The good news is that they are tiny. Just a gram of dust may contain up to 5,000 mites, and an ounce of dust may host 150,000. You just cannot see them crawling about, but they are there.

How do you Control Dust Mites ?

*Pesticides are not approved for control of house dust mites because they can damage to you as much as them.

*Replace feather and down pillows with synthetic fillings.

* Enclose the mattress top and sides with a special synthetic cover.

*Vacuum your mattress thoroughly especially the base and head of the bed.

*Keep the mattress as dry as possible; dust mites like it damp, especially with sweat.

* Change and wash pillowcases, sheets, and under blankets regularly.

*Vacuum the bed base and around the covered mattress weekly.

*Wash all bedding frequently in hot water (60oC weekly). Wash curtains regularly as well.

*A dehumidifier helps because house mites need high humidity to live and grow

*Throw the bed-clothes back and open the windows wide, to have a good blow through. When you make your bed, you cover up the little critters and make them feel ,well, as snug as a bug in a bed.

Where Children Sleep

* Keep toys that will accumulate dust out of the child's bedroom

* Avoid stuffed toys

* Use only washable toys of wood, rubber, metal, or plastic

* Store toys in a closed toy box or chest

* Avoid upholstered furniture and blinds.

* Use only a wooden or metal chair that you can scrub.

* Use only plain, lightweight curtains on the windows.

Good luck on getting these little creepy crawlies out of your life. The last thing you want to get in bed with are eight legged freaks.