Dust Mite Allergy: Causes, Symptoms, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Treatment and Complications

Dust mite allergy is an allergy to the minute insects that often live in household dust. Allergies to dust mites can also cause symptoms such as hay fever and runny nose. Many people have dust mite allergies in addition to asthmatic symptoms including breathing difficulty and wheezing.

Dust mites are too small to be seen without a microscope, unlike their relatives the tick and spider. Dust mites feed on the dead skin cells of humans and are drawn to warm, humid environments. Most homes feature bedding, upholstered furniture, and carpets, which provide dust mites the ideal home.

By taking steps to reduce the number of dust mites in your house, you may be able to control your allergy to them. It can be necessary to use medicine or other therapy to control the symptoms of asthma.

Causes Of Dust Mite Allergy

Allergies are the result of your immune system's reaction to foreign objects, such as dust mites, pet dander, or pollen. Your immune system produces antibodies, which are proteins, to protect you against foreign invaders that could infect you or cause illness.

When you have allergies, the allergen is incorrectly perceived by your body as threatening even when it isn't. This results in the production of antibodies. When you come into contact with an allergen, your immune system inflames your nasal passages or lungs.

Contact with the allergen on a regular or extended basis may cause the chronic inflammation that is characteristic of asthma. Dust mites not only feed on organic materials such as human skin cells, but they also absorb moisture from the atmosphere using humidity rather than transpiration. 

Dust also consists of the decaying remains and waste products of dust mites; dust mite allergies are caused by the proteins found in the "debris" of the mites.

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Symptoms Of Dust Mite Allergy

The following are signs of an allergy to dust mites caused by irritated nasal passages:

• Sneezing
• Runny nose
• Eyes that are itching, red, or wet
• Congestion in the nasal cavity
• Enlarged nose, roof of mouth, or throat
• The nasal drip
• Cough
• Pressure and pain in the face
• Swelling, blue-colored skin under your eyes
• Frequent rubbing of a child's nose upward

In addition, if your dust mite allergies aggravate your asthma, you may:

• Breathing problems
• Chest pain or constriction during exhalation, audible whistling or wheezing
• Episodes of wheezing or coughing that worsen when a respiratory infection, such as the flu or a cold, is present breathlessness, coughing, or wheezing that prevents you from falling asleep
• Dust mite allergies can range in severity from mild to severe. A moderate dust mite allergy can occasionally cause symptoms including runny nose, watery eyes, and sneezing. In severe cases, the sickness may be persistent (chronic), resulting in facial pressure, sneezing, congestion, severe asthma attacks, and flare-ups of eczema.

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Risk Factors Of  Dust Mite Allergy

The following factors increase your likelihood of developing a dust mite allergy:

• Having a family history of allergies: There is a greater chance of becoming sensitive to dust mites if several members of the family have allergies.
• Having dust mites exposure: Exposure to large concentrations of dust mites raises your risk, especially if you are exposed early in life.
• Being a child or a young adult

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Diagnosis Of  Dust Mite Allergy

Your doctor may have suspicions about a dust mite allergy based on your symptoms and how you answer questions about your house.

To establish that you are allergic to something in the air, your doctor may use a small instrument to evaluate the condition of the lining in your nose. The nasal passages may expand due to an allergy to something in the air, giving them a pale or blue appearance.

Your doctor may investigate a dust mite allergy if your symptoms get worse right before bed or right after cleaning, when dust mite allergens may become momentarily airborne. Identifying the allergy's cause may be more difficult if you have a pet, particularly if they sleep in your bedroom.

Examine your skin for allergies. Your doctor can recommend an allergy skin test to determine what you are allergic to. An expert in allergies or allergist may be referred to you for this test. In this test, the surface of your skin is pricked with tiny amounts of refined allergen extracts, such as one for dust mites. 

The forearm is usually utilized for this, though the upper back can be as well. Twenty-five minutes later, your doctor or nurse checks your skin for signs of an allergic response. For those who are allergic to dust mites, prickling your skin with dust mite extract may result in a red, itchy bump. Most commonly, these skin tests cause redness and itching as adverse effects. Most often, these negative effects disappear in 30 minutes.

Check your blood for allergies. Some people cannot have a skin test performed due to a skin condition or because the medication they take may affect the test results. As an alternative, your physician may order a blood test that searches for specific antibodies to common allergens that trigger allergies, such as dust mites. Your level of allergy sensitivity may also be revealed by the test's results.

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Treatment Of Dust Mite Allergy

Managing your allergy begins with lowering your exposure to dust mites. Allergy reactions may be less severe or absent in the event of decreased dust mite exposure. Even yet, it can be challenging to completely eradicate dust mites from your house. You may also need to take medication to control your symptoms.

Allergy Medications

Your doctor may recommend one of the following medications to treat the symptoms of a nasal allergy:

• Antihistamines: They reduce the amount of a chemical that causes an allergic reaction to be produced by the immune system. These drugs relieve itching, sneezing, and runny nose. Children's antihistamine syrups and over-the-counter antihistamine tablets including cetirizine, loratadine, and fexofenadine are available. Prescription antihistamines olopatadine and azelastine are sprayed into the nose.
• Corticosteroids, when used as a nasal spray, assist reduce inflammation and controlling hay fever symptoms. These drugs include triamcinolone (Nasacort Allergy 24HR), mometasone furoate, ciclesonide, and fluticasone propionate. Nasal corticosteroids provide a lower dosage and a substantially decreased risk of side effects when compared to oral corticosteroids.
• Decongestants can facilitate simpler nasal breathing by helping to reduce bloated nasal channel tissue. A decongestant and an antihistamine are combined in several over-the-counter allergy medicines. If you have cardiovascular illness, glaucoma, or extremely high blood pressure, you shouldn't take oral decongestants since they can raise blood pressure. 

The medication may make an enlarged prostate worse in males. Find out from your doctor if taking a decongestant is safe for you. When used as a nasal spray, over-the-counter decongestants can momentarily lessen allergy symptoms. However, using a decongestant spray for longer than three days in a row may exacerbate nasal congestion.

• Leukotriene modifiers block specific immune system molecules: Your doctor may prescribe the medication montelukast (Singulair), a leukotriene modulator. Allergic reactions to montelukast may include fever, headaches, and upper respiratory tract infections. Side effects such as depression or anxiety are less common. These include behavioral or mental disorders.
• Immunotherapy is an alternative therapy: It is possible to "train" the immune system so that allergen sensitivity decreases. Immunotherapy is given sublingually, or under the tongue, as pills, or as a series of allergy injections. Once or twice a week, injections or tablets expose you to minute amounts of the allergen (in this example, the dust mite proteins that cause the allergic reaction). Over three to six months, the dosage is increased gradually. Every four weeks, maintenance shots or pills are needed for three to five years. Usually, immunotherapy is used when more traditional forms of treatment are not working.
• Nasal irrigation: You can rinse your sinuses with prepared saltwater (saline) using a neti pot or a squeeze bottle designed specifically to eliminate thickened mucus and irritants. If you are creating the saline solution on your own, use water that is free of contaminants. This can be accomplished by filtering the water using a filter that has an absolute pore size of less than one micron, or by distilling, sterilizing, boiling, and chilling the water first. Make sure to rinse the irrigation device with clean water after each use, then allow it to air dry.

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Complications Of  Dust Mite Allergy

Exposure to dust mites and their waste products may cause allergies to dust mites.

• Sinus infections: Dust mite allergies can cause continuous (chronic) inflammation of the nasal passageway tissues, which can clog your sinuses, which are hollow chambers attached to your nasal passages. These obstructions may increase your chance of getting sinus infections (sinusitis).
• Asthma: People with asthma who are allergic to dust mites often find it difficult to manage their asthma symptoms. They may be vulnerable to asthma attacks that necessitate immediate medical attention or emergency care.

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