• Your Complete Guide to Incontinence Care

    From understanding causes and subtypes to choosing medical-grade protection for the bedroom, this resource gives caregivers and individuals everything they need to manage incontinence safely and effectively.

    Explore Our Complete Incontinence Care Resource 

  • Certifications

    The Proof Is in the Certifications. When it comes to your health and sleep, credentials matter. HealthGuard products are certified organic, sustainably sourced, and independently tested for everything from viral penetration to flammability — so you can shop with complete confidence.

    View Our Certifications 

Bed Bugs and Allergens

  • BED BUGS

    Bed bugs are parasites that live and breed inside your mattress, and they are resistant to pesticides. HealthGuard TM Bed Bug mattress encasements are one form of impenetrable protection from these pests. A number of health effects may occur due to bedbugs including skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites or cimicosis may lead to a range of skin manifestations from no visible effects to prominent blisters.

     

    Diagnosis involves both finding bed bugs and the occurrence of compatible symptoms. Treatment involves the elimination of the insect but is otherwise symptomatic. Because infestation of human habitats has been on the increase in developed countries, bed bug bites and related conditions have been on the rise as well, since the 1980s-1990s. The exact causes of this resurgence remain unclear; it is variously ascribed to greater foreign travel, more frequent exchange of second-hand furnishings among homes, a greater focus on control of other pests resulting in neglect of bed bug countermeasures, and increasing resistance to pesticides. Bed bugs have been known human parasites for thousands of years.

    Dwellings can become infested with bed bugs in a variety of ways, from:

    • Bed bugs and eggs that “hitchhiked in” on pets, or on clothing and luggage
    • Infested items (such as furniture or clothing) brought in
    • Nearby dwellings or infested items, if there are easy routes
    • Wild animals (such as bats or birds)
    • People visiting from a source of infestation, the bed bugs, like roaches, are transferred by clothing, luggage, or there may be one (or more) on person from outside of residence.

  • Asthma, Allergies and Dust Mites

    Did you know that you could be sharing your bed with anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites?

     

    These microscopic organisms, which are related to spiders, live in many homes. Too small to see with the naked eye, dust mites thrive in warm, humid environments – eating dead skin cells and nesting in dust collecting bedding, fabric, carpet and furnishings.

     

    The residue that dust mites leave behind in the form of their feces and decaying bodies mixes with dust and becomes airborne. Inhaling the residue can cause allergy symptoms, including wheezing, sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose.

    If you have a dust mite allergy, you may exhibit the signs and symptoms of hay fever (allergic rhinitis).

    Dust mite allergy symptoms may include:

    • Sneezing
    • Runny nose
    • Itchy, watery eyes
    • Nasal congestion
    • Itchy nose, roof of mouth, or throat
    • Swollen, blue-colored skin under your eyes
    • Postnasal drip
    • Cough
    • Irritability
    • Facial pressure and pain

    If you have asthma, you may also experience increased signs and symptoms of asthma, such as:

    • Lung congestion
    • Wheezing
    • Shortness of breath

    You may be especially prone to asthma attacks at night, when sleeping in a bed infested with dust mites. A dust mite allergy can range from mild to severe. A mild case of dust mite allergy may result in an occasional runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. In severe cases, the condition is chronic – resulting in, for example, persistent wheezing, sneezing, congestion and facial pressure.

  • Allergies / Dust Mites

    Considered one of the top triggers of allergy ailments, dust mites can rapidly multiply and make residence inside your mattress living off millions of human skin flakes. The feces byproduct from dust mites is often problematic for people with asthma and allergies. Dust mites, along with fungus, bacteria and mold, can create the perfect storm of allergy triggers causing health issues.

  • Hygiene and Sleep Perspiration

    The average person perspires 4 gallons a month while sleeping, which often passes through the sheets and into the mattress. Once inside the mattress odors, bacteria and fungus can begin to grow ultimately creating health issues and an unsanitary sleep environment.

  • Animals

    Our best friends love us, but sometimes they mistake our bed for an ideal bathroom spot. Once urine passes through the sheets and into the mattress, the ammonia from the urine trapped inside can attract them back again and again. The smell of cat urine is so strong that just a few uninvited visits to an unprotected mattress will in fact ruin your mattress.

  • Children

    It’s just a fact of life that accidents do happen and once they do, the mattress can become extremely unsanitary. This often happens not only to the child’s mattress, but to other mattresses in the home where the child may occasionally sleep. The smell of urine can linger for quite some time and is difficult, if not impossible, to fully clean.

  • Mattress Warranty

    Most mattress manufacturers will not honor the mattress warranty if the mattress has stains on it. A mattress protector is therefore required to protect it from any and all fluid stains.

  • Bed Bugs

    Having made an impressive comeback over the last few years, bed bugs seem to be here to stay. These blood sucking parasites, visible to the naked eye, are often carried home after stays in hotels on clothing or suitcases. Bed bugs can cause itchy rashes and can breed, live and defecate in your mattress. Once bed bugs have entrenched deep inside your mattress they are difficult to eradicate.

The Science Behind an Unprotected Mattress

  • As You Sleep…

    As you sleep, your body gives off heat, excretes fluids and sheds old skin and hair cells, creating an atmosphere inside your mattress and pillows that is warm, humid, and rich in decaying organic matter… This is the exact environment where harmful microbes flourish!

  • All Night Long…

    You spend one third of your life in bed, constantly breathing in the harmful microscopic particles that build-up inside an unprotected mattress and pillow, such as dust mite allergens, mold, mildew, fungus and bacteria.

  • The Major Trigger...

    The average bed contains as many as 10 million dust mites! Dust mite allergens, inside our mattress and pillows, have been identified as the major trigger of asthma attacks and many allergic reactions.