Healing Experience from a Malaysia-based Japanese Mother & Child

by Lemon Wong August 17, 2021

Sneezing, runny nose and itchy body - these are what my son, Kio has been through every morning for the past few years before I figure what makes these happen to him.

Hi! I'm Yuki, a Japanese mom living in Malaysia. When I first moved to Malaysia thirteen years ago, my child has been suffering from severe dust mites allergy which costs me spending thousands of Ringgits to figure out the causes. With all the struggles and money spent, I would like to share with you the allergy journey and how we treat and prevent it.

How I Discovered My Son's Severe Dust Mites Allergy

At the very first, Kio sneezed occasionally but the symptoms got better after few days. And of course, I did not take the sneeze seriously. A few months after, he experienced a more frequent runny nose, and sometimes he couldn’t sleep due to shortness of breath.

As Kio’s symptoms look like allergic reactions, I quickly link them to food allergies. To treat the ‘allergy’, I started to stop cooking specific food - from fish, prawns to sesame and eggs. But the symptoms did not get better after all.

Finding The Right Way

I brought Kio to visit a clinic nearby my house and he was just diagnosed with normal flu, and the sneeze did not relieve after having different medicines. By that time, I was urgent to travel back to Japan and generally leaving house more to settle my travel documents. I brought Kio with me and I noticed that he felt much better in terms of sneezing and coughing when he was out of the house. The second that he got home he would start sneezing, coughing, and even getting an itchy throat at night.

As Kio felt better outside the house, I quickly deduced that these specific symptoms were not due to normal flu or food allergy. I was thinking: It had to be something in my home. So after searching like crazy about Kio's symptoms, Google eventually led me to dust mite allergy testing, and low and behold, Kio is allergic to dust mites!

Here are some basic differences between food allergy and environmental allergy. It's easy to get confused as we normally will link allergic reactions to food instead of the environment.

Allergy Test

To validate my doubt, I decided to bring Kio to consult an allergist in Mont Kiara to have an allergy test. After doing a blood test, Kio has a very high allergic reaction to dust mites as expected. And the results show that Kio is also allergic to cat dander and house dust, what a surprise!

The allergist told us that Kio's allergy is highly affected by environment. To cure his allergy, it is first and foremost important to control the dust mites already in house and prevent them from multiplying.

Kio's Asean Allergen Screen Personalised Report

The consultation and test fee were such a pain!

3 Ways to Clean Your Mattress Naturally

In my humble opinion, there is almost no point of treating yourself if you are still continuously going to be attacked by endless dust mites at home. It will be a constant battle. As soon as you find out that you are allergic to dust mites, you need to reduce the dust mites already in your home. Here’s exactly what I did to reduce and prevent dust mites:

1. Wash bedding weekly.

‣ Wash all sheets and blankets in hot water that is at least 130 F (54.4 °C)

‣ If bedding can't be washed hot, put the items in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at a temperature above 130 F (54.4 °C)

2. Disinfect your mattress.

‣ Place your mattress under the sun for 6-8 hours to allow your mattress to air thoroughly.

3. Remove carpeting and other dust mite habitats.

‣ Replace wall-to-wall bedroom carpeting with tile, wood, linoleum or vinyl flooring

‣ Replace other dust-collecting furnishings in bedrooms, such as upholstered furniture, non-washable curtains and horizontal blinds.

Air Purifier: Yes and No.

If you didn’t already know, mattress is the main source of indoor pollution.

Studies have shown that mattresses are actually the dirtiest place in the house, hiding mites and PM2.5 particles. They can cause allergic, and affect our sleeping quality that can possibly threaten people's health.

To remove dust mites, the first thing that came into my mind is: get an air purifier! An air purifier in the bedroom can help trap these allergens before they have a chance to settle. Well, this is partially true. Here’s why:

Air purifier is great in absorbing the floating pollutants in air, but it cannot penetrate the bed and solve the problem inside the mattress.

Also, washing beddings and sunbathing the mattress in a tiny balcony wasn't practical for me. Can you imagine you have to carry a bulky mattress in and out every week?

Is there a way to eliminate Kio’s dust mite allergy effectively, while it’s cost-effective and less time-consuming?

The All-In-One Raycop

When in doubt, use Google.

We can't deny Google is one of the best invent in the century. I strongly believe there's a way to cure my son's dust mites allergy without burdening me every week. So, I get back to Google to look for help.

And this is the time where I met the life-changer, Raycop.

Raycop is the No.1 Mattress Cleaning Brand in Japan. It helps to purify, kill and remove dust mites all in one step!

I have to be honest here: I clicked immediately when I saw the word 'No.1 in Japan'. If you can be the best seller in the hygiene loving country, I think the brand is definitely worth a try!

I bought a Raycop RS300 Dust Mites Allergen Vacuum Cleaner from their website. I immediately tried it on my son's bed right after I received the vacuum cleaner. And guess what? The first use was truly impressive!

The vacuum sucked out a thick layer of dust from my son's bed and it's completely visible as I can see it from the transparent container. The dual filtration system is one of my favourites. I can easily wash the filters after I clean my bed. It's more hygiene compared to a lot of vacuums that can't be washed. And the HEPA Grade 13 Medical Filter is my biggest saver, I can tell it really makes a difference when I vacuum. Both filters have great seals, ensuring the air coming out of the device is filtered and purified twice.

Another best thing: RAYCOP allergen vacuums have also received the British Allergy Foundation Seal of Approval! It's effective to relieve allergic against dust mites, bacteria and viruses!

The first use has already been mind-blowingly good - but something caught me even surprise is Kio did not sneeze the next morning! I was really impressed by its effectiveness and I continued to use Raycop to clean every bed in the house every two days.

The Bottom Line

As a Japanese, I always thought I am 'clean' and 'hygiene' enough. I mean.. you can't deny Japan is one of the hygiene-loving countries. But dust mites - is something that I didn't put into my consideration when it comes to cleaning. So, don’t underestimate these tiny creatures that can potentially hurt your family (and your wallet) if you did not treat them right.

I'm glad that Kio's allergic is finally under control. Overall, all these things to do might sound overwhelming, but keep in mind, everything I’ve done above has been over 2 years. Take your dust allergy treatment step by step. Remember that health is the most important thing in your life so don’t let the dust mites allergy get the best of you!