Doctor Reveals Gross Reason Why You Need To Change Your Pillow Every Two Years

All too many of us neglect our beds, often waiting until we can see things crawling in the sheets before deciding to clean it. Well, Dr Karan Raj has now reminded us of the importance of changing our pillows every two years, and the reason is pretty horrific.

The TikTok star says that if we fail to bin old pillows, we could be laying our head every night on a damp cloud of mouldy poo. Nice.

In a video posted to his channel, Dr Raj says: "You need to change your pillows at least every two years.

"The average person sheds about four kilos of skin every year. Most of that ends up on your bed or pillow - a feast for microscopic dust mites.

"A single dust mite has about 20 dumps a day. Multiply that by the hundreds of mites living on your pillow. The build-up of dust mite faeces can cause breathing and allergy-type symptoms.

"And those nasty, yellow spots on your pillows? That's sweat and oil from your body. That moisture can breed mould and bacteria."

He adds: "Finally, if you can fold your pillow in half and it doesn't spring back, that pillow is dead.

"It's no longer keeping your neck and spine in alignment, causing neck pain."

Dr Raj/TikTok

And once you've had a look at your pillow, you might want to have a think about the rest of your bedding. Luckily, Dr Raj has some tips for that, too.

In a previous video, the health professional said it was important you don't make your bed immediately after getting up in the morning.

He says: "Stop making your bed first thing in the morning, it's going to make you healthy.

"Making your bed in the morning traps dust mites that have accumulated over night.

"These microscopic predators, which are less than a millimetre long, feed on the scales of human skin and thrive in moist environments.

"When we sleep at night, our bodies become warm and sweaty, making them prime targets for these mites to feed on.

"They will leave behind excretions which can give us asthma or allergy-like symptoms.

"So making your bed in the morning traps all this moisture and provides a home for 1.5 million of these bad boys."

He adds: "Instead leave your bed messy just for a while. It exposes these mites to air and sunlight, which dehydrate them and causes them to die."

Topics: Science, Entertainment, Social Media, UK Entertainment, Health, TikTok

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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