Bed Bugs

1. All About Bed Bugs
2. How To Rid Bed Bugs
3. Treat Bed Bug Bites

How To Treat Bed Bug Bites

A bed bug bite looks like a small welt, and it burns and/or itches, according to the Adam Health Center. Red bumps that sting and/or itch like crazy, would be how bed bug bite victims describe it. You can't feel a bed bug bite while it happens (they take about five minutes to feed), and the bugs are nocturnal. So, then, they can feed peacefully while you sleep. Isn't Mother Nature just such a smartie?

          When bedbugs bite you, they inject a chemical that acts as an anesthesia on the area of the bedbug's bites. Chances are you won't feel a thing while the bedbugs are feasting on your blood. This explains why you can have multiple, even hundreds of bedbug bites and not wake up.

          People vary in sensitivity to this chemical injected while a bedbug bites. The amount you suffer from bedbug bites is unique, depending on your body's reaction to them. Some people are very allergic to the chemical, and break out in a rash. The rash (and possibly raised welts that might appear in each spot you received bedbug bites) may last as long as a few weeks before completely clearing up. If you are lucky, you'll only get the raised, itchy welts that disappear in a few days.

          It's important not to scratch the bites. Scratching bedbug bites can expose your skin to infection, which can in turn lead to complications like scarring. Treat the bedbug bites with a topical itch relief cream or oral antihistamine to relieve the itching. See a doctor for something prescription-strength if you are having a lot of difficulty.

          Bed bugs bite exposed skin and leave behind small, red, itchy welts. But bed bugs are not generally thought to transmit any diseases. The damage is more emotional than physical. The CDC does say that bites from bed bugs can be treated with topical emollients or corticosteroids. You can also take an oral antihistamine. If you are exposed, you may consider treating your home as well.

Bed Bugs

What are Bed Bugs?

          Bedbugs or bed bugs are small parasitic insects of the family Cimicidae (most commonly Cimex lectularius). The term usually refers to species that prefer to feed on human blood. All insects in this family live by feeding exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals. The name 'bedbug' is derived from the insect's preferred habitat of houses and especially beds or other areas where people sleep. Bedbugs, though not strictly nocturnal, are mainly active at night and are capable of feeding unnoticed on their hosts.

          Bed bugs are typically active at nightime, with a maximum attack period about an hour or two before sunrise, though given the chance, they may try to feed at other times throughout the day. Attracted by warmth and the presence of CO2, the bug penetrates the skin of its host with two hollow injector tubes. With one tube it injects its saliva, which contains anticoagulants and anesthetics, while the other tube withdraws the blood from its host. After a five minute blood meal, the bug returns to its hiding area. The bites can’t usually be felt until a few minutes or hours later. Although bed bugs can live for up to 20 months without a meal, they usually look for blood every five to ten days.

          Bed bugs are often falsly associated with dirt. They are attracted by exhaled CO2, not by filth, and they feed on blood, not garbage. The cleanliness of their surroundings has no effect on bed bugs.

          Bed bugs have been known to carry pathogens in their bodies, including plague and hepatitis-B. But they have not been linked to the transmission of any diseases and are not a medical threat. Some people can get skin irritations and scars from scratching bed bug bites. While these bugs are not thought of as a vector of transmissible diseases, they are a serious irritator and will create a lot of worry and alarm. With some people, it may precipitate mild cases of delusory parasitosis.

         A number of health effects may occur due to bed bugs including skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. Diagnosis involves both finding bed bugs and the occurrence of compatible symptoms. Treatment involves the elimination of the insect but is otherwise symptomatic.

          Bedbugs have been known by a variety of names including wall louse, mahogany flat, crimson rambler, heavy dragoon, chinche, and redcoat. Largely eradicated as pests in the developed world (primarily through the use of in the early 1940s, bedbugs have seen a resurgence since about 1995.

How to rid bed bugs?

Bed bugs on a bed sheet

1.  Prevention is the best best way to on how to rid bed bugs. If you think you’re being bitten (usually identified by rows of welts that appear during the night)it’s best to do a sweep of your home for these pests. Furniture, luggage, bedding and clothes hampers are probably the first places you’ll want to look for bed bugs. They’re small as shown in the  picture.

Blood stains from a bed bug

2. Blood stains and dark spots on bedding from fecal matter are a sure sign of a bed bug infestation. The reason blood stains happen is either because you’ve rolled over and crushed an adult full of blood, or the anticoagulant they’ve injected worked well enough that you continued to bleed after the bed bug has fed. If you see anything like blood, or even empty skins (from molting) around your bed, chances are you have bed bugs and you should know how to rid bed bugs.

3. If you’ve positively identified your problem as a bed bug infestation, it is time to sanitize the affected areas. If you can spare money for another mattress it would be a good idea to throw your old one out and learn ways on how to rid bed bugs. If you can’t afford another mattress, vacuuming the mattress and applying a sealable cover should be sufficient. Meanwhile, all clothes, linens, and bedding should be washed in hot water, and the immediate area vacuumed thoroughly.

4. How to rid bed bugs using insecticides?Insecticides are not preferred because insecticides should never be applied to an area where you sleep. Sticky traps, like those used for mice, are a good way to capture rogue bed bugs that have managed to escape your domestic exorcism. Some insecticides like Boric Acid might be used in areas around the bed, but never on the mattress itself.

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