Bedbug Bites: Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention | Docindia.org

April 19, 2024

What are Bedbugs?

Have you ever seen insects on your bodies or animals’ bodies when they are bleeding? Yes, right? Bedbugs are nothing but insects that are small, oval, and live on human’s or animal’s blood. As compared to baby bedbugs, old bedbugs are bigger in size just like that of seed in an apple. Their body color and size change once they are done with feeding. Their bodies turn bigger due to swelling and their color changes to red due to bloodsucking.

Fun Fact- They Don’t Fly

So now the question is if they do not fly how do they reach the human body or animal body? All right, bedbugs have a very good speed, and they move too quickly on the floors, ceilings, and walls anywhere and everywhere. They can even travel to your bed using their speed. When male bedbug mates with female bedbug hundreds of eggs are laid by a female bedbug and they are about the size of a speck of dust. Throughout their life, their size remains the same. Do you know what are immature or baby bedbugs are known as? Immature or baby bedbugs are known as nymphs and to reach the stage of maturity they shed their skin five times. Every time they shed their skin their body requires a proper meal of blood beforehand. When the condition is in favor of bugs, they can fully grow in a very short time span as short as that of a month. When they grow, they produce up to three or more generations per year. These bedbugs do not harm you and are considered too useless because they do not transmit any kind of disease.

Home For Bedbugs

Usually, bedbugs do not live in your house, but they may enter your house through your belongings like clothes, used furniture, luggage, etc. their body structure that is flattened helps them and makes it easier for them to fit in microscopic places that are about the width of any card. Bedbugs do not have their home like other insects (nests of ants and bees) but they do survive in hidden places like frames of bed, mattresses, springs of boxes, headboards, under wall hangings in groups. They hide in such places so that it can be easy for them to make access to their food by biting people at night. After some time, they travel to your bedroom and then move to safe. Once they find a protected place they may scatter in other rooms and even the whole apartment. As we know bedbugs survive totally on blood, we don’t have to worry about the dirt Inness they might spread or homes they might create because you will find them only in dirty places be it home or hotel.

What Happens When Bedbugs Bite?

Bedbugs are smart as they bite you at night as are pitch dark when you are sleeping. They are active at night. They survive by sucking your blood by piercing your skin and then sucking your blood through their beak that is large. They usually bite from 3 minutes minimum to 10 minutes maximum and then move back to their place slowly and unnoticed. They do it so that they can feed themselves the most. When bedbugs bite it is usually painless in the initial stage but afterward, it feels itchy on the skin where they have given a bite to you. Flea bites you on ankle areas but unlike them, bedbugs bite you wherever they get to bite you. They target the area that is exposed out and give them easy access. Their bite is different from that of a flea bite, a flea bite leaves a red mark on your skin, but bedbugs bite does not leave any kind of spot. You will not realize whether it is a bedbug bite or a mosquito bite until you identify a bug itself. You may feel itchy and welts when a bedbug bites you and to confirm that you need to look around for the hidden bedbug.

Invasion Signs

When you wake up whether in the morning or night and you feel itchy on the skin, particularly in the areas where you were not itchy when you went to sleep then you know that you have bedbugs somewhere be it on the furniture or walls. That is only possible when you are using an already used bed to sleep or any other furniture that is used. If your itching starts when you are around something like this, you should know it is a bedbug and must find them. A few other possibilities of having a bedbug are-

Blood spots or marks on your bedsheet and pillow covers.
Dark brown spots or marks on your bedsheet, pillow covers, mattress, walls, or blankets.
Eggshells or shed skin in the corners of the house or headboards where bedbugs hide.
Weird or dank smell that is secreted from the scent glands of the bugs.

Once you spot the bedbug’s invasion, try to figure out the source that is leading to the same. Remove or adjust your bed and observe the signs carefully of the bugs like shells and shed skin. They are hidden even in the dust so remove the covers that must be on the spring boxes or bed. The wooden frames can also carry bedbugs, so it is very important to check very carefully to find out the root cause of bedbugs. If there is any sheet that is plated on the wall or bed, peel it off to examine the actual frame of things.

If your bed has places where you keep things like books, telephone, radios, or lamps it is advised to go into deep roots to find bedbugs. Your carpet and electrical appliances can also carry bedbugs. Things that are not used for a long time are also a big source of bedbugs. Check up on your closet or wardrobe because it might be attached to something that is not touched for so long. It might be hanging in there on the top corners of your closet. If the issue is observed, you must call the pest controller who can look for the signs and manifest steps that can stop the invasion of bedbugs.

Bedbugs Treatments

The most important thing is to keep your surroundings clean as they hide in filthy places. Factors that include getting rid of bedbugs are-

Time to time cleaning of things like curtains, linens, beds, mattresses in warm water as it kills the germs and then blow dry them in the highest frequency of drying machine. If you have soft toys and items like shoes, they should be washed for at least half an hour and should be air dried.
Use of rigid brushes for scrubbing the mattresses can help you in getting rid of bedbugs and their dead skin and eggshells before you use vacuum cleaner on them.
Using airtight covers for spring boxes, mattress, and other material is a safer option as they do not allow bedbugs to enter the material and hide inside them. Hence helps in getting rid of them. To ensure that there are no bedbugs you must keep it covered for at least one year as the surviving age of bedbugs is one year that too without being fed. So, make sure you follow the covering rule.
On the wall covers or paint cracks make sure you fix them. Also glue down the broken beds or other furniture to avoid giving them a new place to hide.
Avoid keeping things around your bed in a messed-up manner.

Once your things are invaded with bedbugs you have no option of getting rid of them other than purchasing a new one but before you purchase a new one, make sure your house is rid of bedbugs else they will invade into the new things as well.

Bedbugs Destruction

Keeping your house clean is the very first attempt towards controlling bedbugs and getting rid of them. Usually, bedbugs require chemical treatment through pest control but treating your bed, mattress and whole room with chemicals can be harmful to you as well. So, keeping your room clean is the very first piece of advice. You can use daily cleaning products that are used for cleaning your home as they are user-friendly and do not harm you. Do not use these products on your mattresses and beds until or unless it is mentioned on the label regarding the use.

It is prescribed to call a pest control professional for bedbug invasion as it is the most effective way of controlling bedbugs and safer at the same time.