How to recognize a bedbug bite
Parasites drink blood through capillaries located near the surface of the skin. The parts of the body with delicate skin are the first to be attacked.
Women and children are more often attracted to insects as victims. This is due to the fact that their skin is more delicate, and it is easier for bedbugs to bite through it.
And remember that bedbugs can be carriers of dangerous diseases, such as tuberculosis, typhoid, hepatitis B and others.
Signs identifying bedbug bites:
- flushed skin,
- severe itching
- swelling formation.
If a bitten person’s breathing worsens, the face and neck swell, bronchial spasms occur, and signs of anaphylactic shock appear, this means an allergy. For a mild form, take an antihistamine, and for a severe form, immediately call an ambulance.
Preventing bedbugs at home
Protection against bedbugs must be carried out fully taking into account the characteristics of the parasite itself. To properly combat bedbugs in the house, you should understand that many individuals have long been resistant to various means.
Bedbugs are insects, but disinfectants have little effect on them. Complete disinfestation should be carried out; special services deal with such issues. It is not easy to protect yourself from the appearance of bedbugs in your home without studying the habits of pests.
Features of the development of the parasite
The condition for the growth and development of bedbugs is blood. They can bite both humans and domestic animals. This often occurs in houses with poor amenities. Insect activity is observed only at night.
Often a person does not notice when he is bitten. This is due to the fact that this type of arthropod injects a special substance like an analgesic, which provides pain relief. Therefore, a person does not feel pain during a bite.
For further development, they need blood only once every few days. If there are such individuals in the apartment, residents and guests will not always be able to notice it in the initial stages. The condition for their existence is room temperature. Sharp fluctuations are unsuitable for their living conditions. The optimal temperature is considered to be from 18 to 23 degrees.
Where can you find bedbugs?
In the apartment, insects are located in places where there is little sunlight. These include:
- if this is a house on the ground, then insects often live under the floors;
- a favorite place is bed and underwear, especially the seam area;
- if there are carpets or any other products with a similar structure on the floor of the apartment, bedbugs are often found there;
- sometimes insects are found in electronics, namely in those that can be easily accessed, for example, a computer system unit;
- the back wall of a sofa or any household furniture.
In addition to the insects themselves, their eggs are often found. Bedbugs reproduce quite quickly. The female lays up to several dozen eggs in one cycle. Over the course of her entire life cycle, a female is capable of reproducing approximately 400 offspring.
Where does this type of arthropod in the home come from?
It's hard to protect yourself from these insects; they live everywhere. Often the way to enter an apartment is through means of housing communications. If your closest neighbors have arthropods, they will easily move to other residents.
They arrive with various things from other houses that were previously a hotbed of insects. The appearance of insects is especially important in houses located on the ground. In this case, the incidence of bedbugs increases several times. Pets can become carriers.
How to determine if there are bedbugs in your apartment?
The first thing that attracts attention is the bites. At first they are less noticeable and are often attributed to an allergic reaction. It is important that the localization of bites is mainly on the lower extremities. This suggests that insects are in floor carpets, baseboards or the floor itself.
If bedbugs are found in underwear and bed linen, the bite sites are located in the direction of the seams. Often this is the outer surface of the thigh, elbow bends.
As the number of insects increases, the frequency of appearance of red papules on the skin increases. Accompanied by itching.
Insect protection
In order to protect against insects in the form of bedbugs, various methods are used. It is important to know and understand in what places such inhabitants may be found. There are special services dedicated to insect control. They have a variety of pest control agents in their arsenal. They actively carry out pest control.
How to prevent arthropods?
There are certain preventive measures to reduce the risk of bedbugs developing in an apartment. The main methods for protecting against bedbugs at home is the use of special plants; they repel insects.
Sagebrush
The plant has a rich and concentrated aroma, which repels insects. For control purposes, fresh or dried wormwood should be used. The plant must be located in all possible insect habitats. The peculiarity of wormwood is that it perfectly hides the smell of a person, which bedbugs go after. An excellent way would be to use wormwood when cleaning floors. This is especially true for those whose house is located on the ground.
Tansy
Another plant that is included in the list of effective means when fighting insects is tansy. The inflorescences of this plant can also be used as personal preventive measures. To do this you need to make a decoction. At night you should rub it on your lower and upper limbs.
The smell of tansy repels bedbugs, which is necessary at night. If, nevertheless, the insect tries to bite, then tansy has a pronounced effect on the nervous system. It causes paralysis for a period of time. It is for this reason that tansy is one of the best means for prevention.
Ledum
Ledum has an excellent repellent aroma. To use it, the plant must be dried. Grind it into powder. The mixture should be used in all possible locations where bedbugs are located.
Chamomile
Chamomile flowers - it is used only in combination with other herbs. It has a repellent effect on bedbugs.
Benefits of oils
At home, you should use various essential oils to repel insects. Their composition has a pronounced aroma, it is sharp and rich. In combination with the above herbs, it is actively used to combat bedbugs. Cosmetologists recommend smearing essential oils on wooden furniture in the house. These could be sofa legs or chairs.
Personal protection
For personal protection, you should use a tansy solution and perfume oils. Any perfume has a rich smell. And the sharper the aroma, the more likely it is to repel bedbugs. It is important to understand that these insects are quite sensitive to various rare odors. Before going to bed, you should use perfume on exposed areas of the body.
Protection against bed bugs is as follows:
- bed linen must be thoroughly dried after washing;
- After drying, underwear must be ironed;
- special attention should be paid to the seams on clothes or bed linen;
- the iron should be set to the highest possible temperature;
- The seams should be ironed several times.
This is a personal precaution.
Use of special chemicals
Strong-smelling chemicals have an excellent destructive effect. These include all acetone and alcohol-containing compounds. These solutions should be used to spray areas of the house and wash the floor. You shouldn't abuse them. Any such compound can cause a severe allergic reaction or have a toxic effect on the human body. They should be used with extreme caution.
Basic rules for protection
There are certain rules on how to protect yourself from bedbugs.
Thorough cleaning of the apartment. It is important to use substances containing alcohol or acetone for cleaning. They are presented in large quantities in household chemical stores. When cleaning, it is necessary to pay attention to dark places in the apartment and touch all hard-to-reach places. Wet cleaning should consist of reducing the amount of dust where bedbugs may be present.
It is necessary to carry out cosmetic repairs no later than once every 3 years. This frequency of repairs will help avoid conditions for the development of bedbugs. It is especially important during repairs to pay attention to various small gaps in the floor or in the corners of the walls. It is worth replacing parquet flooring every 5 years. It is this that often becomes the habitat of bedbugs.
Before buying new furniture for your home, it is advisable to conduct a full inspection of it for the presence of larvae. Furniture should be cleaned using special products.
All ventilation openings in the house must be treated with a solution of wormwood or tansy herbs. It is recommended to carry out this treatment once a month.
It should be understood that all of the above measures are aimed at preventing the appearance of bedbugs or repelling them.
Protection against insects should consist of general protection and personal protection. Such a comprehensive approach will minimize the risk of a bedbug outbreak in the apartment.
What to do if bedbugs bite
Preventive and protective measures will help you avoid insect bites. Follow the rules for protection against bites until the bedbugs are destroyed. It is important to create conditions to protect children, because they have a harder time dealing with bedbugs.
Remember that bedbugs have a developed sense of smell, and they cannot tolerate odors that contain alcohol. Therefore, use alcohol-based perfumes and apply them to exposed parts of the body before going to bed.
In addition to alcohol, use:
- fish fat,
- essential oils,
- a decoction of cologne and cloves in a 1:1 ratio.
When the bugs have already bitten you, treat the attack mark with special means. Contact the pharmacy, and the pharmacist will recommend an effective drug for the consequences of bites.
Specialized stores sell products that help not only get rid of insects, but also protect your home from repeated invasions of parasites in the future. Such preparations are called insecticides; they are used to treat:
- furniture inside and outside;
- mattress for sleeping, specifically the lower part;
- cracks in floors, walls, door frames, baseboards, etc.;
- spaces behind paintings, carpets, wall decor;
- areas with peeling wallpaper.
Bed linen and clothes are washed in hot water with powder. For prevention purposes, lay fresh wormwood under furniture standing in the same place.
How to prevent and treat bedbug bites
The boy was bitten by bedbugs while he was sleeping
Itchy red spots from bites that appear every night on a person’s body may indicate the existence of insects in the house.
These could be bedbugs that become uninvited guests in the house.
What measures can be taken, what to apply to prevent bedbugs from biting?
Thanks to the active fight to destroy such insects and prevent their appearance, you can protect yourself and your household from many bites that lead to unwanted redness of the skin, itching, swelling, and allergies.
People are interested in: what to do if you are bitten by bedbugs and how to get them out?
If these parasites still leave traces of their bites on the body, then a number of immediate measures should be taken that will help not only get rid of the insects, but also bring the skin of the body into complete order.
You need to know exactly:
what to do to prevent bedbugs from biting,
what measures to take if insects do bite,
external signs of a bite,
first symptoms, allergic reaction,
how to eliminate bites, itching, swelling on a child’s body,
about the best drugs to combat bites.
How to cure bedbug bites
After an insect bite, spots remain on the skin that resemble mosquito marks. The spots itch and cause discomfort. There is no need to use special treatment methods, but it is worth relieving itching and inflammation.
To prevent marks from itching, wash with soapy water. Inflammation is relieved by cold compresses or ice. If an allergic reaction occurs, an ointment is applied to the washed bite site, which will relieve itching and prevent the development of allergies. Choose ointments that contain an anesthetic substance.
If severe swelling has formed at the bite sites, use the following remedies:
- Hydrocortisone, alcohol tincture of propolis - help relieve pain and redness after a bite.
- Akriderm - removes inflammation.
- Tavegil - accelerates the healing of numerous bites.
- Soda solution - helps overcome itching and reduces inflammation.
- Peppermint essential oil – relieves redness and swelling.
- Tsindol – promotes rapid tissue restoration.
Traditional methods can be used without fear, as they are quite effective and safe. Before using medications, be sure to consult a dermatologist.
Remedies for bedbug bites
In order to prevent bedbug bites and protect yourself from possible infection, preventive measures should be taken. Insects are afraid of the odors of substances containing alcohol. Therefore, it is recommended to use colognes and perfumes before going to bed. They can be used to anoint any part of the body. Essential oils and fish oil can help repel insects. They lubricate exposed skin areas. Often people use repellents for these purposes - chemical substances that repel insects, including bedbugs.
Remedies for bedbug bites
What to do if bedbugs bite a child
The situation is complicated by the fact that children do not tolerate the itching, but scratch the bites until scratches form. Then, instead of swelling, wounds form, which become infected and fester. In addition, most medications are contraindicated in young children.
You can help your child in the following ways:
- Wipe the bite area with a cotton ball soaked in soap and water.
- From medications, choose syrups, but first consult with a pediatrician or at least a pharmacist at the pharmacy.
- For advanced bites, doctors recommend corticosteroid medications. For children's skin, it is allowed to use zinc ointment.
If you don't have anything suitable at hand, apply something cold to the bite site and hold it for 20 minutes.
What are bed bugs?
No person is immune from an infestation of bed bugs. If you live in a high-rise building and your neighbors have parasites, be prepared for them to come to you.
Insects crawl through door cracks, cracks in walls, ventilation systems and electrical wiring. In the warm season, they reach people from the outside of the house.
The main source of food for bedbugs is human blood. In case of unbearable hunger and lack of food, they can attack animals. But most often, bedbugs get into the house from the street, clinging to the fur of pets. In one night, parasites are capable of inflicting up to 500 bites, as they live in groups.
Bedbugs feed using a special organ - the proboscis, consisting of two jaws. With one they inject saliva containing an anesthetic into the human blood, and with the other they pierce the human skin.
Due to the anesthetic contained in the saliva of bedbugs, a person does not always feel the bites. Bedbugs operate mainly at night or early in the morning, when the victim is sleeping.
What to do to prevent bedbugs from biting?
Of course, the most effective way to avoid bedbug bites is to kill the insects. To do this you need:
- do general cleaning (vacuum carpets, upholstered furniture, wipe dust, wash textiles and bed linen, steam bedding);
- make cosmetic repairs as necessary (glue up wallpaper that has come off the walls, seal gaps and cracks in the floor, walls, door and window frames, seal joints);
- use an insecticidal preparation (treat the bed frame, sofas and armchairs, the space behind baseboards, shelves and carpets, bedside tables and cabinets).
You can try to protect your sleeping area from bedbugs, for example, by placing plastic containers of water under the legs of the bed or by wrapping the legs with double-sided tape. But this method cannot be called effective; hungry parasites will find an opportunity to get to the food source in one way or another.
Another rather unusual way is to sleep in the light. Parasites are active in the dark, so most likely they will not crawl out of their hiding places into a brightly lit space. But this method has two main disadvantages.
- Firstly, for a person, sleeping with the light on is unusual and not recommended. Problems with falling asleep, shallow sleep, and as a result, insufficient rest, decreased activity and performance are very likely.
- Secondly, hunger will most likely be stronger than discomfort and after a few days, when hungry, the insects will still go out hunting.
Signs of the presence of bedbugs
You can understand that there are bedbugs in your apartment by the following signs:
- The presence of small black spots on the floors and walls.
- The presence of a peculiar pungent odor in the room, reminiscent of sour raspberries or almonds.
- Constant lack of sleep and nervousness.
- Presence of blood drops on bed linen.
- The appearance of swollen spots that itch and hurt.
If you find these factors, then the house has been chosen by insects and you need to take the necessary measures to exterminate the parasites.
What to do to prevent bedbugs from biting? First, take measures to destroy the bedbug nest. Carry out general cleaning, wash clothes and bedding at at least 60 degrees and iron them.
