Bed Bugs Bites

by Ade Pranata

Bed bugs can be everywhere. Most probably, your bed contains hundreds to thousands of bed bugs that crawl and creep into your body when you are asleep.

Bed bugs are like insects equipped with intelligence. They really can get smart. Bed bugs suck the blood of their host, which of course are humans, and sometimes animal pets like fogs, cats, birds and even bats.

Long time ago, bed bugs are most prevalent among birds’ nests. But because just like the human species, bed bugs are evolving and adapting to environmental changes, they have learned to crawl into people’s homes, particularly beds and room surfaces.

Bed bugs take their sumptuous meals by using their elongated beaks to pierce through the skin of the host. After that, they start the feast and harshly suck on blood until they can no longer take more.

What a fortune! While people find it hard to find food, bed bugs find it very easy. And more often, they feast and not run out of supplies.

Diseases from bed bugs

Doctors and medical practitioners assure, however, that bed bugs’ bites are not that harmful. Mosquito bites are far more threatening because they can sometimes transfer a number of serious ailments like malaria, dysentery, elephantiasis or h-fever.

In comparison, bites of bed bugs do not pose much health risk. Bed bugs can be a host to a number of diseases but they seldom pass this on to their hosts or victims.

Good thing that bed bugs are safe biters when it comes to ailments and diseases transferred through that way.

Understanding how bed bugs bite

As described earlier, bed bugs use their beaks to pierce skin and get or suck the abundant supply of blood. By doing so, it is inevitable for them not to transfer or leave their saliva into the pierced skin.

This saliva, thankfully, can never contain diseases or pathogens. But, these saliva can cause allergic reactions. Some people’s systems will react harshly to such bites.

Hence, most bed bugs’ bites swell after 10 minutes to 24 hours. Just like mosquito bites, they swell and appear reddish. They are also accompanied by little discomfort and itchiness.

The itch from bed bugs’ bites can be so persistent and annoying that if you keep on scratching, you will be tempted to make it harder. By that, you will be creating little wounds.

At most, that is what bed bugs’ bites can do.

Avoiding bed bugs’ bites

Of course, the beat and most effective way to prevent or avoid bed bugs’ bites is by making sure the insects will not appear during sleep hours. And how can that be?

By ensuring that your bed or your room as a whole is not infested by bed bugs. To prevent bed bugs from attacking, maintain hygiene and cleanliness. Regularly clean the room and be thorough in cleaning crevices and cracks on floors and walls.

If you like traveling, make sure the place you are staying in is not infested with bed bugs. Otherwise, bed bugs can get into your baggage, and voila, when you unpack your things at home, bed bugs will be spread into your room.

There are also insect-repellant products in the market. There are those products that can be applied to your skin like lotion. Once you have these repellant, bed bugs will be reluctant to get near you. They will find your skin a danger zone and will find you unappealing as a food source. Isn’t that appealing to you?

Bed bugs, wrapping up

Bed bugs’ bites are hard to avoid especially if you are not living alone in your room, or you have thousands of bed bugs families in your bed. Prevention is better than cure.

Might as well be very careful not to make your room and bed breeding grounds for bed bugs. In the market, you can also find dozens of lotions  or skin products that serve as repellant to bed bugs.

Being bitten by bed bugs can never be serious, don’t worry. All you have to do is treat the bitten skin part the way you treat mosquito bites. They normally fade out and heal by themselves over a little time.