If you’re scared stiff because you found a single bed bug in your home, and you’re wondering about what you should do next, it’s good to start by calling pest control companies in your area. This is especially important to do if there are additional signs of a possible infestation in your home, such as black dots beneath the edges of your soft furnishing and restless sleep for you and your family. In this case, it’s important to take action immediately because bed bugs can reproduce quite fast. What is a minor inconvenience can evolve into a full-blown infestation faster than you’d ever believe.
If you’re wondering when you find a bed bug, are there more hiding elsewhere, it’s best to take action fast. Whether there are dozens of bed bugs on a sheet that you sleep on or there are simply traces of them, don’t give them the chance to run your home. Remember that it may not be easy for you to actually spot bed bugs, since bugs at night are more active than they are during the day. In this case, a professional will be able to find out if many others need to be eradicated by checking for the signs.
Bed bugs are tiny little critters that’ll bite you as you dream away. They are reddish-brown in color and are about 7mm long. Bed bugs crawl as they don’t have wings to fly. If you’ve been bitten, and there are small dark spots on your bedding, you may have quite a few of these bugs crawling about. Bed bug remediation will be needed to eliminate them.
A bed bug assessment will be needed to confirm there are indeed bed bugs present. Bedding, mattresses, headboards, and crevices will be inspected for signs such as fecal spots, eggs, shed exoskeletons, and a weird musty smell. The strange eggs found under bed and furniture could be from bed bugs. Their eggs are whiteish in color.
When is bed bug season? There’s no specific season, but they may seem prevalent in the holiday or travel season. This could be because they spread via luggage, clothing, used furniture, and other personal items. The ideal steam temp to kill bed bugs is at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit, without damaging the surface of the item.
DIY ways of eliminating bed bugs may not work. It’s better to hire bug control experts to deal with them. Choose a reputable company that’s experienced in getting rid of these pests.
Your nightmare has come true — you found some strange insect bites on your body, did a little bit of research, and lifted up your mattress to confirm the diagnosis only to find dozens of the creepy-crawlies creepy-crawling all over the place where you spend eight hours every single day. Bed bugs are disgusting pests that can disrupt your mental state due to anxiety, and are difficult to eradicate. Luckily, there are professional pest control services that exist exclusively to help with these uncomfortable situations. Once you call a bed bug exterminator and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the minuscule monsters will be gone for good, you need to treat the irritating evidence of their presence: those itchy little welts on your skin. Here are three ways to reduce the swelling, irritation, and itchiness of bed bug bites:
- Anti-histamines: The easiest but also most expensive option, you can either take an anti-histamine commonly used for low-grade allergic reactions (such as Benadryl), or apply a steroid cream (such as hydro-cortisone cream) to reduce redness and the urge to scratch. Bed bugs don’t spread disease, but scratching does increase the chance for infection, so always remember to wash the area with a gentle soap first to kill any bacteria that may be present before using these methods.
- Aspirin: Crush up a tablet of aspirin and mix it with a bit of water to turn it into a paste you can apply topically. This reduces redness and inflammation and will bring any swelling down relatively quickly. Most households have a bottle at the ready, so hopefully you won’t need to make a trip to the store for this quick method.
- Baking soda: The cheapest option of all (you can get a pound of the stuff for around a dollar at most stores), you can mix baking soda with a little water to create a thick paste that can be applied directly to the bite. Let it dry and you should feel relief, and can leave the paste on for as long as needed.
Remember to call your local bed bug exterminator first so you don’t need to repeat these treatments dozens of times, and you’ll be sleeping easy before you know it.
If you think a bed bug bite has become infected, visit your doctor before attempting to treat it yourself.
