Modern developed cities cannot boast of the absence of human parasites. Bedbug bite marks can be detected even by a person who lives in conditions of perfect cleanliness and observes strict hygiene.
Especially often this problem is encountered in tourist trips. And in order to protect yourself, it is advisable to know the signs and symptoms of bedbug bites and distinguish them from the bites of other parasitic insects.
On a note
Today, the country with the highest standard of living in Europe - Sweden - suffers from bedbugs no less than the relatively underdeveloped Burma and Mexico. Some areas of Oslo and Umeå are so infected that local services already have a clear schedule for processing the same houses: after destruction, bedbugs from neighboring buildings infect the cleaned ones very quickly.
How do bed bugs bite?
The bed bug is a nocturnal hunter, the highest peak of activity of which occurs at 3-4 in the morning, when a person sleeps most soundly. Both the adult and the bug larvae feed exclusively on blood - they are generally not adapted to the consumption of other food sources.
The bed bug's mouth apparatus is a long, sharp proboscis, similar to a mosquito. With them, the bug easily pierces human skin (especially loves those places where the skin is thinner) in the place where the blood vessel is located.
These insects have a well-developed sense of smell, so they easily determine the optimal puncture site. In the photo below, you can clearly see the feeding insect:
After the puncture, the bug injects an anesthetic into the vessel, which prevents a person from feeling pain and waking up. Then the parasite is saturated with blood, crawls a few centimeters forward and repeats the operation.
One bug can make up to 7 such bites, leaving a clearly distinguishable “path” of red dots on the skin. In the photo, such lines from bites are clearly distinguishable:
It is interesting
A bed bug larva looks almost the same as an adult, only it is smaller. She has another characteristic feature: the larva does not know how to secrete an anesthetic secret, and therefore its bites are much more sensitive to humans. In addition, larvae require more food for active growth and they go hunting much more often than adults.
Review
“A few days ago I woke up at night from a bite. She thought she was bitten by a mosquito, wanted to slap him and hit her body with her hand. To the touch it was not a mosquito, but some disgusting beetle! She turned on the light and was horrified: the whole bed was strewn with small bugs, and there were small spots of fresh blood on the sheet. It was some kind of nightmare, I could no longer sleep, I collected them in a jar and threw them away. In the morning I looked on the Internet and realized that these were bed bugs. Only one thing is strange: they seem to bite painlessly, but I really felt it. ”
Nastya, Krasnoperekopsk
See also our bed bug experiments:We catch bedbugs and test different means on them - see the results...
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Bed bug bite symptoms
Most often, traces after bedbug bites are found only in the morning, when the insects already have time to hide. The bites look like red spots, which will certainly go in a chain one after another.
A symptom of a bug bite is not always the desire to scratch the place affected by insects - it is rather an individual reaction. For some people, bites do not bring physical discomfort, while someone really experiences severe itching.
On a note:
Sometimes bedbug bites can cause such severe itching that a person simply cannot sleep properly. And if this continues for many days, it often leads to a serious breakdown and depression.In such situations, one of the most effective remedies that eliminate itching and burning of the skin is the Gel after GEKTOR bug bites.
This tool also relieves swelling and disinfects the surface of the skin. Thus, as a result of the use of the gel, bedbug bites during the period of struggle with these parasites are much easier to tolerate.
Red spots look very unaesthetic and can be massive, affecting the entire open space of the body.
The characteristic symptoms of bed bug bites are prolonged hardness of the bite itself and its redness. In this they are well distinguished from mosquito bites: in the morning, mosquito bites practically do not differ in color from the skin around.
On a note
It is the apartments of "hard-skinned" people that are breeding grounds for bed bugs in the house. Such citizens do not feel bites, and the bugs in their home breed in abundance, constantly settling in neighboring apartments. And it is very difficult to calculate such a “breeder”, since he himself will never suspect that someone is biting him.
Review
“In my apartment, the bugs appeared with a new sofa that was bought in a store. He was placed in the nursery, after which every morning they saw red spots on his body and cheeks. Since it was summer, they sinned against mosquitoes. I bought fumigators and sprays, processed every evening. Everything was useless. When the summer ended and it got colder, it became clear that these were not mosquitoes. They took their son to a dermatologist, who could not make a diagnosis and prescribed an infusion of chamomile. All this horror continued until the arrived niece was put to sleep on this sofa. The next morning she woke up in the same condition and she was also taken to the hospital. At this point, another doctor unequivocally stated: these are bedbugs.I feel terrible that I could not get to this earlier, because the bites are very specific! My only problem was that I don’t know these parasites, although I used to sometimes meet individual bedbugs in the apartment, but I thought they were cockroaches.
Alla, Zelenograd
In addition to bed bugs, other bugs can bite a person: water striders, predators, smoothies. Distinguishing their bites from the bites of a domestic parasite is easy - they bite during the day and only once in self-defense. You can meet one of these bugs only when traveling to nature, but not at home. There are no specific symptoms of the bites of these bugs, they are very similar to bee stings.
Very dangerous triatomine bugs live in the tropics. The trace from their bite has a pronounced kiss shape, for which these bugs are also called kiss bugs. They carry the causative agent of the deadly and incurable Chagas disease, which kills more people in South America than malaria.
Photos and videos of bed bug bites
What to do with bedbug bites
Bedbug bites and their accompanying symptoms are not dangerous in themselves, but very unpleasant.
It makes little sense to treat them, but the simplest treatment will not hurt:
- bite marks should be washed with a soda solution or simply with soap and water;
- with itching, bites can be smeared with diluted ammonia;
- treatment of bite sites with parsley or potato juice has proven itself to be good.
And further: Poison bugs, but they appear again? It's time to think about prevention, and this is a delicate matter ...
There are cases when bedbug bites itch more than usual or increase very much in size.There may also be a general deterioration in well-being: nausea, dizziness, vomiting, muscle spasms, a feeling of lack of air.
All these symptoms indicate allergies and the development of complications after a bite. If this is an allergic reaction, then antihistamines such as Dimedrol or Diazolin will help stop it. If this does not help, you need to urgently consult a doctor.
Important!
With the rapid spread of redness from bites throughout the body, it is necessary to give the person Diphenhydramine and immediately take it to the hospital. With a severe allergic reaction to a bug bite, anaphylactic shock may develop.
If the bites do not heal for a long time or the allergy is just beginning, lubrication of the affected areas with Menovazin or Fenistil will be an effective remedy.
The photo below shows the symptoms of a moderately severe allergic reaction to bed bug bites:
Along with external symptoms, generalized ones also arise: fever, swelling, nausea, dizziness.
Bed bugs can be carriers of various infections, but they never infect humans. Infection is possible when combing the wounds and introducing microbes into them by the person himself.
Review
“I have a terrible allergy to bed bugs, and they seem to haunt me through life. Either I’ll spend the night with friends and wake up bitten, then they will find me in hotels or trains. After each such “invasion”, huge itchy red spots appear. I'm already used to it and take it easy. I removed bedbugs at home a long time ago, but on a trip I don’t forget to put a package of allergy pills with me. It helps a lot."
Oleg Sunkov, Ryazan
It is almost impossible to prevent the bites of bed bugs that already live in the apartment.Yes, there are means to scare them away for a while or physical methods of struggle, but all this does not solve the main problem.
To get rid of night bites, you need to take drastic measures: call a team of exterminators or start the fight against bloodsuckers on your own.
Another thing is if bed bugs overtook during a trip - for example, in a hotel. In this case, it is better to immediately ask for another room or even move to another hotel. And the point here is not only the unpleasant consequences of bites and sleepless nights. Bedbugs can get into a backpack or clothes, and then come with a traveler directly to his home and settle there.
It is important for a tourist to know how bedbug bites manifest themselves and how to distinguish a bedbug bite from the bites of other insects. If there is such information, then it will be much easier to deal with bedbugs in the room and their bites.
If there is no way to change the room, you should try to protect yourself: the easiest way is to put a container of water under each leg of the bed or sofa. However, this will only help if the mattress is free of parasites.
In any case, you need to have tools in your travel first-aid kit that will help you quickly treat bite sites.
The most important thing: at the time of eviction from a room with bedbugs, you need to carefully examine all your belongings. If there is at least one female bug in them, she will be able to travel thousands of kilometers to a new place of residence. Upon arrival home, things can even be boiled if there are any doubts about their cleanliness. Such measures will protect the tourist from the unpleasant consequences of any trip.
What do bed bug bites look like?
5 rules for choosing a service for the destruction of bedbugs in the house
I had spots on my legs and arms after being bitten by bed bugs. How can you get rid of them?
Probably just wait. For a long time I could not understand what it was - I thought it was some kind of allergy. Now everything gradually began to pass when she stopped sleeping on that sofa and began to “fight” with them.
I was generally bitten on the testicles, genitals, ass. Everything is unbearably itchy, I don’t know what to do anymore.
Menovazin or fenistil gel
Fear! I have never had bedbugs at home ... And it is better that they never appear.
Terrible, terrible! My girlfriend had this, she was saved by this site. I tried dihlafos and everything in a row, nothing came of it ... Then she climbed into the Internet, read it and they were gone, she hasn’t been tormented for a long time!
See a doctor immediately if you notice red spots on your skin that itch all the time! It could be bed bugs. Check the bed.
I was bitten by bedbugs from my husband's relatives. The bites are terrible, a strong allergic reaction, everything itches very much ...
Help, please, how to get them out? What drugs exist? My husband and I have spots all over our bodies and it itches terribly!
Fufanon in ampoules - for sale. You need to know the habits of bedbugs (enemies). They are very afraid of this substance (fufanon) ... An adult female is very prolific, every five days she lays eggs, from which this abomination appears. Buy a spray bottle, dilute the fufanon, but don’t regret it, it’s stronger. Spray on the walls, on the baseboards - leaves no traces. Do the same again five days later. The bugs will step on the poison and die. First, adults will die, then teenagers, then kids ... Don't give them time to grow up. Treat large areas outside the door - corridors, etc.
UNTRADITIONAL APPROACH! Hello everyone, dear colleagues in misfortune, Okhotnik and Rybak Alexey Fedorovich are in touch with you! Why are you all panicking like that, bedbugs, bedbugs - so what? I beg you, we found the enemy)) It's not pleasant, but he approached the problem like a real trophy-catching specialist))
When hunters or fishermen hunt, they study their rival! More precisely, the habits and properties of your trophy. If you had a rod bear in your house, your emotions would be much more intense, and here it’s just a bug, but very ancient. And as studies of the material on this bug showed, he is a very good hunter.Night)) I abandoned all the literature that is around - a lot is written about the bug, but the features and behavior of this hunter and habits are known only to specialists! He turned to the primary source - specialists who went through the school of bedbugs through the Soviet school, namely, to medical students of the 80s who studied in medical institutions and lived in hostels, where such goodness was in bulk. Old-school practical experience research yielded unprecedented results! SES specialists of those years managed not only to study behavior, but even to start making fun, I repeat, making fun of bugs ... The experience is colossal.
They gave us housing from the company. 4th day I itch, as if they are biting again. Beloderm cream helped, the fresh bite on the neck passed, and the sores on the legs did not go away for 6 days. How to process clothes and body?