What Do Bed Bug Bites Look Like?
Bed bug bites very often will appear on your skin in a line or clustered together.
Once you are asleep multiple bed bugs will emerge from their hiding place in the folds of sheets or blankets. Bites will not be limited to any specific place on the body like just ankles or legs but can be anywhere there is exposed skin.
Bed bugs extract your blood by piercing your skin with an elongated beak and then withdrawing the blood into their body cavity.
Although a bed bug bite is painless and not immediately felt, most people will react to the proteins in the saliva and a welt will appear (similar to a mosquito bite). Itching and swelling are common but itchiness does not peak until a week has passed.
Because there is a spectrum of reactions people have to bed bug bites many will be little affected while others will have extreme reactions and feel the need to scratch compulsively it is so itchy. One study documented that up to 30 percent of bed bug bite victims will not display any evidence of having been bitten or fed upon. For this reason, it becomes difficult to determine where or when bites actually occurred.
Unfortunately, there is nothing unique about the appearance of bed bug bites as there is with some other insect bites like the “bullseye” pattern of tick bites. For this reason, the only way to determine if you have bed bug bites is to firmly establish if there are bed bugs in or near where you sleep at night.
Senior citizens are very often unaware they have been bitten so it is especially important that caregivers and family inspect their skin condition on a regular basis from top to bottom. Consider this a bed bug danger because if people are not aware of being bitten bed bugs will multiply and the problem will only get worse. Identifying the problem early will save everyone suffering, money and time.
Although many sources claim that bed bugs do not transmit disease there is one study proving that bed bug poop does in fact transmit the parasite that causes Chagas disease which kills on average 50,000 people annually: https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2014/november/penn-study-shows-bed-bugs-can
If not addressed quickly and efficiently the nightly torture of bed bugs can inflict extreme psychological stress and emotional trauma on their victims with lasting effects. Killing bed bugs with heat yourself is the preferred method for dealing with the problem. The high cost of bed bug heat treatment using a service company is often the reason that folks choose to purchase their own heater for bed bugs. Control over cost and when you can heat treat your own living space is priceless. An added benefit to owning your own
This stress will adversely affect emotional health especially in our most vulnerable populations including those living in shelters, drug and alcohol treatment facilities, affordable housing and those with physical and emotional disabilities.
For additional information and details on bed bug heating equipment visit this post: The Ultimate Guide to Bed Bug Heaters: Buying a Bed Bug Heater vs Renting