After a long day at work, people look forward to going home and getting a good night’s sleep which is supposed to rejuvenate the body, and soothe the weary mind.  A comfortable bed to settle in may just be the perfect answer to tired and aching muscles. But what if your bed is already occupied by something else other than you, without you even knowing it?

Bedbugs are parasitic insects that belong to the Cimicidae family.  These small, wingless creatures typically feed on the blood of warm blooded animals and, in most cases, human. The parasite derived its popular name from its preferred habitat -- beds and other sleeping areas. Though they are not entirely nocturnal, they are mostly active during the night while you are fast asleep.

Detecting Bedbugs

The most common symptom of bedbug infestation is the sudden appearance of rashes, mimicking an allergic reaction. If you have not done or experienced anything that may have caused the rashes, there’s probably something lurking beneath your bed sheets.

Bedbugs use a pair of hollow feeding tubes. The first tube is use to inject anesthetics and anticoagulants to prevent the host from feeling the bite and to avoid the blood from clotting. The second tube sucks the blood and it takes an average of five minutes before the bedbug withdraws its feeding tube. The process is spontaneous and the host will barely notice that he is being fed upon. The most noticeable indications are the skin rashes after waking up.

Bedbugs use their senses to follow carbon dioxide markers, body warmth and some chemicals to locate their potential hosts. They can infest your home by clinging into your clothes and luggage, transferring from a neighboring infested location, through pets and wild animals and other infested items. Aside from the bites, it’s easy to know whether your beds are infested with bedbugs.  Just look for insect traces like molts or shed off skin, tiny blood smears and fecal spots.

Health Hazards of Bedbugs

There are indications that bedbugs carry pathogens inside their abdomens such as hepatitis B. But it is yet to be proven whether the parasite is capable of transmitting the disease. Despite this, there are several immediate health hazards and inconvenience brought by bedbug infestation.

Bedbugs make very small incisions on the skin deep enough to reach blood vessels. Due to the anesthetics that the parasites use, the host will barely notice the feeding process. The skin will tend to swell and leave unpleasant looking welts on the surface, and the intense itchiness makes it hard to resist scratching. The bites may become infected and scarring may occur.

Bedbug bites can also cause stress and serious psychological trauma. A victim who has suffered from bedbug infestation may still feel the threat of the bugs even if the infestation has been fully managed and the bugs completely eradicated. This is what medical experts would usually refer to as delusional parasitosis.

A single bite can also lead to anaphylactic shock for people with strong allergic reaction to insect bites. This causes a person to suffer from extreme difficulty in breathing and cardiac arrest. Bedbug infestation also leaves an unpleasant smell in the room from the oil-like liquid emitted from their bodies. Bedbug infestation can also have a significant financial impact since professional bedbug management can cost around $200 to $400 dollars depending on the severity of the case.

Bedbug Self Management

It is a common notion that bedbug problems can be managed with the help of pest control professionals. But with the right equipments and the most effective methods to kill the parasites, this can be done all by yourself.

The first thing to do is to locate the bugs hiding places. You may need to remove any clutter in the room to make inspection a lot easier. Segregate any items made from fabric like soft toys, stuffed animals, blankets, pillow covers and clean them with a vacuum cleaner, by washing in hot water or by applying heat with the use of a dryer. The common bedbug hiding places are in the mattress and the bed frames. Dismantling the bed frames may expose the bedbugs’ deepest hiding places. Remember not to focus on the bed alone. Bedbugs can be anywhere in the room including other furniture like desk and drawers. They may also be hiding beneath the carpets.

Knowing how bedbugs look like and how they behave will help you know where to look. Bedbugs can often be seen with the naked eye and adult bedbugs have a brownish color and flat oval shape. Their flat bodies help them crawl into narrow crevices and cracks. Bedbugs prefer isolated and dark places so make sure to inspect every corner of the room. Once the area has been cleared from clutter, start from the dark corners of the room and end with inspecting the bed frame and mattress. Be sure to write down the spots showing indications of being inhabited with bedbugs to make sure you don’t miss anything.

Bedbugs will tend to wander but they usually share a common hiding place with other bedbugs. If you can’t see the actual bedbug, consider marks like fecal spots as an indication of where they live. Also consider where you are commonly bitten. If bites are commonly found on your neck they are most likely living on the head board or the upper part of the bed. But simply take this as a guide on where to start inspecting. Systematically locating their hiding places is the best way of killing as much bugs as possible. Also remember than bedbugs are very mobile. So fogging the room will only make the bugs scatter and make infestation a lot worse.

The use of pesticides in order to get rid of bedbugs is indeed very tempting.  But way back 1940’s, reports came out stating that there are bedbugs that have become resistant to it.  So it is always best to leave it to professionals since they know what they are doing.

Natural Bedbug Remedies

Bedbugs can tolerate the effects of common pesticides and insecticides used for the control of other parasites. They can survive temperatures exceeding boiling point and live in freezing temperature for days. But despite that, there are effective methods of managing bedbugs the natural way.

• Black walnuts have an astringent property and can also serve as an effective natural remedy for bed bugs.
• The use of steam treatment, clothes dryer, and natural heat by hanging the infested items in sunlight can also be effective in killing the bugs.
• Since some homeowners do not want to deal with the smell and strong chemicals found in common insecticides, they use a vegetable and fruit concoction (composed of canola oil and pyrethrins) that has the same effect – except for the fact that it is more child and pet friendly.

Preventing Reoccurrence

Once you’ve made your beds bedbugs free, the best way of avoiding it from being infested again is by using a mattress cover. A bedbug mattress made with vinyl and polyurethane lining prevents the bugs from entering your bed. Just do not forget to include the pillows since bedbugs can also hide inside the cotton stuffing.

Sources
blogs.webmd.com
natural-cures-for.com
doyourownpestcontrol.com
medicinenet.com
getridofthings.com
backyardnature.com
grandmashomeremedies.com