They hide during the day and come out to feed at night. What do they like to feed on? Human blood is a particular favourite which is why the rash you’ve developed might be a direct result of there being bed bugs in your home.
Keep reading to learn everything to know about bed bug rashes and more.
What Are Bed Bugs?
These pesky little critters are tiny insects that live on furniture or bedding. They are dark yellow, red, or brown and when they reach adulthood measure around 5mm long. You can find them in a variety of places including on bed frames, mattresses, furniture, clothing, under loose wallpaper, and behind pictures. They like nothing better than to feast on human blood and their bites can be itchy. Sometimes, their bites can cause a rash.
How to Tell Whether You’ve Got Bed Bugs in Your Home
There are several signs to look out for:
Bites: You might find these on areas normally exposed while you’re sleeping, such as the face, neck, and arms. If you have a reaction to the bites, they’ll be very itchy. You might also experience painful swelling around the area of the bite.
Brown spots on furniture or bedding: It’s not nice to think about such things but these brown spots could be bed bug poo.
Blood spots: If you find these on your bedding they might be from bites or squashed bed bugs.
The Best Treatment for Bed Bug Bites
Bed bug bites are usually nothing more than an annoying itch and after a week they usually go away on their own. You can relieve the itching by putting something cold on the area and keeping it clean. It’s also important that you don’t scratch the bites because this could lead to an infection.
If you find the bites particularly annoying or you’ve got a rash or swelling, you can ask your pharmacist for a mild steroid cream or antihistamines.
Bites that are very painful, itchy, or swollen, even after the application of a steroid cream or antihistamines, consult your GP as you may need a course of antibiotics.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Your Home
It’s not very pleasant to find you’ve got bed bugs in your home. There are, however, several things you can do to get rid of them.
Get in touch with a pest control company, such as Excel Pest Services. Your local council may also help. As well as calling in the experts you should also wash any bedding and clothing where you think they’ve made their home. A hot wash, of at least 60C is the only way to kill them. Tumble drying the items for at least half an hour on a hot setting is also very effective.
An alternative to hot washing is to put the items in the freezer. Enclose the clothing or bedding in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for 4 days. The temperature in the freezer should be -16C or less.
If you’ve got bed bugs in your home, it’s also imperative that you vacuum and clean regularly.
While it can be very worrying to discover you’ve got some unwanted guests, don’t lose too much sleep over it because you can remove them from your home fairly easily.
