What To Do About Bed Bugs Bites – Despite the name, bed bugs aren’t just found in beds. They are also commonly found in sofas, chair cushions and mattresses.
If you’ve got red and itchy spots on your skin, you may be worried that you’re dealing with bed bugs.
What To Do About Bed Bugs Bites
However, unless you find evidence of bed bugs in your home, it can be difficult to identify a bite. They can resemble other insect bites or many other skin conditions.
Step 1: Confirmation
There’s no test that directly diagnoses insect bites, but your doctor can help you identify them by ruling out other conditions like hives or fungal infections.
Read on to learn how to diagnose insect bites and how to differentiate them from other insect bites and skin conditions.
Insect bites and rashes look different on different skin types. Generally, they are pink or purple in dark skin and red in light skin.
Most bed bugs are reddish-brown and have a flat, oval-shaped body. They are usually about a quarter of an inch long, six feet long, and have no visible wings.
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Bed bug bites are usually linear on exposed parts of the body such as the face, hands, arms or neck. Good pictures.
Insect bites are similar to other insect bites. The bugs are very itchy and less than a quarter inch in diameter. On white skin, the bite often appears red. On darker skin, they may appear pink or blue, and may turn brown as the skin ages.
However, they can develop into large boils (water-filled bumps) that are larger than 2 inches.
Bed bug bites usually occur on parts of your body that are exposed while you sleep.
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Bite marks usually appear in a “breakfast, lunch, dinner” pattern – a line or zigzag of three or more bites.
Bed bug bites are similar to many other types of bites. The following bugs are known to be active at night.
A brown widow spider bite looks similar to any other spider bite, and the local skin reaction is usually limited to redness and swelling. Systemic symptoms are often visible and include muscle cramps, nausea and headache. Photo: http://wolfspiderpictures.org
Many species of spiders are more active at night than during the day. It’s not unusual to get bitten by a spider while you sleep. Spiders usually only bite when threatened.
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Many species of spiders have poisonous venom. Most spiders are not venomous enough to cause serious harm to humans and minor harm.
Unlike insects, spiders do not feed on blood. Bedbugs are often found together and are more likely to be separated by a spider bite.
Mosquito bites cause high blood pressure. They usually do not appear in a line or pattern. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Mosquitoes use their long, bump-like beaks to penetrate your skin. Most mosquito species are more active in the evening and at night than during the day.
Bed Bugs Biting?
A mosquito bite causes an itchy, rash-like rash. It usually goes away after a few days.
Although mosquito and bed bug bites are similar, mosquito bites are spontaneous and larger than bed bug bites. Bed bug bites can be in a straight line or zigzag.
Oak mite bites usually have no distinctive identifying characteristics. Oak spores are microscopic, so they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Good pictures.
Bedbugs are small insect-like insects that often live on animals such as birds and mice. Symptoms of a mite bite can vary but generally include:
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A mite bite is very small and does not leave a hole like other types of bed bugs.
Flea bites are more likely if you have pets or sleep with pets in bed.
People often think that flea bites are bed bug bites. Both types of bites are usually itchy and appear in rows or clusters. Fleas often attract your attention:
If you notice bites on your upper body or face, they are most likely bed bugs.
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Hives are red bumps or welts that appear on your skin due to an allergic reaction. The bumps are often raised and very itchy. They may be red or skin-colored.
If the spots on your skin get bigger or spread quickly to another part of your body, they could be hives.
A fungal infection will cause itchiness in one part of your body.
Miliaria, commonly known as heat rash, is a common skin condition caused by inflammation or blockage of the sweat glands.
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It is more common in newborns and in people living in hot, tropical areas. Symptoms can vary but usually include red, itchy sores.
Dermatitis hepatiformis is a rare autoimmune skin condition. It causes itchy red bumps on light skin and white spots on dark skin.
The easiest way to know if bed bugs have bitten you is to find them in your home. Symptoms of bed bugs include:
Bed bugs are most active when they feed at night. During the day, they like to hide in hard holes. Some common hiding places include:
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If you notice a bite after traveling, you may not be able to find bed bugs. In this case, you should call a doctor. A doctor can visually identify a bite or rule out other possible skin conditions.
Insect bites are similar to other insect bites or skin conditions. The best way to know if you are dealing with bed bugs is to look for evidence of bed bugs in your home.
If you think your bed bugs may be caused by bed bugs, but there is no evidence of them in your home, you may want to see a doctor.
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Our experts are constantly monitoring the health and wellness area and update our articles as new information becomes available. Bed bugs only feed on blood. It needs to feed once in each of its growing stages to grow into an adult. Adult females also need blood to produce eggs. Although bedbugs bite humans, they do not appear to transmit disease to humans.
Some of the symptoms of a bed bug infestation include blood stains on one’s sheets, bites and droppings of bed bugs, and skin rashes. Bites are most commonly found on the parts of the body that are most often attacked by bed bugs during sleep – arms, neck, face, shoulders, legs and arms. Although not always, bed bug bites are often clustered together in a small area and sometimes appear in a line or zigzag pattern. Bites usually look like small, flat or raised areas that may be swollen, itchy, red or blistered. Bed bugs don’t appear immediately after you’ve been bitten, and it can take a few days to start causing symptoms. However, not everyone reacts the same way to a bed bug bite.
The size of an insect bite varies based on various factors. Bed bugs secrete an anti-coagulant with their saliva when they pierce the skin to feed on blood. This anti-coagulant is largely responsible for the reaction to a bite and determines the size of the insect bite. Because people have different reactions to bug bites, the size of the bite also varies. Another factor that affects the extent of a bed bug problem is how often a person is bitten. Biting behavior in humans is often variable, and their reaction becomes more severe as the number of bites increases.
Bed bugs pierce the human skin with long beaks from which they extract blood. Insect bites are initially painless and may go unnoticed for hours or days. This allows bed bugs to suck human blood for up to 10 minutes with each feeding. Bed bug bites usually appear on exposed skin such as the upper body, neck, arms and shoulders.
Don’t Those Bed Bugs Bite!
Some people bitten by bedbugs experience itching, redness, or swelling a day after the bite. However, the bite may not appear for several days or in some people. Most people have no reaction to a bug bite – the bite is often harmless and goes unnoticed.
Unlike other insects, bed bugs sometimes appear in hard streaks, small, red spots where many bed bugs eat where they are exposed. Bed bug bites can cause itching. At first, the victim may feel a slight burning sensation. Red bumps form on the inflamed area, called pustules or wheals (rash). In severe cases, the bite can become very inflamed or a blister-like swelling of the skin.
If you develop a rash after an insect bite, avoid scratching the affected area. If the rash persists
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