### ?…ask the Bugman

Green Pest Management | ID your Bugs | Animal Issues | Natural Living
All Creatures Great and Small

# Bed Bug Bites

Posted by askthebugman ⋅ February 14, 2016 ⋅ 1 Comment

It seems a lot of people are getting bitten by bed bugs. Fortunately these insects are not dangerous as they don’t carry any diseases. Some people are allergic to the saliva and will break out in a rash or have localized itching. Ocassionally a flat welt or raised bump will appear which are actually skin lesions. Some times the lesions can be found in clusters or in a linear pattern. Normally they go away in a week or two. Bites usually occur on exposed areas of the skin when a person is sleeping. The hands, arms and legs are commonly fed on as well as the torso if there are no clothes on the person. Occasionally on the neck or face. As mentioned, mostly these bites are insignificant, but some people have more pronounced symptoms such as a skin infection from intense scratching on the skin. Rarely a more severe allergic reaction may develop and some people develop insomina and anxiety from repeated bites. Unless the insect is found, it is very difficult to diagnose a bed bug bite as they appear similar to the bites of other insects.

If you get bitten by bed bugs, here are a few things you can do to reduce the itching or pain. Wash the bitten areas with soap and water and then make a thick, sticky paste with water and baking soda. Thick enough that it will stay on the bitten area. Let the paste settle till it is completely dry and then wait an hour so and wash the paste off and pat the area dry.

You can also use astringents like Witch Hazel, St. John’s Wort and Lemon Juice. They all work by removing the itching sensation. You can also use the gel from an Aloe plant to treat the bites. The gel contains anti-fungal and antibiotic properties that work very well. Just trim a tip and apply the exposed area to the bitten area. If you want, you can take a bath with peppermint oil. Fill the tub with bath water and then add a half cup of peppermint oil to relieve the itching.

Why are bed bugs so numerous now? There are several things to consider. First is that they can develop a resistance to pesticides, particularly synthetic pyrethroids, which many pest control companies use. This is especially important in apartment complexes where bed bugs will get sprayed, not die but just spread throughout the building. This also happens in university dormitories. Bed bugs will also hitchhike when people travel and move from a hotel to a person’s home.

We also have to consider whether they are really more common now then before. Because of the internet, mass media, social media, etc., any time a bed bug is found, it makes the news. Years ago, before all this media, they never made the news and they may have been almost as prevalent then as they are now.

To put it in perspective, they are not dangerous. If you made a list of the 100 most dangerous insects on the planet, bed bugs wouldn’t make the list. If you made a list of the 10 most profitable bugs on the planet, they would be near the top of the list.

### Share this:

- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to email (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)

### Like this:

Like Loading...

### Related

## About askthebugman

I have been in the pest management industry for over 40 years. In that time I have used almost every pesticide available to control so-called “pests”. With this experience, I have learned over the years that the pesticides we use are far more dangerous than the pests we are trying to control. As a result, it has become a passion for me to improve the quality of life for humans and the planet, by assisting people to not only become more educated and aware of their environment – but also by learning to manage their home and business with a sustainable and healthier approach to tending to unwanted infestations of bugs. Please enjoy my blog posts, check out my publications, utilize my services, or simply stay in touch if you have a bug question…
View all posts by askthebugman »

## Discussion

### One thought on “Bed Bug Bites”

1. I got bitten on my nose in the night and as I woke up it went into my eye were it laid eggs. I was in a awful way. My doctor wouldn’t believe me and I went to Liverpool eye hospital they said there was nothing in my eye but I knew there was as it never stopped twitching. I itched all over and had bites about an inch apart. One night when I was a sleep these bugs came out and ran over the bridge of my nose to get into my other eye. I had the bug that bit me and laid the eggs but my doctor said I can find out what the bug is or send me to another eye hospital. They didn’t know what the bug was but he gave me antibiotics and said I may need to take them forever?? I still itch but not as much . I sent the bug to the bug man but he didn’t know what it was. I would loved to of known but I am no more the wiser. Has anyone heard of this before?

   Posted by Frances | February 14, 2016, 1:11 pm
   Reply to this comment

### Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required) (Address never made public)
Name (required)
Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Google+ account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Follow

### Follow “?...ask the Bugman”

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 136 other followers

Build a website with WordPress.com
Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address
Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: