What do bed bug bites look like on human skin?
Bedbugs are 5-7 mm in length with reduced wings. The mouthparts are modified for piercing and sucking. They live between wooden floorboards, in furniture, in bed frames, in mattresses, or behind peeling paint. Bedbugs sneak out to grasp human skin with their forelegs, pierce the skin, and inject anticoagulant- and anesthetic-containing saliva. Bedbugs normally feed at night, usually approximately an hour before dawn. However, they also feed during the day. Feeding takes about 3-12 minutes. Adult bedbugs can even survive without a meal for over a year. Females lays approximately 300 eggs in a lifetime. The eggs hatch in 10 days.
Are Bed Bug Bites Dangerous?
Bed bug bites cause swollen rashes and sometimes unbearable itchiness that it's no wonder they feel lie they might be dangerous. The difference between bed bug bites and those of other insects such as mosquitos, is that, the rash from bed bugs do not go away quickly and they are far more itchy. They cause welts on the bite that last for days.
It i very important that you don't itch the welts that bed bug bites cause. This may lead to infection, especially in children, since they have less control in itching the welts.
Bed Bug bites are not linked to any kind of blood-borne illnesses, and really show no health threats besides infection from scratching, but their bites can be psychologically traumatizing, since they look very bad and wake you up out of a night's rest. Anyone that has had bed bugs has experienced the fear before going to bed, knowing they will be disturbed in the middle of the night, or right before dawn when bed bugs are most actively feeding.
To Treat Bed Bug Bites:
1.) Wash bitten area with soap and water
2.) Apply anesthetic cream or lotion
3.) Put ice on the bite so that it doesn't swell as badly
4.) Repeat these steps every 7 hours until the swelling and pain goes away
If you have a bed bug bite on the neck, hands or legs, be sure to cover them up with pajamas at night time. By day use long sleeve shirt or pants to protect bites.
