Bed Bug Infestation, Prevention, and Treatment (Effective Method)

Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish colour. Have you experienced any of the following recently?

• a painful burning sensation.
• a raised itchy bump with a clear center.
• a red itchy bump with a dark center and lighter swollen surrounding area.
• small red bumps or welts in a zigzag pattern or a line.
• small red bumps surrounded by blisters or hives.

If your answer is yes, then you need to know more about Bed bugs as they may be the cause of all these discomforts you are experiencing. Bed bugs are easy to kill individually but hard to eradicate if not properly done. They release unpleasant stink odours called alarm pheromones when disturbed or killed.

Do you know that bed bugs can cause skin problems? These little creatures feed on human blood and are very hard to spot as they prefer to hide in dark places close to where humans sleep. Bed bugs crawl out to feed on blood while people are fast asleep and can also be a problem in the cleanest of homes and even hotels.

Bed bugs need human blood to survive and are easy to bring home unknowingly. They crawl into luggage, clothing, and even furniture, undetected. Once inside the home, they usually find a hiding place in the mattresses, couch or tiny cracks or crevices in the wall. Bed bugs in the home can cause a great deal of anxiety and have resulted in being restless at nights or even having a sleepless night.

The parasites are attracted to warmth, which is why they bite mostly when humans are sleeping. They are rarely seen during the day time unless the infestation is severe. Bed bugs consume blood by piercing the human skin and injecting their saliva which contains anaesthetics and anti-coagulants into the human host, making their bites painless initially. Their saliva causes an itching sensation on the human skin. After feeding on the host’s blood, bed bugs will go back to their hiding place.

Bite marks on the skin is the most common sign of having bed bugs around. Most people do not know they have been bitten until they wake up the next morning. This is because bed bug bite is painless compared to a mosquito bite that is painful. Sometimes people develop itchy swellings within a few days of the first bite, but it can take as much as 14 days before the bites itch.

Most people tend to become increasingly sensitive to bed bug bites. If one has a bed bug infestation and the bugs bite repeatedly, it may develop itchy swelling within seconds. Bed bugs are very tiny and might not be noticed on the body until after they have bitten their human host.

It is possible to develop a serious, even life-threatening reaction to bed bug bites. These reactions include breathing difficulty, irregular or forceful heartbeat, swollen tongue, blisters (especially large ones), fever, nausea and skin infection from scratching. Serious reactions do require immediate medical care. Some individuals may develop insomnia (lack of sleep) and anxiety from serious or repeated bed bug infections.

How To Treat Bed Bug Bite

Medical treatment is aimed at relieving the symptoms and discomfort caused by the bites on the human body. The following are the treatments used to relieve the discomforts caused by their bites.

1. Wash affected area with soap and water.
2. Consider a steroidal anti-inflammatory cream or calamine lotion.
3. Take an oral antihistamine or pain relief medication if needed.
4. See your doctor if the bites become infected or do not clear up within one or two weeks.

Bed bugs do not transmit any severe human disease including malaria.

How To Prevent Bed Bug Infestation 

You can make it difficult for bed bugs to see your home as their home by combining all the following methods.

• Place the legs of bed frames into containers containing paraffin oil or water to prevent bed bugs from gaining access to the bed. Tuck in bedsheets and blankets to prevent contact with the floor.
• Wear pyjamas that covers much of your skin to reduce bed bug bites. Vacuum, heat and steam exposure to intense sunlight of furniture and beddings are effective against infestations.
• Place infested bedding or garments in the clothes dryer for 10-20 minutes, using medium to high heat and items can be laundered using hot water measuring at least 120F.
• Encase mattress and box spring in a special impermeable mattress cover. You may have to discard infested mattress and furniture.

How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs In Nigeria (Very Effective)

The fastest way to kill bed bugs or their eggs in your house locally is by mixing sniper, grounded canfor and kerosene together and spraying on all corners of your beds, rooms, chairs and other affected areas. You have to grind the canfor to powdery form before mixing it with other ingredients. This should be done repeatedly for two weeks. It will not only kill but pursue bed bugs from your house entirely. Do not forget to keep this chemical mixture away from the reach of your children and your foods when administering. It is best if everyone leaves the house after the affected area has been sprayed because the smell of the local mixture is very strong and toxic to all living things.