If you or someone in your family has recently developed an unexplained rash soon after moving into a new home, you may be wondering what's causing the rash. One of the first thoughts that most people have in this type of situation is that they're allergic to something in their new home. While that could be a possibility, it's important to consider that the rash may actually be bed bug bites. Here's a basic rundown on bed bugs, what their bites look like, and how to get rid of them if your home is infested.
Basics of Bed Bugs
Incredibly, one female bed bug can lay 200-250 eggs in a lifetime. Then those female offspring can each lay 200-250 eggs and so on and so on until there is a significant infestation of bed bugs. If you're getting bitten multiple times on a regular basis, you already have a problem even though you just moved into the home.
While a typical lifetime for adult bed bugs is 2-4 months, they can live for up to one year in favorable conditions, even without a blood meal. Because of this, disregard any thoughts that your rash couldn't possibly be caused by bed bugs just because the home hadn't been occupied for some time before you moved in.
Identifying Bed Bug Bites
Bed bug bites cause red dots that can be itchy, swollen, and irritated. They are usually located on the body in areas that are exposed while you sleep, such as your arms, hands, neck, and face. The bites tend to be in a line or in a zigzag pattern. You may also have hives or blisters surrounding the bites. Your primary care physician can identify whether or not your rash is actually a series of bites from bed bugs. Your sheets or bedding may have small drops of blood stained into them, which is another telltale sign of bed bug bites. You can remove these stains by dabbing hydrogen peroxide on the blood spots.
Exterminating Bed Bugs
It can be a long and arduous ordeal to get rid of bed bugs after they've infested your home if you attempt to do it yourself with products you can find in your local stores. Since you're already dealing with bed bug bites, you should definitely hire a professional exterminator to help you get rid of them once and for all. Depending on the severity of the infestation, it may take several appointments to deal with the population of bed bugs.
Most pest infestations can quickly get out of hand if you do not address them. There is a reason people joke about "breeding like mice." You can go from having two mice in your home to having hundreds in a matter of weeks! When you think there are pests inside your home, you need to take control, and quickly. You take control by calling in a pest control professional. They can use a combination of trapping, poisoning, and cleanup methods to eradicate the pests. Learn more about these methods and about other pest control topics on this website, created to educate people like you about the pest control industry.