Having bed bugs in your home or business is never a nice experience, is it? To many, they represent everything from illness and contagion to uncleanliness and pain. While bed bugs do not actually carry illness or care much about conditions and cleanliness, they do bite. When bed bugs bite, it can be painful enough to wake you from your sleep. The problem can come from identifying your bed bug bites.
Why? Because bed bugs tend to be masters in hiding. They stow away in areas we cannot see until night, emerging to start biting when we are at our most vulnerable. Looking at pictures of bed bug bites, though, you can see why these bites are so important to learn about. They are painful, and the bed bug bite itch can become irritating enough to cause constant scratching to try and find relief.
Are you unsure if you have bed bugs biting you or something else? Let’s examine bed bug bites so you can try to identify whether the random bite marks on your body are from bed bugs or another pest problem.
Bed Bug Bites: What Do They Look Like?
Since many different pests can cause bite marks, it can be tough to determine if you have been bitten by bed bugs or something else. Bite marks from other pests can range from mosquitos to even certain types of spiders. The ‘good’ news is that bed bug bites tend to leave some telltale signs. When you look at bed bug bite images, you can spot a few differences from other types of bite.
For example, bed bug bites tend to follow a much more specific pattern than those of other pests. They tend to be clustered together, usually in small sections of three to five bites. Bed bugs crawl over our skin and then take multiple bites to get the blood they need; they rarely complete their feeding from one bite alone.
If you look at close up pictures of bed bug bites, too, you will notice that bed bug bites tend to be in a zig-zap or straight-line pattern. Again, this comes from the bed bugs moving around and biting different places as they go. Lastly, bed bug bites are going to be on areas of the skin accessible during sleeping. So, it is most common to be on your arms, legs, face, neck, etc.
What Color Are Bed Bug Bites?
Something else to consider is the shade. However, when determining the color of bed bug bites, it comes down to your skin tone. Lighter skin tones show bed bug bites as violet or even skin-colored. On darker skin tones, they can appear more violet or brown. This can make bed bug bites hard to see, at least at first.
Look at pictures of bed bug bites, and you will see how difficult they can be to identify. Looking out for any kind of straight or zig-zagged patterns of bite marks, though, will be a good enough identifier that you have bed bugs.
As bed bug bites heal, too, they tend to go a deep brown shade – this is known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It will heal in time, but it can take a while. If you keep getting bitten, the hyperpigmentation will continue for longer and take even longer to heal up. This is why getting rid of those bed bugs ASAP is so important.
Bed Bug Bites: Do They Itch?
Yes, they do. Bed bug bites are the main symptom of being extremely itchy. Itching those bed bug bites, though, will make the problem worse. This can lead to inflammation and irritation of the impacted area, or it can even lead to infection. We recommend using a cold compress to try and reduce the itching; if you are able, take some antihistamines, as this can reduce the itching factor somewhat.
Also, avoid wearing tight fabrics on areas with bed bug bites. This helps the skin breathe and avoids moisture build-up, which can further irritate the bites over time.
Bringing An End To Bed Bug Bites: Identification & Treatment
Bed bugs lingering around your property should become apparent quickly. Once bed bug bites happen, even once, it is a likely sign that more bites will soon follow. To identify bed bugs, it pays to look out for the typical signs of their arrival.
These include blood stains or dark brown stains (excrement) appearing on your bedding or furniture where the bed bugs are present. It might also include the discovery of old, molted skins from bed bugs that have grown up in age. Otherwise, you are looking out for visible activity of bed bugs. Due to their nocturnal nature, bed bugs usually are only seen active at night.
Look out for small, oval-shaped creatures moving around, often independent of one another. Once you spot the bed bug signs listed above, an inspection from a specialist can confirm their presence. Then, a treatment plan can be put in place to get rid of the bed bug problem for you. Treatment includes chemical solutions, electric heating systems, and, most effectively, heat treatment using tools like Heat Assault. You can learn more about bed bug heat treatment here.
Rest assured that regardless of the severity of your bed bug problem in Florida, solutions exist.
If you have a bed bug problem in Florida, you will know the suffering bed bug bites can cause. We want to help you avoid this problem from needlessly worsening. The pain and mental strain of bed bug bites can take a real toll on a person. So, let us remove the risk of further bites with an inspection and bed bug treatment service today. Contact the team at BBE today, and we can help you get rid of any bed bug bites you might be dealing with.
