Bug Bites While Sleeping

Bug bites during sleep are very common. It may or may not cause any severe harm to your health but it can badly disturb your sleep at night for sure. Each type of bug bites has its own characteristics and it looks different. Moreover, the accompanying symptoms also vary from insect to insect. Depending upon the symptoms, some bug bites require immediate treatment and others heal up on their own.

Bed Bug Bites While Sleeping

The bugs that are hidden in the bed and other places around the sleeping area are referred to as bed bugs. They are tiny, wingless insects with a flat body which is brown in color. They are parasitic in nature and feed themselves on animal blood, particularly human blood. They bite us at night when we are sleeping and then go into hiding during the day. As the bugs bite us in our sleep, we may not even sense that we have been bitten by them. The appearance of the bed bug bites are very similar to that of mosquito bites.

A bed bug inserts the piercing part of its mouth into the skin to suck out blood. It takes around 5-10 minutes to fill up its body with blood. The bitten area then swells up and cause severe itching for a few days. A unique characteristic of bed bug bites is that the welts usually follow a linear pattern. Those who have a very sensitive skin can get blister like eruptions after excessive scratching of the skin. Some people may feel pain due to the bites and others may not feel any pain at all.

Bed bug bites is not a serious issue. So far, no such evidence has been found which suggests that bed bugs carry any human disease. However, if you scratch the welts a lot, then you may get an infection there. Therefore, you must control the urge of scratching. Washing the area with antiseptic soaps and application of cold compress provide some relief from the itchy sensation. Antiseptic cream also helps to reduce its annoying symptoms. Those who are prone to allergies should not neglect a bed bug bite and consult their doctor for proper treatment.

Insect Bites While Sleeping

Apart from the bed bugs, the most common insect that bites us when we are sleeping is mosquito. They are also parasitic and the female species of mosquito need to feed on blood in order to lay eggs. Mosquito bites cause an itchy sensation only for a few minutes. The skin swells up after a mosquito bite but is absolutely harmless. However, we should prevent ourselves from mosquito bites as they are carrier of various human diseases like malaria and dengue.

Spiders usually do not bite humans. This is because they are not parasitic in nature and hence, they will bite humans only when they feel unprotected. Suppose, if you move your hand or leg over a spider, it can bite you for its self-defense. While biting, spiders do not suck out blood but they inject some enzymes into the tissues. Spider bites do not cause any skin irritation but the affected area tends to swell up to form a lump. At the center of the lump, you can see the point where the spider pierced into the skin. In some rare cases, spider bites have serious effects like blood poisoning and other infections. If the bitten spot turns red, then doctor should be consulted immediately.

You have to maintain the overall hygiene of your house to protect yourself from household bug bites while sleeping. Bed bugs excrete fecal matter that appear as brown spots on the bed and is a sign of its infestation. Regular vacuum cleaning of carpets, mattresses and furniture will be helpful to control them. If your home is badly infested by bed bugs, then you have to hire professionals for pest control. It is better to use metal frame bed and furniture as bed bugs tend to hide inside crevices of the wooden frames. Mosquitoes have a natural tendency to lay eggs in stagnant water. So, you must keep a check on water stagnation in and around your house to prevent mosquito breeding. The doors and windows should be covered with proper screens to stop mosquitoes and other harmful insects from entering into the house.