How to Know If You Have Bed Bugs

Wondering if you have bed bugs is a scary thought, finding out that you actually have them is frightening, and dealing with them is a nightmare!!! Even a single bed bug in your house can start an infestation which would seem almost impossible to end. Therefore, it is very important to determine whether you have bed bugs living under the same roof as early as you can. But the question is, how to know if you have bed bugs? Relax, reading further you would know all the possible signs that would help you determine the presence of bed bugs in your house.

How to Find Out If You Have Bed Bugs?

The first thing you should learn is to identify the bed bugs. What are bed bugs? They are very tiny (about ¼ of an inch) little oval shaped monsters with 6 legs, who identify the exhaling of carbon dioxide from human body and find you to feed on your blood for 10-15 minutes. Their color can vary from white to reddish brown and they will be darker when they have recently fed on your blood. But where do bed bugs come from? Well, the most common places are hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, buses, offices or even hospitals! Here is how you can determine the presence of bed bugs in your house.

• If you experience bed bug bites all over you arms, legs or even your face in the middle of the day, usually the bites would be red and in groups. Though bed bug bites cannot be proven medically, the bites are however, a good sign of having bed bugs.
• Another sign is finding small mold like spots on your bed linen, pillow covers or mattresses. These spots will be tiny, dark brown spots which are a result of the crushed bed bugs due to the movements while you slept.
• Bed bugs prefer to breed near their source of food, that is your bed! So check the corners of your bed and mattress seams, even under your box spring. You might be surprised to find a bunch of bed bugs nymph and eggs. Be quick to crush them all or they may just vanish before your eyes.
• You can also use a magnifying glass to have a clear look at the infested areas. Especially, the newborn bed bugs (nymphs) are difficult to see and they are nearly transparent because they haven't fed on blood yet.
• Some possible places where you can find bed bugs are in the dark and cornered areas like, behind your wallpapers, picture frames, sofa seams, cracks in the bed frames, under the couch, bed covers, even blankets. They can also be found under your drawers, baseboards, television, radio clocks, sleeping bags and what not!!! No wonder, they do infest the house!!!

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs?

Once you have faced the fact and got the proof of bed bugs in your home, it's time to get rid of bed bugs! Did you know that a bed bug can live for 12 months without feeding itself! Moreover, even the nymphs can live for 2 months. Therefore, getting rid of bed bugs is not an easy task! However, there are some effective and trusted ways of getting rid of bed bugs naturally. Have a look.

• Seal you mattress and pillows with a plastic zipped cover. Use a freshly washed blanket and replace the old one. The bed bugs present in the mattress and pillow seams would die getting suffocated. Keep in mind that they can live for months without food, so make sure you keep it zipped for a long time.
• If you don't want to feel the plastic while you sleep, you can also vacuum the infested area to capture the beg bugs and their eggs. When you see the eggs, you will notice that they will be stuck to the base, so you will have to do some scrapping before you vacuum them.
• Thoroughly wash all your linens and other items like stuffed animals or toys to wash away the bed bugs. Wash these items in hot water for 20 minutes. If not that, you can also freeze them in a very low temperature, approximately -5 degrees or below. For linen which can't be washed in hot water or frozen, you will have to thoroughly vacuum them. Once they are clean, seal them in plastic bags to prevent further infestation of bed bugs.
• You can also use sticky tapes on your bed and the room where bed bugs are present. This will help catch them while they are moving from one place to another.
• You can also seek professional help for bed bugs treatment. Do not spray bed bug repellents directly on the mattresses and pillows if you plan to sleep on them directly. The spray might prove harmful for your skin.
• You can also try spraying alcohol on the furniture and linens. This will kill the bed bugs as soon as they get in touch with it.

If you think that the extermination of bed bugs is way beyond your control, then it is advisable to get in touch with a trusted pest control team which is professionally trained to give you a relief from bed bugs. Even though they will charge you some amount, at least you will be able to get a sound sleep again, which for me, is priceless. All the best!