Bedbugs depend on blood as their primary nutrition source. They need such diet to mature into an adult at least once during their early stages. Adult females also depend on blood to produce eggs. Even though bedbugs bite, they are not potential disease carriers among humans.
How to identify Bed Bugs Bites
Some of the apparent signs of a bed bug infestation include blood spots on the sheet, bed bug feces, bites and cast skin. The part of your body that is mostly exposed during sleep is the part that is most likely prone to bedbug infestation. And they are the hands, face, neck, shoulders, arm, and legs. In most cases, these bedbug bites may be grouped in a area and may occur in a zigzag pattern. The spot bitten usually looks like a small flat or raised area that may itch, become inflamed or blistered. However, you won’t notice the reactions immediately until after a few days when the symptoms. And everyone one reacts differently to the bite.
The size of a bed bug depends on some factors. Whenever bed bugs come for a blood meal, they bite the skin and inject an anti-coagulant with their saliva. This is the most determinant factor of the size of the bed bug as well as how the victim reacts to the bite. Everyone responds differently to a bed bug bite, so the size of the bite will be different too. Another determining factor of how a person reacts to a bite is the number of times a person has suffered a bite. Most people that were bitten several times also respond differently. And it could become intense as the number of bites increases.
Bedbugs extract blood from human skin by piercing the skin of their victim with elongated beaks. The bites are not necessarily painful, and it could even take several hours or some days before the person notices it. And since it is not easily seen, they can extract blood for up to 10 minutes each time they feed. The bites usually occur on the most visible part of the skin such as the hands, shoulders, upper body, legs, and arm.
Bed Bug Bites Symptoms
Swelling, itching, and red welts are common bite symptoms you could notice in a day after being bitten. But other people may not even see that they have been bitten, and some people don’t even react to the bite of a bed bug at all. Also, some bites leave no mark on the skin so the person could hardly notice it.
In cases where several bed bugs have extracted blood from the same spot, the bites tend to appear as tight lines of multiple red marks. It is also responsible for itching which might start with a slight burning sensation. The area then turns into red bumps and burns also known as papules or wheels. In rare cases, the bite might become swollen suddenly or turn into a skin inflammation. Ensure you don’t scratch the affected area if you develop a rash after a bug bite.