Bed Bugs: How Dangerous Are They?

Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. Yeah, right. Those creepy little critters seem to be everywhere and in everything. Plus, contrary to what their name implies, bed bugs don’t just hang out in beds.

They can be found just about anywhere that their tiny little bodies can fit into. They’re easy to spot, measuring about 0.2-inch-long and the height of the numbers on a credit card. There’s almost nothing you can do to get rid of them except by calling a bed bug exterminator in Washington, DC. What follows here are just a few facts about these pesky vampiric creatures.

What is a Bedbug?

Bedbugs are insects with the genus name Cimex lectularius. They are reddish-brown with a hinged beak and a style that they use to penetrate the skin to find a blood vessel. Bedbugs will drink until they are full, then fall off. Their bodies can swell with blood until they are up to six times their standard size.

Where Can Bed Bugs Be Found?

Despite their name, bedbugs can be found virtually anywhere. They can be found in furniture, clocks, radios, computers, behind pictures, books, and in beds. They can be found inside the cracks and crevices of walls and even inside walls.The trouble with calling them “bedbugs” is that, once a homeowner has an infestation, they believe the way to solve it is to throw out the mattress, but the pests often come back once this is done.

How Do You Get Bedbugs?

Bedbugs are hitchhikers. Wherever they are found, they got there by attaching themselves to whatever it was that got into a home or building. Bedbugs can be picked up virtually anywhere, including the seating of a bus, theaters, and anywhere else. They can even attach themselves to something like wiring or pipes and brought into a home or office.

Are Bed Bugs Dangerous

Bedbugs have never been known to carry diseases. In this way, they are not dangerous. However, they do bite, causing itching and, eventually, a secondary infection or other problems. In rare cases, people have been known to have anaphylactic reactions. It is also possible to have an asthmatic reaction to a bedbug bite.

How Do You Know Whether You Have Bed Bugs?

Bedbugs aren’t known to announce their presence once they have arrived. Instead, a homeowner must rely on the unexplainable bits and rashes to know they have bed bugs. Bed Bugs also leave blood droppings. Their excrement is a light liquid that can range from brown to black and may bead up.

How Do You Get Rid of Bedbugs?

With great difficulty. Unfortunately, there are many ways to attempt to get rid of bedbugs, none of them very useful. Most homeowners will try to take apart bedding and furniture and then spray the items with orange oil or Murphy’s Oil, both of which have insecticidal properties. There are even special preparations meant to be used on mattresses.

There are also non chemical ways to deal with bedbugs. These include the use of vapor steam applications, which are most often used on furniture and mattresses. Even special encasements can be used with mattresses, which attempt to starve bed bugs to death, but that can take months.

The Bottom Line

Try as you might, the best way to deal with bedbugs and be sure they have been eliminated from your home is to call a professional. This might cost money, but in the long run, not only will this present the best, most effective way to get rid of bedbugs, this course of action is usually permanent.