Bed Bug Bites and Treatment

Are Bed Bug Bites Serious?

For most people they are more of a nuisance than a danger. A bed bug pierces the skin with a thin beak and injects saliva that numbs the spot and keeps blood flowing, so the sleeper rarely wakes up. It feeds for several minutes and then crawls back into hiding, which is why bites often appear with no obvious cause. Bed bugs usually feed in the hours before dawn, but hungry bugs will bite in daylight too, especially when someone works nights and sleeps during the day. The main health concern is an allergic reaction in sensitive people. If a reaction ever seems severe, get medical care promptly.

What Bed Bug Bites Look Like and How to Care for Them

Bites usually show up on skin left uncovered during sleep: the face, neck, arms, hands and shoulders. They tend to be small, raised red welts, often in a short line or a tight cluster, because a bug may probe more than once while feeding. Reactions vary widely. Some people break out within hours, some not for several days, and some never react at all, so one person in a bed can be covered in bites while the other has none.

Because the marks look so much like mosquito, flea or chigger bites, a doctor generally can’t confirm bed bugs from the skin alone. The proof is finding the bugs, their dark spotting or shed skins, which our bed bug infestation guide walks through.

Health risks, stated plainly: bed bugs are not known to spread disease to people. The real problems are itching, skin infections from scratching, and the lost sleep and stress that come with a long infestation.

Simple first aid:

• Wash the bites with soap and water.
• Try not to scratch. A cool compress or an over-the-counter anti-itch cream can help.
• Ask a pharmacist whether an oral antihistamine makes sense for you.

See a doctor if bites turn warm, swollen and painful or start to ooze, or if you get blisters or widespread hives. Swelling of the face or any trouble breathing needs emergency care.