What Are Bedbug Bites?

If you frequently wake up with itchy bug bites, bedbugs are usually the culprit. Bedbugs are small, reddish brown, oval-shaped insects commonly found where you sleep, especially in cracks and crevices of your mattress, box spring, headboard, bed frame and dust ruffle, but they can also hide in and around other furniture. Bedbugs hide in these areas during the day but come out at night to feed on human and animal blood, resulting in bedbug bites.

Identification and Symptoms

• Bedbug bites are hard to distinguish from other bug bites, but they generally appear as small, red, flat or raised bumps accompanied by itching. Symptoms might be mild or severe, as some people may not notice bedbug bites while others might have an allergic reaction that can include severe itching, blisters or hives. Bedbug bites often occur on the face, neck, arms and hands and appear in groups of three, arranged in a cluster or in a row.

Treatment

• Bedbug bites usually don't require treatment and will go away on their own within one to two weeks. However, you can relieve symptoms with a hydrocortisone cream or with an oral antihistamine, such as diphenhydramine, found in Benadryl. Avoid scratching bedbug bites, as this can lead to infection. If infection occurs your doctor will need to prescribe an antibiotic. If you have a severe allergic or skin reaction to bedbug bites, seek medical treatment from your doctor.

Bedbugs and Disease

• Because bedbugs feed on human blood, many people fear that they'll contract blood-borne diseases from them. Although bedbugs can become infected with some blood-borne diseases if they feed on infected people, they can't transmit diseases to people. Other than possible allergic reactions, the extent of bedbugs' effect on health is anxiety from lack of sleep if bedbugs keep you up at night.

Prevention

• The only way to prevent bedbug bites is to treat a bedbug infestation, which is a best left to a professional exterminator. Whether you treat the infestation yourself or hire a professional, vacuum cracks, crevices and other possible hiding areas; wash clothes and linens in water that's at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit; and place clothes, linens and pillows, wet or dry, in the dryer on medium high heat for at least 20 minutes to kill both bedbugs and eggs. You may need to throw away large items, such as mattresses, that are heavily infested. Bedbugs are also common in hotel rooms, so thoroughly examine hotel rooms and beds before settling in and keep your luggage on a table or luggage stand away from the bed, and immediately wash belongings in hot water when you return home to avoid bringing any traveling bedbugs into your home.