Bed Bug Bites

Bed bug bites look similar to other insect bites, or a rash, but there is one very important difference, other insects may bite you once, bed bugs come back over and over.

At first you may only notice bites every few days, then more frequently, then every day. That is because new bed bugs are being hatched, and when they hatch they are HUNGRY. That is the reason I suggest you mark your bites with a permanent marker so you can see if new bites appear.

The sooner you confirm you have bed bugs, the faster you can begin treatment. ACT FAST because if you do have bed bugs they are laying eggs, when the eggs hatch (nymph phase) 6-10 days later they will be hungry.

Unexplained bites

A rash or bites are NOT CONCLUSIVE evidence that you have bed bugs. Something else could have bitten you. You may have been bitten somewhere outside your home and just noticed. Bites don’t always itch or become visible immediately.

Researchers conclude approximately 30% of people don’t react to bites at all.

Rashes or bites should trigger an inspection, especially if you have experienced the traditional 2-3 bite pattern on two or more different nights.

You need a positive identification by capturing a an actual insect, which can be challenging as bed bugs can stay out of your sight for a long time while your infestation keeps growing.

If the bites are in the pattern and you get more, consider a bed bug sniffing dog or a pest company inspection as soon as possible. If it is bed bugs, and it’s a fertile female biting you, she’s laying eggs and they’re hatching in 7-10 days, at which time they will ALL be hungry.

That’s 3-7 more bed bugs every day being laid for weeks even if the mother doesn’t have another meal. One female adult bed bug can mate with any male including males from her own eggs. Bed bugs are built to reproduce and survive. Our job is to prevent that!

Keep in mind if you have not actually captured a bug or observed one, you don’t know if you really have bed bug bites, or a rash, allergic reaction or other insect problem. If you have been getting bitten repeatedly, get an inspection or follow this guide to inspecting for bed bugs.

That is why the traps are so important. Pest control companies now routinely advise you get the same traps I recommend, because they are a first line defense. They prevent bed bugs from reaching you, if you have completely gotten them out of your bed. They tell you if you do have bed bugs and if your bed bugs are really gone. If you have bed bugs, they are 100% coming for you, if you have the traps on your bed you’ll see them before they see you.

What do bed bug bites look like?

Bed bug bites may resemble bites from other insects such as mosquitoes, spiders or fleas, so bites alone are never used to determine if you have bed bugs. Bites may cause welts or hives, or just appear as a raised and very itchy raised bite. They can appear as small blisters with a raised bump.

Just like any insect bite, how you react will be individual to you. Bug bites do not display or feel the same from one person to the next. How the bite looks and feels, and itches can be very different and individual to you.

Some people do not react at all to bed bug bites, entomologists suggest this may be approximately 30% of all people. This number is not exact.

Bites may cause welts or hives, or just appear as a raised and very itchy raised bump or blister. Some people do not react at all to bed bug bites, entomologists suggest this may be approximately 30% of all people. This number is not exact.

Bed bug bites often appear in groups or rows of two or three. Those bite patterns happen when either the insect was disturbed and had to begin feeding again, or there is more than one using you for the late night buffet.

Heat or hot baths may cause old bites to reappear and become itchy again, after seeming to have gone away. Some people keep a journal, keeping track of when they get bites, location and dates they first appear.

At the start of my infestation, and before I knew I had bed bugs, I broke out in hives. Later in the infestation my bites just looked like flea or mosquito bites. Sometimes they would dissapear during the day but reappear and itch more at night. That’s what gave me the idea of marking bites with a permanent marker.

Bed bug bites can manifest in different ways and people react very differently to their bites. Some people break out in hives after being bit, which can easily be mistaken for an allergic reaction to almost anything. This can keep you guessing for weeks without ever thinking it could be bed bugs, while the bugs reproduce. Bites may cause extreme and prolonged itching, or they may become irritated and itchy, only to completely disappear and then reappear later.

Steps you can take if you have mystery bites

• Clean all around and under your bed thoroughly. Leave nothing under the bed.
• Inspect everything and put in a plastic tub or big trash bag. Temporarily isolate and inspect everything that was under the bed or on the floor.
• Launder all your bedding (that won’t be damaged by heat) in the dryer for a couple hours so you know it got good and hot. Pillows too if you can if they won’t be damaged.

There is a possibility that whatever bit you got mixed up in your blankets or pillow case and you can kill whatever bit you with heat and a vacuum. *High heat or dryer heat can permanently damage some fabrics, blankets, pillows or down comforters. Read the labels. Some fabrics can melt in high heat in a dryer. Even giving comfortors and blankets a warm (not hot if it will damage them) tumble in a dryer is better than doing nothing. I did lose a down comfortor to heat damage, but if bed bugs get inside your comfortor you either have to heat it up, toss it or treat it with a no-pest strip.

• Vacuum around and under your bed, especially around the walls, baseboard and bed legs. If possible buy and put the bed bug traps under your bed legs to monitor if bed bugs are trying to crawl up or down the bed legs.
• When you put your bed back together nothing should touch the floors or walls, if possible.
• Get a sharpie and put dots where your bites are so you can tell if you get new bites in 3-7 days.

Now wait and try not to fret or worry about it. If you get more bites in a few days, then you should get a professional inspection.

How Bed Bugs Feed

Bed bugs feed for between three to fifteen minutes. They inject an anti-coagulant/anesthetic into you and suck your blood with another tube. This thins your blood and prevents you from noticing the prolonged feeding.

Bed bugs need to be in a particular raised angle to inject their feeding tube into you. This is why they cannot really bite you while you are in motion. They need their “host” to be very still which is why they feed primarily at night. Bed bugs will bite and feed on you in pure sunlight, in the morning, afternoon, or any time, anywhere if they are hungry and you are still or resting, such as at a desk, chair or car.

Bed bugs cannot jump or fly, they must crawl onto their host to feed. They will typically bite on exposed areas of skin rather than under clothes, but they will bite under clothing if that’s what they need to do to eat. That is why if you wear full body armor to bed with socks and gloves, they will bite you on the face or neck, eyes, or inside your ears, whatever is exposed.

I believe (not science) this is a developed instinct to protect themselves, as they are most vulnerable when they have just fed and their body is very stretched and bloated with blood and they are most vulnerable to being squished. They would definitely be more vulnerable under clothes or in-between blankets, instead of on top of the host during and after a meal. Of course this isn’t 100% and you may see evidence of squished bed bugs on your sheets or on the mattress under the sheets.

Bed bugs feed on blood about once every 1-2 weeks, while the host is inactive or sleeping. Feeding requires about 5-10 minutes to complete and generally occurs on areas of the body that are exposed while sleeping, such as the face, neck, arms, and hands. Bed bugs find a host by moving toward heat, CO2,and host odors (pheromones).

Remember, they just wander around until they are “attracted by a host” to find food and then use pheromones to go back to their nesting place. Bed bugs are not evil genius masterminds, they are just a bug. Keep repeating that to yourself when needed.

Can you stop bed bugs from biting?

Bed bugs can bite anywhere, but more frequently will bite on exposed areas of your skin instead of under blankets or clothing. There is no oil, spray, fragrance, diet or blood type that will make bed bugs not hungry. They are going to bite and feed if they can reach you. All you need is blood.

Bed bugs will not give up trying to feed (on you) until you trap or kill them. There is no negotiating. They never leave on their own. They are not seasonal. All they eat is blood. Don’t wait! Order traps for your bed legs NOW! University tested to work!

Are there products that will make them stop biting?

Any product that claims to make you immune from bed bug bites or that advertises it will prevent bed bugs from biting you are false. Bed bugs are primitive bugs and are programmed to eat, and reproduce, and then eat, repeat…nothing will keep them from biting you except preventing them from reaching you or killing them.

There is no fragrance, oil, powder or spray that will stop bed bugs from trying to feed. You have to physically stop them, or kill them, or both. The only deterrents are traps combined with isolating your bed.

The easiest, fastest way to know if your bites are from bed bugs is to have an inspection, and even then they can be elusive. If you are seeing them regularly, your infestation has already grown and will take longer and be more difficult to eradicate.

As of right now there is no product, oil, or frangrance that will make bed bugs not want to bite you. They want to eat. They are hungry. They feed every three to 10 days (aproximately). If you have twenty bed bugs, they all will feed every three to 10 days. They will all mate and start laying eggs (every day). When those eggs hatch in approximately ten days, those “nymphs” will immediately be ready to eat and start seeking a meal.

The math is all you need to understand the urgency of identifying and beginning treatment as soon as possible.

Can clothes, hats or gloves, stop bed bugs from biting?

If you wear clothes to bed, including socks, they will probably bite your hands, face and neck. I’m not saying they never bite under blankets or clothing, only that instinctually, they seem to go for exposed areas like feet, legs, face, hands, neck.

I believe, without any science to back me up, that they do this to avoid being smashed after feeding when their bodies are full of your blood and stretched thin, so they are more vulnerable. Just a theory born from experience and observation.

Wearing clothing to bed will only encourage them to bite you on your exposed areas, such as your eyelids, neck, hands and face, ears, inside your ears or feet. Having bites does not mean you have bed bugs, but very few insects bite in a 1-2-3 pattern, or bite repeatedly week after week without you ever seeing them.

Do bed bugs bite women more than men?

Sometimes your husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t believe you have bed bugs because they’re not getting or reacting to bites. This is a common situation but of course bed bugs bite men and women.

While not proven, it seems (from many blog posts and comments) that women “seem” to get more bites than men – sometimes ALL THE BITES. This is unscientific but taken from numerous forums and online conversations where this is shared by people dealing with infestations.

The unscientific theory is that bed bugs use pheromones to find their meals (us), and may be more attracted to female pheromones. It’s possible that human female pheromones may be more attractive to bed bugs than male pheromones since they are pheromone driven. Just a theory, but a lot of research is being conducted on bed bugs and their pheromones, with the goal “death to bed bugs”.

Pheromones from bed bugs are being used in university research to develop traps using their own pheromones as an attractant and lure, and it is surprisingly effective. In some tests, 100% of the bed bugs in the test room went to the bed bug pheromone trap and stayed there! The pheromones were gathered from bed bug molts and excrement.

While unproven, it seems bed bugs may be more attracted to women than men for the purpose of feeding. Some scientists suggest it is because men are hairier and bed bugs cannot penetrate hair skin as well as smooth skin. I disagree there is any science to this at all because bed bugs will find a smooth place like your eyelids, or cheek, the inside of your ear, or neck or stomach. They will find a smooth place to feed on you unless you are covered, and they will get under your clothes if it means a meal.

We’ve got a blog post about the topic as well since it’s so common for women to ask if bed bugs prefer their blood.

How to Treat Bed Bug Bites

Consult with your doctor before taking any medications including off the shelf products in case they may conflict with medications you are already taking. Itching from bed bug bites may be relieved with antihistamines, or lotions that control itching. You should talk to a doctor or nurse about how to control itching.

Secondary infections can arise from scratching too much, so try to avoid scratching excessively. Wearing lightweight gloves to bed can prevent scratching in your sleep, if you are sleeping. If you are getting groups of bites, you can mark each bite with a colored sharpie dot. Then you can keep track of new bites, should any appear.

Phantom Sensations of Bites and Crawling

Many people who suffer from bed bugs develop phantom sensations of bugs crawling on them or biting them. With bed bugs this is very common and something most people are hesitant to talk about, but there is a name for it.

Formication is the sensation that feels like insects crawling on (or under) the skin, in the absence of actual insects. It is one specific form of a set of sensations known as paresthesias, which also include the more common prickling, tingling sensation known as pins and needles. This is not uncommon for those suffering from bed bug bites and will usually go away after your bed bugs are gone.

While no one has come up with a conclusive scientific reason, it makes a certain amount of common sense to say that when bugs crawl over you in your sleep, your subconscious is aware of this and it haunts you for a while.

Since you will probably never see a bed bug actually bite you, it stands to reason that you might be hyper-aware of any skin sensations. People suffering from bed bug bites might imagine they can feel every sensation because they are on guard psychologically, even if subconsciously. I’m not a real doctor but I do STRONGLY suggest you get counseling or therapy during your infestation if you are experiencing a high level of anxiety or insomnia during your infestation.