How to treat bedbug bites - recommendations for choosing medicines and first aid

how to treat bedbug bites
How to treat bedbug bites

Good day! I recently recalled the period when I had to live in a rented apartment during one of the long business trips.

Every morning, after waking up, I found bite marks on my skin. At first I thought it was mosquitoes that attack me at night.

But the truth turned out to be different: bugs were active in the sofa on which I slept. Knowing the true reason, it was much easier to get rid of the unpleasant consequences of an insect attack. Want to tell you how to treat bedbug bites? The article below provides all the details.

How to treat bedbug bites

Bed bugs are one of the most common types of nocturnal pests. They usually settle near the sleeping place of the victim, lay eggs in inaccessible places and are very difficult to hatch.

At first glance, a bed bug bite is not dangerous. However, it can provoke some ailments in a person, and sometimes lead to serious infectious diseases.

How does a bite happen?

Usually the bug bites the victim at night. Using a sharp beak, he punctures the skin and injects saliva into the wound, which contains an anticoagulant. Due to the properties of saliva, blood coagulation slows down and local anesthesia occurs.

Important!
Thus, the victim does not feel when the bug is saturated with her blood. Young bugs can get enough in three minutes, adults need about 10-15 minutes.

Bedbug bites are small and flat. They often appear in one line, as the bug prefers to eat in one place several times. Due to the injection of bedbug saliva, the skin turns red and itchy. People with hypersensitivity may develop an allergic reaction.

Why are they dangerous?

Most people do not like bed bugs, as their bites are unpleasant, unaesthetic and cause severe itching. However, in some cases, serious complications arise that can be dangerous to human life.

Most often complain of an allergic reaction from a bite. She is temporarily treated with antihistamines. But it is completely impossible to cure allergies. In the most difficult case, bites can provoke anaphylactic shock.

Sometimes infection of the wound occurs. Therefore, in order to protect yourself, it is important to treat the bites with disinfectants.

Bedbugs are not considered poisonous. However, some of their species can become carriers of dangerous infections.

How to treat?

  1. Rinse the bite site with warm water or treat with soda solution.
  2. Severe itching can be removed with the help of special ointments or ammonia. The famous Vietnamese asterisk will also help to avoid infection.
  3. To disinfect and relieve inflammation, propolis alcohol tincture is used.
  4. To avoid allergic reactions, you need to treat the wounds with ointments Lifeguard, Menovazin or Fenistil gel.

In the treatment of allergies, antihistamines must be used. In difficult cases, you should immediately consult a doctor.

The fight against any bugs begins with their removal. To avoid repeated bites, it is important to exterminate adults and their egg laying. If this is not done, bedbugs can spread throughout the house.

Bedbugs

No one is safe from the appearance of bugs in modern life. Stereotypes that they appear only in sanitary-unfavorable apartments have long been destroyed.

Bed bugs are parasites that feed on blood. Bed bugs are no exception. Female bedbugs also need blood in order to produce eggs.

Advice!
And while a direct connection between bedbug bites and various diseases has not yet been found - it is worth ridding your apartments of these unpleasant insects. You can’t turn a blind eye to the current situation.

Let us examine the question of what character they are and what harm the bites of bedbugs bring. And most importantly, are there any treatments for bites of these parasites?

Home bugs pierce a person’s skin with the help of their special oral apparatus. Sometimes the bites of domestic bugs are almost painless.

This allows bed bugs to suck blood from a person for as much as 10 minutes at each contact. The most common places on the body where you can see the trace of a bug bite are: legs, neck, arms and shoulders.

A bite from a domestic bug looks like a slight reddish irritation. The bite site may itch, and sometimes even burn unpleasantly. In general, the bug bite is almost indistinguishable from the bites of other insects: mosquitoes, flies and others.

However, the difference from other insects is that the bites of the bugs are numerous, appear on a small area of ​​the human body in the form of small red spots.

Bed bugs are not flocking or social insects. So the groups of bites that were found throughout the body - in all likelihood - are the result of exposure to only one parasite.

About 70% of people in principle do not respond to the bites of these insects. So sometimes the bite marks of domestic bugs go unnoticed for a long time.

Bed bugs bite only during sleep ?!

This statement is a little erroneous. The fact is that bed bugs are most active precisely at night, when we sleep. During sleep, a person may not feel the bite itself. Only in the morning can symptoms be clearly manifested.

Attention!
If the apartment is teeming with bugs, then most likely they will not have enough blood. Succumbing to the instinct of self-preservation, bedbugs will attack people in the daytime. Bed bugs are not able to bite you through clothes, usually they affect just exposed parts of the body.

But it’s easy for these little parasites to get under your clothes. Symptoms of a bed bug bite in all manifest themselves in different ways. But often there is a strong reaction due to the saliva of the bug, which he secrete before the bite.

Symptoms

What are the symptoms of a bug bite?

  • the affected area of ​​the skin swells;
  • severe and irritable itching;
  • redness;
  • most often you can find several bites in one area at once.

By the way, when bitten by an adult bug, the reaction may not occur. If you are bitten by a young domestic bug, the reaction to his bite will be almost instant. All due to the fact that young bugs are not able to secrete saliva, which anesthetizes the bite, slowing down the reaction.

Although a bug bite has unpleasant itching effects, they generally do not lead to health problems. But some argue that it is the bugs that are to blame for the spread of Leprosy (Hansen's disease), Q fever, Leishmaniasis dermal (Oriental Sore) and brucellosis. But these cases are rare.

The biggest risk is the irritating factor of bites from domestic bugs. The blisters that appear after bites become smaller after a while. After them there are red traces that pass over time.

How to treat the consequences?

Special treatment for a bug bite does not exist. The consequences of a simple bite of a domestic bug pass within 10 to 12 hours. If the bite caused an allergic reaction, then its consequences will remain for a slightly longer period: 2-3 days.

To relieve pain after a bite of this blood-sucking, you can wash the site of the bite with water and soap or alcohol. You can apply ice, use an ointment against itching, or take an antihistamine for bedbug bites.

Important!
But if the bite continues to hurt, and green, yellow or white mucus begins to stand out from the bite, then the bite is most likely infected. With these symptoms, you need to urgently consult a doctor - a dermatologist. Only a specialist will prescribe you the right and effective treatment.

It is impossible to protect yourself from bedbugs by any means. Everything is simple because they do not exist. But if you seriously approach the issue, you can ensure a healthy sleep and are never afraid of the bites of these insect parasites.

The method that we describe will help only if the room is not yet infected with bugs. Move the bed away from the wall and place it so that it does not touch any objects on all sides.

Shake the bed and carefully check for bed bugs or their larvae. Just in case, iron the steam mattress. The main thing in this matter is not to overdo it and not accidentally damage the mattress.

Examine the pillow. Pull the pillow out of the pillowcase and review all the seams. If the pillow is old, then it is better to buy a new one, getting rid of the one in which you have doubts.

But in the absence of such an opportunity - just give your old pillow for restoration. The benefit of firms providing such services is very much. Warn employees about your suspicion.

It is necessary to cover the bed in such a way that the bedclothes do not touch the floor. Place a glass of water under each leg of the bed. Or any other vessel.

After such a procedure, it is possible with a fairly high probability to say that bed bugs will no longer disturb you. Although, of course, we cannot exclude the fact that they simply can go to the walls, and eventually safely return to bed.

From the foregoing, we can draw the main conclusions:

  • Bed bugs are not carriers of serious diseases and their bites will not have a detrimental effect on human health
  • Symptoms of bites of domestic bugs manifest individually. But most often the bite is accompanied by itching, irritation, the appearance of a blister.
  • The effects of bites themselves go away within a few hours. The occurrence of an allergic reaction delays the moment of complete disposal of the consequences. Everything goes away in a few days.
  • Treating bedbug bites is not necessary. But if you wish, you can wash the site of the bite with water and soap or alcohol.
  • If redness persists for several days and continues to itch or even burn, it is urgent to consult a dermatologist. Only he can accurately determine the causes of such a reaction and prescribe the necessary treatment.

How to treat bedbug bites: folk and traditional methods

In addition to the psychological side of this issue, there is also a medical aspect. Nightly meals of the bloodsuckers bring discomfort and can provoke serious consequences.

Why they need to be treated

Being bitten for the first time, a person tries to find out how long the bites of bedbugs take. Usually they disappear by themselves within 2-3 days, and some people heal literally overnight.

Advice!
Together with the sucking organ of the parasite penetrating the skin of a person, its saliva enters the bloodstream. Such salivation can provoke a severe allergic reaction, up to Quincke's edema. With such manifestations, you need to urgently consult a doctor.

The patient may have severe itching and discomfort at the site of the wound. It makes a person itch. In the process of combing wounds, the probability of infection penetrating into them is high. This is especially true for children who find it difficult to control and restrain themselves with itching.

Do not forget that bedbugs become carriers of such serious diseases as:

  • Hepatitis;
  • Tularemia;
  • Relapsing fever;
  • Plague.

Infection is possible by contact with parasite excrement or by airborne droplets (by inhalation of air with particles of parasite residues).

Through the saliva of a bug, the following diseases are not transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person:

  • HIV
  • Syphilis;
  • Tuberculosis and other viral and infectious diseases.

Another problem that bloodsucking insects bring is the lack of good sleep. At night, when bedbugs begin to eat, a person sleeps poorly, often wakes up, itches, or cannot sleep at all.

This state of affairs often leads to moral and physical exhaustion of the body.

As for children, many are simply afraid to go to bed. They are afraid of the fact that someone lives there, and this someone will bite them.

When to start treatment

There are several features that will indicate that a person has traces of bite bugs on his body, and not from other insects:

  • They are not single - they are usually quite a lot.
  • They are arranged in heaps in a row, since the insect drinks blood in several approaches.
  • One adult makes about 3-4 punctures for its full saturation.
  • If in the evening there is nothing on the human body, and in the morning he discovers traces, there is reason to think about the presence of unwanted neighbors in bed.

Most often, bites are located on exposed areas of the skin that are not hidden under clothing. The bug is guided by the sense of smell, it should smell the blood and only then makes a bite, so traces remain on the soft and thin areas of the skin, which include:

  • Neck;
  • The inside of the legs and arms;
  • Face;
  • Buttocks.

You can suspect something is wrong if:

  • Every morning there are more and more bites.
  • On the bed sheets in the morning, small dots of blood are visible.

Processing Tools

Traditional medicine recommends using such pharmacy products:

  1. Vietnamese Asterisk will help eliminate itching and stop inflammation;
  2. Hormonal ointment Afloderm will relieve the patient from painful scratching and prevent the occurrence of allergies;
  3. Propolis alcohol tincture is an excellent antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agent;
  4. Akriderm ointment is an antibiotic, in addition, it has a good antihistamine, anti-inflammatory and antipruritic effect;
  5. Bepanten cream can be used for very young children in order to quickly restore the skin;
  6. Menovazine solution is known as an anesthetic and antipruritic agent for dermatoses, but with strong scratching it is not recommended to use it;
  7. Rescue ointment allows you to disinfect and prevent allergies.

Hydrogen peroxide, as well as boric alcohol, brilliant green, furatsillinovoy or manganese solution, dioxidine (externally and only for adults) - this is what you need to treat bedbug bites in any case.

Important!
They allow you to disinfect and prevent possible suppuration and getting into the wound of the infection.

With allergy manifestations, the following list of medicines helps from bedbug bites:

  • Fenistil gel, in addition to its antihistamine functions, relieves itching, soreness and swelling. You can use the drug for children from one year.Please note that this tool can not be used simultaneously with other gels and ointments that relieve itching;
  • Tavegil is a pill for itching, contraindicated in children under the age of six. They can be used for bites of various insects, including bed parasites.
  • Psilo-balm acts in the same way as Fenistil gel, only its peculiarity is the cooling effect.
  • Elidel is a non-hormonal anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic cream. It is indicated even for infants from 3 months.

In addition to the mentioned local antihistamines, the doctor may prescribe the intake of anti-allergic drugs inside. Such medicines include Eden, L-cet, Loratadin, Suprastin.

How to treat folk methods

Before treating bites, the patient must be invited to take a shower and thoroughly rinse the wounds with ordinary or antibacterial soap. Then it is advisable to apply a cold compress.

In order to relieve swelling and itching and speed up the healing process, traditional healers suggest using the following home remedies:

  • Apply a soap-vinegar compress;
  • To disinfect bites with alcohol or vodka;
  • Make a tea compress for which a green or black leaf is suitable.

Options for treating bedbug bites on a person’s body:

  • Alcohol tincture based on medicinal herbs (St. John's wort, calendula, plantain), which you need to wipe the damaged skin.
  • A lotion from aloe juice will help relieve inflammation and disinfect the wound that has formed at the site of the bug bites. Plantain juice has the same properties.
  • Garlic juice will help get rid of swelling, pain and itching. Soda solution also has excellent antipruritic and decongestant properties.
  • Activated charcoal (five tablets per day) will help remove toxins from the body with the saliva of the bug.
  • You can attach the bulb with a slice to the wound. It is advisable to keep it all night.
  • Parsley leaves have the same effect.
  • Fresh potato juice or a root crop cut in half when in contact with bite sites will help relieve inflammation and swelling.

Today, it is quite effective in treating bedbug bites using essential oils.

These funds help not only relieve inflammation, disinfect the wound and anesthetize it, but also protect the person from subsequent attacks of parasites.

The fact is that many insects do not tolerate the smell of certain essential oils on the spirit. These include the following oils:

  • Conifers. It can be juniper or fir. Pine, cedar, spruce and southern cypress tree help a lot;
  • Floral (lavender, geranium, clove, pink);
  • Based on citrus fruits (orange, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine);
  • Herbs and deciduous trees (ylang-ylang, tea, pink, sandalwood, rosemary, bergamot, mint, wormwood, anise).

In addition to medicinal properties, these oils also have a relaxing and calming effect, which will be very important for those who cannot fall asleep, fearing repeated bites of bedbugs.

How to treat bedbug bites: proven methods

Anyone can suffer from bedbugs. Most often, safety measures are taken when going on a hike or fishing. But insect bites appear in the home bed.

Advice!
If a rash is found on the skin in the morning, accompanied by itching and soreness, you can allow the option of having bugs. The first rational questions that arise are how to treat bedbug bites and how to get rid of them faster?

The consequences of bites are considered to be harmless to human life. The most common are:

Itching Accompanying the bite of any insect, including the bug. Itching can be of varying intensity. It depends on the sensitivity of the skin, the number of bites, the general state of human health.

Constant and periodic itching after a bite is also noted.Combing the skin is strictly forbidden, especially to children. There is a risk of infection, which will lead to infection and inflammation.

Soreness. The appearance of pain is not an obligatory sign. An individual body reaction can manifest itself painlessly.

Redness. Usually has a flat shape with a bump in the middle and pronounced edges. It consists of a large number of small red dots located on the body in the form of a line or spot. The bug continues to bite a person until he finds quick access to the capillaries.

Allergic manifestations. Depend on individual susceptibility to insect saliva. With a tendency to allergies, bedbug bites can cause anaphylactic shock, the treatment of which should be carried out by a doctor.

Children are prescribed antihistamines by a pediatrician. It is impossible to prevent the occurrence of an allergic reaction. Therefore, in the first-aid kit should be funds recommended by a specialist.

Attention!
Sleep disorders. Sensitive people experience not only physical, but also psychological discomfort. This is caused by a feeling of disgust and fear. Lack of sleep leads to difficulties during the day and increased fatigue.

During pregnancy, bites can not harm the baby's health. The only negative factor is the dejected psychological state of the woman. Expectant mother needs to know how to treat bedbug bites.

Therapies

Neither the bites themselves, nor the wounds on the victim’s body pose a serious danger to life. People with delicate, smooth skin, as well as children, suffer more from bloodsucking attacks. Immediate treatment after bedbugs have been found on a person should begin in cases:

  1. acute allergic reaction;
  2. a large area of ​​damage to the skin;
  3. the presence of bleeding wounds on the body, especially the child;
  4. rise in temperature;
  5. the appearance of seals on the skin;
  6. purulent discharge from the wounds;
  7. decreased immune system function.

How to treat bedbug bites on a person’s body if at least one of the listed symptoms is present? The most common ways to deal with the effects of a bite is drug therapy and proven folk remedies.

First aid for bites

What helps from bug bites? With the help of simple home remedies, you can quickly alleviate the condition and relieve itching. To do this, immediately wash the affected area of ​​the skin thoroughly with soap and water. Soap foam is left on the body until it dries completely - this neutralizes the sensation of scabies.

Soda solution will also help (one teaspoon per glass of water). The best option is to take a warm bath. Dry your skin, apply ice for 15 minutes. Then, during the day, wipe the bite site several times with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.

This is best done with a cotton swab or bandage. If an allergic reaction is noticed, you can lubricate the wounds with Menovazine or take a Diazolin tablet.

Traditional Medicine Tips

Home healers offer a range of remedies that effectively relieve painful symptoms. What do they advise to handle bug bites? Key recommendations:

  • propolis tincture (alcohol);
  • freshly squeezed juice of parsley, celandine, plantain, peppermint;
  • potato juice;
  • St. John's wort infusion;
  • juice of garlic or onion;
  • lemon juice.

It is recommended to limit the use of sweets until the traces disappear and the wounds heal. This will help to quickly remove painful manifestations. Folk remedies have their advantages - accessibility, budget, ease of preparation in combination with a reliable result.

Medications

Medications for treatment contain similar components. According to the intensity of the impact, they are divided into groups:

  • Ointments. They have a fatty base. Consist of substances that interact well with fats.Absorbed much longer than gel or cream, but also affect the affected area for longer. This is the advantage of ointments. Good for dry and sensitive skin. The disadvantage is that there are greasy marks on the clothes and bed if the ointment is not sufficiently absorbed.
  • Creams. Differ in less fat at its core. Absorb quickly, the action is quite long, have a soft texture.
  • Gels. In addition to rapid absorption, gels have another advantage. Traces of the drug on clothing are easy to remove. It slightly dries the skin, so it is recommended to use them for normal skin.
  • Lotions. Very comfortable shape for a large area of ​​bites. After spraying, it takes a minimum of time for the lotion to soak. Leaves no marks on clothes and bed.

Popular ointments, creams and gels

Bepanten. The active substance of the drug is dexpanthenol. In addition to the healing effect on the skin, it has a good moisturizing and regenerating effect.

Important!
It can even be used to treat infants. Relieves puffiness, removes redness and inflammatory manifestations. The release of the medicine is made in two forms - ointment and cream.

Tsikaderma. An ointment with a good healing effect. It is applied 2 times a day. Before applying the product, it is necessary to rinse the places of bites well. Patches of the skin after applying the ointment should be protected from sunlight.

Epidel (cream). It is used to treat allergic manifestations, atopic dermatitis, eczema. In the first moments after the detection of bite marks, Epidelus is not used. Additional restrictions - children's age up to three months and the development of infection in the wounds.

Fenistil. Reliable antipruritic gel. It copes with swelling and inflammation of the skin. Prohibited for use under the age of one year.

Psilo-balm (gel). The composition of the drug includes diphenhydramine (diphenhydramine). Due to this component, the permeability of the walls of blood vessels is reduced. The gel has a cooling effect, which reduces itching and a feeling of heat in the bite.

The better to treat bedbug bites, it is advisable to determine at a doctor's appointment, given the condition of the skin and the individual characteristics of the body. You can contact an allergist or infectious disease specialist. Ointment preparations alone should be used only in the absence of complications.

In a difficult situation, you may need stronger drugs, even containing hormonal components. Such ointments have an anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic effect, but also have a list of restrictions.

How to bite bed bugs

The most important reason why bed bugs are so famous is bites and discomfort associated with them.

Advice!
Under normal conditions, bedbugs eat in the dark, when a person is sleeping, which causes additional inconvenience, seeing waking up at night with a lot of itchy bites is very unpleasant.

This not only undermines the daily routine and does not give a normal rest, besides this, bites conceal other troubles, but more on that later.

The bite of a home bug is a rather interesting process, somewhat similar to a mosquito bite. The fact is that the bites of domestic bugs are accompanied by anesthesia, due to the release of the saliva of the bug in the bite area.

Bed bugs prefer to bite open areas of the skin, and it is also believed that in the infected room the bites of bugs in children and women will be most often visible, their skin is softer and bugs easier to get into the capillary.

Signs of Bites

Bedbug bites are sometimes difficult to recognize - they are almost identical to mosquito bites. How to identify bug bites? Traces of bug bites are likely to be in much larger numbers.

Just as it is possible to determine the bites of bedbugs - the tracks will go “path”, close to one another, this means that the bedbug was looking for a suitable place for a bite.

How do bites appear?

Signs of a bug bite can be different for different people.Many people are even insensitive to their bites; they do not itch a bug bite.

Nevertheless, even in such people it is not difficult to understand which bites are from bedbugs and which are from other insects. Small dots on the skin will still be visible.

However, the most common reaction to bedbug bites is itching, inflammation, and swelling of the skin around the bite site.

Symptoms

Symptoms when biting bed bugs occur after a while, due to the fact that a bug bites saliva into the wound, which contains painkillers and anticoagulants that, like mosquitoes, prevent blood clotting while the bug saturated.

Therefore, some people who do not have such a strong reaction to their bites and rougher skin may not even wake up at night after being bitten a large number of times. However, in the morning the symptoms will be the same as in all people.

How to fight?

Fighting bites is very difficult. Unlike mosquitoes, against bugs there is no remedy that would prevent bites.

Attention!
If the bugs inhabit the mattress - it must be steamed, you can even just iron with steam for a long time.

Also, the bed can be moved away from the walls and all furniture adjacent to it can be removed. This will complicate the life of bedbugs, but does not guarantee that you wake up not bitten.

Effects

Why are bite bugs dangerous? At the moment, it has not been proven that bed bugs carry diseases. However, their close relatives - triatomic bugs, are the carrier of the terrible Chagas disease.

Fortunately, this species of bugs lives exclusively in South America, where this disease causes more deaths than any other disease transmitted by parasites.

But, nevertheless, on bed bugs there can still be organisms that cause various diseases. Also, some people may be allergic to bedbug bites.

What to treat?

Treatment for a bug bite is a necessary measure. If you still think whether bug bites are harmful, then the answer is yes. Then, how to handle bug bites? At a minimum, any bug bite requires treatment with alcohol or water and soap, because the bite is quite capable of festering, which will deliver a much more unpleasant sensation than itching.

How to treat bedbug bites? After treating the wound, you can apply a special ointment from bug bites. Unfortunately, now there are no means that can relieve the opportunity and prevent bites of bedbugs.

Important!
Means for biting bedbugs must be bought at a pharmacy, if you have such unpleasant neighbors - you will need it and more than once.

There is a special cream for bedbug bites, it softens the unpleasant reaction to their bites and relieves irritation, helps get rid of bite marks. Traces of bites and discomfort passes by himself, after 2-3 days. Also, a universal patch for all insect bites can be a cure for bedbug bites.

You can use other means - smear the bite with a tool or cream with a local anesthetic, anti-swelling agents and antihistamines, which will reduce the allergic reaction to the bite. And the simplest remedy is brilliant green, however, it is not too aesthetically pleasing, however, it is better to treat the wound.

How to treat bedbug bites

Now bugs are found quite rarely in urban conditions and many do not even know what these blood-sucking insects look like. Treatment of the consequences after bites of bed bugs is difficult at the stage of determining the causes of suspicious spots on the body.

Unlike other insects, bedbug bites are significantly different and can be easily recognized.

Treatment of bedbug bites consists in treating the bite site with special ointments to relieve itching and skin irritation. Such ointments can be purchased at any pharmacy store.

If you are planning a camping trip to the forest, to the country house or are planning to rent a house near the sea, be sure to bring ointment from bedbug bites with you, especially if young children are traveling with you because their skin is very sensitive.

Are bloodsucker bites dangerous

Bites of bed bugs in most cases go away on their own several days after the bites and do not cause trouble for a person except for mild itching, and sometimes even without symptoms.

After conducting research on bedbugs, scientists found that these parasites do not spread infectious diseases, even if the bedbug first drinks blood from a person with hepatitis, the virus will not get into the blood of the next bedbug victim. Similarly, parasites protect their potential victims, and take care of their own food.

Advice!
However, in certain cases, treatment is required and even necessary. During bites, bedbugs secrete a special substance, which, if it enters the skin of a person, can cause an allergic reaction. Such cases are quite rare, but it is better to prepare for possible troubles.

The most common situation is when a person can not stand the itch and begins to comb the wound. It is strictly forbidden to do this, you can introduce an infection, and the wound will fester and ulcers may appear.

Typically, the bite sites are very itchy, and the skin around becomes inflamed. In rare cases, a person has an allergy and fever, blood pressure, dizzy. If such symptoms appear, you should immediately seek medical attention from a doctor.

How to treat

Severe itching and irritation of the skin, the main symptoms, if they do not particularly bother you, then you can leave them unattended and they will disappear within two days. But if your skin is sensitive and bites do not rest, measures should be taken to relieve inflammation and disinfect the wound.

How to treat bedbug bites yourself:

  1. Treat the site of the bite with ointment fenistil gel, psilo-balm or elidel, you can use any wound healing, painkillers and relieving swelling and irritation of the ointment.
  2. To relieve itching, apply a cold gauze compress to the bite sites.
  3. Wash bites with cold water and soap.
  4. For symptoms resembling an allergic reaction, antihistamines should be used, but they should be prescribed by a doctor. In normal situations, regular ointments that relieve inflammation may help.

How to protect yourself?

Before going to nature, in order not to worry about bites and treatment, you should protect yourself and children from insects in advance, purchase special creams and aerosols that should be applied to the surface of the skin.

You can do with dense clothing covering the entire body and a thorough examination of clothing and body for insects. For better protection, use special repellents that should be applied to skin or clothing. They scare away insects and do not allow to get under clothes.

If you are wearing long clothes, you can apply them on the ankles, around the knee, elbows and neck. If you are in open clothing should treat all exposed areas of the body. Such products protect not only from bedbugs, but also from mosquito bites, ticks and other insects.

How to distinguish bug bites

To begin treatment of a suspicious area of ​​the skin on which a tumor or blister has formed, you need to figure out where they came from. Bedbug bites differ from bites of other blood-sucking insects.

Bed bugs pierce 3-6 holes, and suck blood from them one by one, for complete saturation of bugs it is enough to make 6 punctures.

Important!
In connection with such a nutritional system, the wounds from bedbugs are located close to each other, they usually swell, and cause unpleasant itching and redness.

If your skin is not sensitive to bites, then only a small red dot at the puncture site may remain on the body.

Other insects are distinguished by chaotic bites located throughout the body.

How bugs can affect a person’s well-being

In most cases, bedbug bites do not pose a threat to health, but the presence of parasites in the house can adversely affect the psychological state.

People who are afraid of insects or have a strong dislike for these parasites can feel great discomfort from understanding that bedbugs live on the same bed with them.

From this, sleep can worsen and a person becomes irritable and tired. Also, the presence of bugs can lead to severe stress on the children's body, and they will experience fear of sleep.

In addition to the mental aspect, bedbugs can interfere with normal sleep with their bites, and a person will wake up at night angry and irritated.

To prevent parasites from reaching you with their presence and bites, the first time you detect traces of bedbug bites, you should inspect the room and if you find parasites immediately acquire an insecticidal agent and destroy insects.

On the market you can find a huge selection of drugs that, according to manufacturers, quickly destroy parasites.

Before processing, carefully inspect the apartment and determine the possible habitats of bugs, usually a bedroom and a bed. Move away all the furniture and carefully spray the room, otherwise you will have to do the re-processing after a while.

Symptoms and treatment of allergies to bug bites

Insect allergy is a fairly common allergic reaction that develops in response to contact with insects and their waste products (excrement, saliva).

Advice!
This group also includes chemiperosis - an allergy to a bed bug - a bloodsucking parasite that lives in residential buildings. Bed bugs settle in folds of fabric and upholstered furniture, in pillows, crevices in the floor, under wallpaper and in books.

They are active only at night, during the day they hide in secluded places, which can be identified by the presence of dark spots (excrement), skins of larvae and eggs. These insects live in any premises, regardless of their sanitary condition.

Bed bugs lead an exclusively parasitic way of life, feed only on blood. A person is attacked from 3 to 8 in the morning.

In the process of bloodsucking, they leave behind a path of 2-7 itchy, mosquito-like traces. It is on this path that you can distinguish a bug bite from other insect bites.

Not only adults of both sexes can bite, but also larvae. However, if an adult bug only needs one meal once a week, then the larva, biting less blood, bites every day. Also in the saliva of the larva there is no anesthetic, so their bites are more painful.

Bed bugs try to find thinner and softer skin for nutrition, therefore they bite women and children more often, and bite marks usually occur on the neck and inside of hands and feet.

How to distinguish a bug bite from an allergy?

When bitten, an insect introduces an anesthetic into the human body, which prevents the onset of pain during nutrition, and an anticoagulant that prevents blood clotting. It is these substances that cause the appearance of a bite mark and, while being a strong allergen, can lead to the development of an allergic reaction.

The consequences of bedbug bites during a normal reaction are reduced to a slight edema, itching, pain and redness at the site of the bite. Some people have virtually no bite marks.

Important!
If the reaction is more pronounced, up to spreading throughout the body, we can assume the presence of allergies. Unlike a normal reaction, an allergy develops not only on saliva, but also on feces and bug bodies. There is enough contact with just one insect to develop an allergy to bed bugs.

As is the case with any insect allergy, an allergic reaction to bedbugs can manifest itself as a local and general reaction.

Local reaction is expressed in the form of: stronger, compared with normal, edema, redness and itching; sometimes the entire bitten limb swells.

If a local reaction to bedbugs occurs, treatment can be carried out at home, since such manifestations are not life threatening.

The general reaction for allergies to bedbugs has the following symptoms:

  • Red, itchy blisters (hives) appear throughout the body;
  • Runny nose accompanied by lacrimation;
  • Spasm of the bronchi leading to suffocation;
  • Swelling of the lips, eyelids, tongue, larynx (Quincke's edema);
  • Anaphylactic shock. Signs: blanching, sticky sweat, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness.

In the case of bronchospasm, Quincke's edema or anaphylactic shock, first aid should be given and a doctor should be called immediately, as these symptoms are life-threatening. Runny nose and urticaria are treated on an outpatient basis.

I would like to clarify: this does not mean that you do not need to see a doctor! This phrase means the absence of indications for hospitalization. In addition, the fact that complications did not develop after one bite does not guarantee that they will not occur after the second, so examination and treatment are necessary.

Due to the fact that the immune system at an early age is not fully formed, allergies to bedbugs in children are more pronounced, more severe reactions and complications develop.

Diagnosis of an allergy to bedbugs is carried out by collecting anamnesis, skin samples and a blood test for specific antibodies. To make a diagnosis, you should contact an allergist or immunologist, and if not, at least a dermatologist.

Differential diagnosis

If a rash appears on the body in the form of blisters, redness, accompanied by itching, it is not always easy to determine whether it is an insect bite, an allergy, or another disease.

Urticaria is one of the main forms of allergy manifestation, and can look very similar to insect bite marks. An allergy similar to bug bites develops more often with increased sensitivity to insect, drug and food allergens and with an increased immune response to infection in the body.

Advice!
Often, under the insect bites, a contact allergy to cosmetics or clothing materials is “masked”.

Also, rashes can appear with:

  1. autoimmune diseases
  2. poisoning
  3. liver damage
  4. mycoses,
  5. pustular lesions of the skin.

It is because of such an extensive list of potential reasons that specific tests are carried out to confirm the diagnosis of bed allergy.

It often happens that when they start to poison bugs in the house, an allergy appears, before which it did not manifest itself. In this case, you should suspect the development of an allergy to a bug remedy, since approximately 12% of people are prone to allergies to insecticides. To confirm the diagnosis, you should contact a specialist allergist.

First aid

What to do if an allergic person is bitten by bugs? If a local reaction develops to the bite zone, a cold compress should be applied, after which a local antihistamine for bedbug bites should be used - an ointment that relieves itching and inflammation (Fenistil-gel).

On the recommendation of a doctor, you can also take a general antihistamine that relieves allergy symptoms: Suprastin, Zyrtec.

In order to avoid infection, bites should not be combed, especially for children. In addition, in the treatment of childhood allergies to bedbugs, the age restrictions of the drugs used should be taken into account.

With the development of a general reaction, urticaria and runny nose are treated with antihistamines:

  • Cetirizine
  • Suprastin
  • Tavegil

You can also use sprays and drops against the common cold, ointments from itching (Levomekol, Fenistil).

In case of bronchospasm, Quincke's edema or shock, an ambulance should be called immediately.

Attention!
With a predisposition to a severe reaction, a cold compress is applied to the bite site, the patient is given an antihistamine (Diphenhydramine, Tavegil). Also, immediately after contact with the bug, a tourniquet can be applied above the bite site.

With the development of anaphylactic shock or suspicion of it, you must immediately call an ambulance and take first aid measures:

  • Lay the person on his back, turn his head on his side, raise his legs above his head.
  • As soon as possible you need to give the patient any available antihistamine.
  • In the event of cardiac arrest and / or respiratory arrest, artificial respiration and closed heart massage are started.

The doctor will introduce adrenaline, an antihistamine, prednisone on arrival, and bronchospasm - aminophylline. Hospitalization is carried out for 10 days with the continuation of drug therapy.

Treatment

When diagnosing an allergy to bedbugs, the most important measure, of course, is the disinsection of the apartment. You can do this yourself, but it is recommended to seek the help of a specialist.

Symptoms are treated with antiallergic drugs:

  1. Cetirizine
  2. Fenistil
  3. Lorahexal.

For long-term treatment, they resort to ASIT (allergen-specific immunotherapy), the mechanism of which is to reduce sensitivity to an allergen, the drug of which is administered to the patient in small doses for a long time, while allergic symptoms become dull or do not develop at all.

There are folk methods for treating local manifestations of an allergy to bedbug bites that relieve swelling, inflammation, redness and itching:

  • The compress of a solution of baking soda (a teaspoon in a glass of water);
  • Shredded plantain leaves attached to a bite;
  • Compress with an infusion of succession (4 teaspoons of grass pour a liter of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes).

Allergy Prevention

Prevention of allergies to bedbugs is to prevent these insects from entering the house and to deprive them of the ability to inhabit and breed in human dwellings, i.e. in their extermination.

As already mentioned, bed bugs can live both in very dirty and in clean rooms, because the amount of food for them does not depend on the sanitary and hygienic condition of the apartment. Therefore, preventing them from getting cleaned is difficult.

Recommended:

  • Do not buy old furniture “by hand” or treat it with steam or insecticides before installation in the apartment;
  • If it is known that there are bugs in the neighboring apartment, regularly treat the areas adjacent to the communication channels with insecticides (for example, crayons);
  • Regularly make repairs in the apartment (one of the “favorite” places of bedbugs is cracks in the old flooring);
  • If on a trip you had to spend the night in an apartment suspicious of the presence of bugs, you should immediately wash all the clothes after returning, and treat the bags with steam or an aerosol insecticide.

If insects did appear, the following measures must be taken to eliminate them:

  • Bed linen, mattresses, and, if necessary, carpets, should be steamed;
  • It is necessary to periodically change the pillows or treat them with a steam cleaner;
  • The bed should not have direct contact with other furniture, and bedding should not touch the floor;
  • The legs of the bed should be treated with an insecticide;
  • To repel bugs, you can use grass with a sharp strong smell, for example, wormwood.

The best way to deal with bedbugs is to contact a specialized pest control organization. The implementation of these preventive measures will prevent the development of an allergic reaction to bedbugs.

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