Bed bugs are common global pests that can cause stress and illness if not treated properly. Removing an infestation is not easy since you must address all suspected areas equally while following safe extermination practices to avoid secondary insecticide poisoning. However, proper treatment can eliminate infestations quickly by avoiding secondary poisonings through informed extermination practices and judicious use of appropriate pest control products.
Leaving bed bug infestation untreated can lead to the following:
Rapid multiplication
Once you detect a single bed bug, you must begin to take necessary actions by searching for more hidden sites, as you may soon become infested or have been infested. A female bed bug can lay up to six eggs per night and up to 500 eggs in its lifetime. Therefore, leaving an infestation untreated will yield a hundred and thousands of bedbugs as those eggs might begin to hatch sooner or later.
Household damages
Although, bed bugs have not in any way led directly to damage to household properties or materials as they are not a termite, powder post beetles, or wood borers that possess solid biting jaws and chewing mouthparts to damage your furniture. Bed bugs only have proboscis for piercing through your skin to get blood. However, the excretes of bed bugs could impose dark or rusty stains on your bedsheet and the walls of your room, making it look unpleasant to sight. These stains are often easy to remove during regular wash, although some colours are heavy and will require you to get an enzyme stain remover for fabrics to get them removed. If the colours are on the walls, you may need to do some scrubbing; you can do this by:
- Adding a mixture of detergent and water.
- Then, get a sponge or soft brush and dip it in.
- Then you can start scrubbing the area where the stains are found.
This method may work if the area is small. However, in cases of heavy infestation, you may need to repaint your house after you must have killed the bugs. This definitely could indirectly impose an unplanned cost on you.
Affect your Lifestyle
Bites from bed bugs can disrupt your sleep at night; you wake up from sleep at short intervals from their stinging actions, thereby giving you a stressful night. In addition, it can affect your efficiency and productivity at work as the effects of a bad night's sleep may come into play at the workplace, you may have a feeling of drowsiness, and you know what? You may get fired by your boss when you are caught sleeping on duty. Aside from that, the marks left by bed bug bites, especially on your face and neck or any exposed part of your body, may make you look less attractive.
Irritation
whenever a bed bug pierces your skin with its proboscis to suck blood. It injects saliva at the same time. This saliva has anticoagulant properties, a blood thinning substance to prevent blood from thickening (clotting) while it's being sucked. The allergens cause allergic reactions (asthma, hives), especially in allergic individuals. A study has shown that only about 40% of people show allergic reactions to bed bug bites. The saliva also contains chemicals that cause irritation and itchiness of the skin; this may lead to you scratching the area either gently or vigorously, depending on how your body reacts to the bite. This may result in opening that area and, if left untreated, might lead to secondary infection by other dangerous microbes; you may develop conditions like impetigo and cellulitis.
Check out our previous post on how to treat bed bug infestation in just 3 days!
FAQs
Do bed bugs cause severe health problems?
Bed bugs are not known to cause any serious threat to human health. However, the above paragraph can read more about their side effects.
How long does it take to deal with bed bugs?
With a professional exterminator, bed bug infestations could be curbed in less than 3–7 days. However, some treatments may last for 3–4 weeks, depending on how badly your home has been infested.
Can bed bugs ever go away?
Even though bed bugs might be difficult to get rid of completely, especially in cases of hyper infestation. With the correct information, tools and intervention of a professional bed bug exterminator. It is possible to get rid of bed bugs altogether.
Do bed bugs go away naturally?
If the conditions to keep bed bugs remain, bed bugs remain in the home. The only situation when bed bugs won't thrive is when there is a cold climate.
What do bed bugs not like?
Bed bugs don't like steam; this can kill them instantly. They also love to avoid scents from citrus, basil, lavender and mint.