Question by JILL P:
Will I know for sure if I have bed bugs?
I get the “iby Jeebies” at night when I’m in my bed and I’m not sure if I have bed bugs or not. I’m a very clean person and evrything but when one of my friends were here I wasn’t sure if maybe they passed it along. Please Help!! What are some signs? And if I do have them how do I get rid of them permanetly without tearing my house apart??
Best answer:
Answer by sweettems
You would be getting bites all over if you have them. Sometimes there can be other things that bug you in the night, though. There have been times I got all itchy when I went to bed, but after I got up and took a shower I was fine. I think that sometimes you get something on you or the sheets that you may be allergic to, and that makes you uncomfortable – for bed bugs you would know. There would be no question to that.
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Bed bugs don’t travel on people, so it’s unlikely that you got “it” from your visiting friend.
Bed bug bites are visible, like a small mosquito bite. They might appear in a row or a little group of 2 or 3. Yes, they are itchy. No, you can’t get rid of them permanently unless you tear your house apart, or at least part of it.
Bed bugs crawl into you luggage when you’re staying at an infested hotel, or they are inside used furniture that you might bring into your home.
Now for the fun part. What if you think you do have bed bugs? What are the signs? Look for little tiny bits of them in your sheets. As they grow, they shed their skin. If you have them, and you think you were bitten, you wouldn’t have felt a thing. They are STEALTH experts. You would probably be getting bitten every night or every other night. The next step is to take your sheets off. Take off the mattress cover. Look at all the seams where fabric is folded over. Look at the mattress edges where the fabric folds over. Lift the folds everywhere. Flip the mattress. Do the same examination on the box spring.
If you find nothing, you’re probably clear. But, if you find a bug or two (they are small, dark brown, flat, and if they just bit you they are easily squished and will be full of YOUR BLOOD), you must declare war by going to the next step. Move to the bed frame. If it is made of wood it is suspect. If it comes apart, take it apart. Look in every nook and cranny. Now move to the wooden furniture, such as a night table. Dismantle it as far as possible. Look in bedside books and papers. Now, move to the wooden parts of your room, such as baseboards or wooden paneling, door and window trim. Pry them off and look.
Act sooner rather than later, because they will multiply over a period of months until the extreme measures described above are necessary.