Do Bed Bug Bites Itch?

Need to get rid of bed bugs? Read on to learn the answers to all of your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

Bed Bug Bites

Bed bugs are efficient little monsters. They hide in, around and near your bed and wait until you have fallen asleep to attack their prey. It can take around 5-10 minutes for a bed bug to get their fill of a blood meal once they have started feeding, so they need to make sure their dining experience won’t be disturbed, which is why they only attack while their hosts are sleeping. 

They have their feeding ritual down to a science: when they pierce the skin of their host to take a blood meal, they inject their saliva which includes an anesthetic so you won’t feel the bite and wake up, disturbing their meal. Their saliva also contains an anticoagulant agent so that your blood will flow freely into their mouths. They’ve designed the perfect system so that you won’t feel a thing while it’s happening. It’s after they’ve had their fill that you may know they’ve been there.

Do Bed Bug Bites Itch?

The anti-coagulant that bed bugs inject into your skin with their saliva is what you are actually responding to if your skin shows any reaction. Individuals who are bitten by bed bugs may develop itchy, red welts or swelling at the bite site. 

It can take a few days for this reaction to show up in some individuals, and some people never have any reaction to the bites themselves. Bites can feel itchy and sometimes even cause a burning sensation. 

They can cause red bumps called papule or wheals. It can take up to 14 days (2 weeks) for bed bug bites to appear, but can appear in as little as one hour in some sensitive individuals. It can take up to three weeks for the bites to fully disappear.

Bed Bug Rash

If you scratch bed bug bites too much you can develop a rash. This rash is referred to as a bed bug rash. It may seem as though the bites themselves are spreading, but it is just a reaction to your scratching, not the bites themselves. 

Call Pest Control Experts

Don’t wait until a bed bug infestation gets out of hand. If you are finding bed bug bites on your body it may be a sign that you’ve been experiencing a bed bug issue for weeks before you knew it. 

Call a knowledgeable professional pest control specialist who can inspect your home to look for bed bugs and the extent of the infestation. Call Pest Control Experts to take care of your bed bug problem today.