Do Bed Bugs Cause Rashes in Humans?

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.

What Happens When I Get Bit By A Bed Bug?

Bed bugs are experts at their craft. They are great at finding hiding spots no bigger than the thickness of a credit card and can hide out for months with no food. They are great at waiting it out until you fall asleep, crawling over to your sleeping body, finding a place to pierce the skin, filling up on your blood and crawling back to their hiding place all while you unknowingly dream away. 

Bed bugs can do this because of a few chemicals that live in their saliva that help them perform their feeding ritual without being noticed. When bed bugs pierce the skin of their host to feed, they inject their saliva into your skin and into the blood stream. Their saliva includes an anesthetic so you won’t feel the bite and possibly wake up or turn over, disturbing their meal. Bed bug saliva also contains an anticoagulant agent so that your blood will not clot and will instead flow freely into their mouths. 

What Do Bed Bug Bites Look and Feel Like?

When, or if, you have a reaction to a bed bug bite, your skin and body are not actually responding to the bite itself, but rather this anti-coagulant that bed bugs inject into your skin. Symptoms of bed bites include itchy, red welts or swelling at the bite site. It may take a few days to 2 full weeks (14 days) for these symptoms to thoroughly develop and some individuals may never show any reactive signs of being bitten. Bed bug bites can itch or burn and can cause red bumps called papules or wheals. And these bites can be around for a while: it can take up to 3 weeks for bites to fully disappear. 

What Is Bed Bug Rash and How Is It Caused?

Since bed bug infestations can take a long time to discover and even longer to eradicate, your body can easily be covered in bed bug bites. The urge to scratch is real. However, if you scratch bed bug bites too much you may develop a rash. This rash is often referred to as “bed bug rash.” It may seem as though the bites themselves are spreading, but it is just your body reacting to your increased scratching, not the bites themselves. 

Call Pest Control Experts

If you have been bitten in characteristic groups of three, often referred to as “breakfast, lunch and dinner,” you may have a problem with bed bugs. If you are noticing a rash beginning to develop from scratching some bites, this may also be a sign that you have a problem with bed bugs. Since it can take so long for the symptoms of bed bug bites to appear, these raised, itchy bites and rashes may be a sign that you’ve been experiencing a bed bug issue for weeks before you were aware of 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 find the best pest care professionals to take care of your bed bug problem today.