Unwanted snuggles: How to banish bed bugs from your bed
Created: 2022-06-28Updated: 2022-06-28 12:17 p.m
By: Sophie Waldner
Bed bugs thrive in a warm bed and like to bite, so it's important to identify them and get rid of them.
© imago images / Panthermedia
Bed bugs love a warm bed and human blood.
In order to get rid of the bugs, you have to recognize them first.
We explain how.
Bed bugs often go undetected for long periods of time.
Until the bugs bite and leave
traces of blood on the bed
and bite marks on the human body.
You can identify a bed bug bite by the fact that the bites come one after the other, in a row.
Bed bugs feel most comfortable in a warm bed and can
live undetected for up to a year
.
With a bed bug in bed*, you unintentionally go on a special kind of cuddling course. Because they are small bloodsuckers that attack the human body when it is in the deepest sleep.
So you don't notice a
bite from a bed bug
.
Until the next morning, anyway.
Because then the bite starts to itch.
Nobody likes that, so it's clear that the bugs have to leave the bed.
Identify bed bugs in bed
Bed bugs are mostly visible to the naked eye when they are fully grown.
The little bugs like to turn night into day and only then become really active.
Preferably, of course, where it is nice and warm.
These places are usually the bed or mattress.
And this is what bed bugs look like: they are about
three to eight millimeters long
and reddish-brown in colour.
The body of the
six-legged bed bug is flat and hairy
.
The bugs are drawn to the human warmth and smell.
If bed bugs want to multiply, they will, too, throughout the home.
Preferably in the smallest cracks and hiding places, such as behind the wallpaper or under the carpet.
Since you don't notice the bed bugs at night, you only notice them when they have bitten a person.
During the day, the parasites hide well enough not to be found.
And the bed bugs are also clever, because they can hide for a longer period of time and survive without food.
Also read:
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.
Identify and treat bed bug bites
During the bite, the bed bugs release an anesthetic secretion so that the bite initially goes unnoticed.
How people react to bug bites is difficult to assess, since everyone has different reactions.
However, reddish spots on the body and flat bumps
are usually to be expected
.
What is particularly common about bed bugs is that they go to parts of the body that are not covered, such as the face, hands or even the neck and feet.
At first glance, bed bug bites are difficult to distinguish from flea bites.
The difference is that the flea bite is significantly more itchy.
In addition, fleas are usually carried into the living space by pets.
So if you don't have any animals and find suspicious red bites on your body, you can usually assume it's a bed bug.
After all, bed bug bites do not transmit diseases that lead to worse consequences.
Cortisone ointments
or common home remedies such as onion juice
usually help to get the itching under control .
Also Read:
How to Hotel: How to Get Your Linen Smooth Without Ironing
.
Banish bed bugs from the bed: This is how it works
Since bed bugs reproduce quite quickly, it is advisable to consult a specialist.
One way to get rid of the bugs is the
temperature method
.
The living space is heated to over
45 degrees Celsius
.
As much as bed bugs like the heat, these temperatures are also too high for them.
The complete opposite does not please them either.
Because even temperatures below
minus 15 degrees Celsius
are too cold for the bed bugs and they freeze to death.
Ideally, however, you can help prevent the bed bugs from making it into your bed in the first place.
(swa)
*
Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editorial network
.
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.
Source: bildderfrau.de
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