When you think about problems in your life, a potential bed bug infestation probably isn’t high on the list. If you think that you can’t incur an infestation because you have a nice house or because you wash your sheets, then you’re sadly mistaken. And you’ll be sadly surprised when you find out how big of a problem they can become.
Bed Bugs: More Than Just A Nightmare
These small, oval-shaped pests can be very difficult to spot in your house, only measuring five millimeters long at the most. However, when there are dozens of them surfacing from the depths of your mattress to suck on your blood at night, they’ll make their presence known. Waking up to itchy, red bumps all lined up in neat rows on your body is not a great feeling, and it can make it very difficult to sleep.
While bed bug bites aren’t necessarily dangerous, and they don’t transmit diseases as mosquitoes do, prolonged infestations can still cause severe health problems. As these itchy bumps add up, they can turn into a rash or skin irritation that can cause permanent damage. Also, prolonged infestations have been known to lead to insomnia. (After all, wouldn’t you have trouble sleeping if you felt certain you’d wake up with bites all over you?) Along with severe insomnia that can last even once the infestation is eradicated, there is evidence that many bed bug infestations have led to anemia as well.
Hitchhikers With Bad Intentions
Another major issue with bed bug infestations is how hard they are to get rid of…and how easy they are to incur. You see, bed bugs might be small, but they can travel the world by clinging on to anything else that travels: clothes, shoes, people, pests, and luggage. Usually, people won’t pick up bed bugs in their routine of going to work and coming back home. However, any sort of break from that travel pattern might land you in a place where there are bed bugs, and they’ll be quick to hitch a ride to your house and turn you into their next sustainable food source.
That’s why you have to be very careful when you travel. Bed bugs are not only an issue in hotels, but you can also pick them up in travel hubs like train stations, bus stations, and airport terminals. You might be smart enough to avoid putting your suitcase onto a hotel bed before you’ve checked it for bed bugs, but someone else that you’re traveling with might not be as smart. All it takes is for your bag to get close to theirs, and the bed bugs will hitch a ride straight into your home.
Along with traveling, buying secondhand furniture is a high-risk activity for bed bug incursion. Bed bugs will infest anything from a couch to a chair to a mattress, so make sure to check it for signs of bed bugs: bloodstains, rust-colored excrements, and musty odors.
Eradications Frustrations
With bed bugs having so many ways into your home, you can be as careful as you want and still incur an infestation. The mistake that most people make is trying to get rid of the pests on their own once they notice the signs. However, vacuums, sprays, and other home remedies usually just kill the very top layer of bed bugs. There are hundreds more, including unhatched eggs, buried in the surface of your mattress.
Once those eggs hatch, you’ll be right back where you started. Then come the sleepless nights, and worse. Instead of risking the health effects of a prolonged infestation (and wasting your time and money) on home remedies, why not get rid of them the first try? Contact Parkway Pest Services at the first sign of bed bug problems for your satisfaction guaranteed.