How to Check for Bed Bugs

How To Check For Bed Bugs

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How To Check For Bed Bugs – Some Useful Suggestions

The absolute lack of knowledge about bed bugs has made it difficult for people to find out how to check for bed bugs in a hotel room or in their homes. While most of us are aware of how important it is to keep cockroaches, mosquitoes and flies away to the extent that we even check lice and also check dust mites to ensure they do not enter our homes, we do not seem to have the same intensity when dealing with bed bugs. But there are reasons for this as mentioned below.

So what are the reasons for not knowing how to check for bed bugs in a hotel room or within homes?

To understand this, we need to go back in history. In the early part of the 20th century and till World War II, these pests were very common. The reasons then were thought to be lack of hygiene standards and the absence of any effective pesticide to deal with them. But after World War II and with improved living standards as well as the introduction of a pesticide called DDT, these bed bugs could not survive and very soon were eliminated totally.

That explains how most elders in the family and those belonging to a couple of generations back are able to identify and even talk about these pests as they have experienced them in their life time. Generations that followed them and those born in the fifties have not had to suffer the presence of these pests and are thus totally unaware of these creatures.

However, over the last ten to fifteen years, though living conditions and hygiene standards have improved further, these pests have been able to make a comeback mainly because of two reasons. The first one has got to do with the discontinuation of the use of DDT and the second is the increased exchange of tourism as well as business travel that is taking place between countries.

The result is that many of these travelers inadvertently end up transporting these bed bugs from their hotel rooms and other places where they have stayed during their travel back to their countries. That would explain how many of the developed countries like the US and UK once again have to face this problem after a long gap in between.

Bed bugs are extremely adaptable to different situations and conditions. Their small size and quick movements make it virtually impossible for the human eye to see them. When travelers go back to their countries after a visit to another country, they inadvertently carry these pests along with their personal baggage. Moreover, most of us do not sanitize our baggage and other stuff by either subjecting them to vigorous vacuuming or steam cleaning. This lack of effort makes it easy for bed bugs to make an entry into our homes.

The question now is how to check for bed bugs in a hotel room or any other place?

There are some steps you must take before even putting or placing any of your personal belongings on the hotel bed. They are:

a) Peel the comforter back and check thoroughly. You should be looking with a magnifying glass for any movement of insects beneath the comforter as well as the top sheet.

b) The top sheet is normally white and should help you pick out any pests that are normally dark in color. Bed bugs though small have bodies that are dark tan in color and therefore can be spotted immediately. If you do spot any of them, contact the hotel administration immediately and either ask for a different room. Do not agree to any pest control treatment at that time as you will have to bear the brunt of it through the night as you sleep and spend your time in the room.

c) If you find nothing on the sheet, take it off and check for any signs beneath it and on the back of the mattress. You should also check out the box springs and any tell tale brown marks. If you do find them, you need to inform the hotel administration as the chances are that these marks represent the feces or blood stains of some insect crushed underneath the bed.

d) Check out the nooks and small corners of the bed as typically bed bugs tend to hide within them. If it is a bed with a wooden frame, you can rest assured, there would be many small crevices that could serve as a hiding place for these pests during the day time.

e) Check out the other furniture in the room, especially the drawers, dressing table, the insides of the cupboard and any other wood furniture. Examine the carpet closely for any movement of pests as well.

Having done all of the above and if you find nothing, you can go ahead and place your belongings in their right places. But this is still not a guarantee and you would have to wait till the next morning to confirm that the room indeed is free of bed bugs. That is because; typically these pests feed off the host during the night and their bites manifest in the form of small red bumps that tend to itch a lot. Hence when you get up in the morning, do check for any such signs on your arms, face or neck. These are the exposed areas that the pests look for to insert their proboscis and suck the blood.

If you do find them and they begin to itch or burn, you need to change the room and also look for a local application corticosteroid cream that will help you get over the itching as well as burning sensation.

Bed bugs are just one of pests that are difficult to detect unless there is a focused attempt to look for them. You also need to take efforts to check dust mites as well as check fleas so that you do not become a victim of their bites.

What about the need to check body lice?

Not many of us check lice on a regular basis. These are similar to bed bugs in the sense that they are small and quick in their movements. They are also wingless like bed bugs and feed off the human scalp. The only silver lining is that like bed bugs, they cannot cause any serious infection or disease. But they can be quite irritating and many girls get their hair infested with these pests mainly due to faulty hygiene practices like sharing each other’s comb, sharing ear pods and so on.

Head lice also cause severe itching and the result is that due to active scratching, girls tend to get rashes. The hair also tends to get all tangled up. Once you identify them to be present, then try and expose your hair to maximum sunlight. These pests like bed bugs cannot withstand heat and the direct effect of the sun. Follow it up with thorough combing to remove the tangles. Make use of a lice comb for this purpose. Typical signs of their presence are in the form of white tubules at the end of hair strands as well as black spots on the dress. These indicate the presence of eggs as well as feces of the lice.

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