At the end of the day, all you want is stress-free rest in a comfy bed. But when bed bugs invade the furniture in your home, you could easily wind up dreading the evenings more than your busy workday. Most bed bug infestations start because homeowners don’t understand how they’re getting in and how difficult it can be to get out, so let’s protect your sleep by diving into some bed bug education.
Misconceptions And Medical Risks
Bed bugs are very small, but they can cause big problems in your home. Willing to infest almost any piece of furniture, bed bugs hide within the cushions waiting until you’re completely still (typically, when you’re asleep), and then they move slowly to feed on your blood. The nightly feedings can begin to take a toll on your sleep cycle. As you can imagine, it’s not exactly easy to doze off peacefully if you think you’ll wake up with itchy, red bumps all over you again. That’s why bed bugs, although they have never been proven to transmit diseases like other blood-feeding insects, can cause all sorts of medical issues from skin damage to insomnia and anemia.
To make matters worse, bed bugs can invade anyone’s home. Many people think that bed bugs are only attracted to dirty homes or that regularly cleaning your sheets can help you avoid them, but that’s, unfortunately, not the case. Once you learn how bed bugs invade your home, you’ll realize just how easily you could wind up with a dangerous infestation.
Slow-Moving World Travelers
Although bed bugs have tiny bodies with even tinier legs, they’ll travel the world by clinging to various objects and hitchhiking their way right into homes. While they can ride into your house by clinging on to your clothes, shoes, or pets, they’re much more likely to enter your home by riding in on your luggage.
When travelers pick up bed bugs in their various destinations, all of these pests seem to converge in travel hubs like airport terminals and bus stations. When you spend time in these bed bug hotspots, you could end up bringing them into your house if you leave your bag lying around on the ground for too long or if your luggage gets stored next to someone carrying bed bugs.
Another method of easily incurring bed bugs is buying secondhand furniture. If you fail to check the furniture you’re bringing into your home, you could bring bed bugs right through your front door, where the infestation will quickly spread to your other furniture. Before you know it, that great deal you found on used furniture can lead to stress, sleepless nights, and illnesses.
Eradication Mishaps
Once they’re in your home, you might not notice them at first. Since they’re very small and only come out when you’re not moving around, you probably won’t notice the bed bugs themselves. Rather, the signs of bed bugs will be much more noticeable such as:
- Itchy, red bumps on your skin
- Rust-colored rings from excrement
- Blood Stains left from feeding
Once you see these signs, it’s time to call the professionals at Aiken Pest Control. Bed bugs can be very difficult to get rid of, and many homeowners lean on DIY (do it yourself) techniques like vacuuming or spraying down furniture. However, this only prolongs the infestation as many bed bugs remain under the surface, untouched by these inconsistent remedies. That’s why homeowners who think they fixed their own bed bug problem simply open themselves up to further sleep and medical problems. Call in the experts at Aiken Pest Control! We are dedicated and committed to providing quality service.