Bed bugs - Nature Cures®

Table of Contents

Also known as Cimex lectularius.

Bed bugs are small blood-sucking insects that can live in cracks and crevices in and around the bed. Attracted by body heat and carbon dioxide, they crawl out at night to bite exposed skin and feed on human blood, just as mosquitoes do.

Bed bug life cycle

Females lay 200-500 eggs over a two-month period. These white specks stick to surfaces and are very difficult to spot. They hatch to form tiny straw-coloured insects that take about six to eight weeks to grow into adults.

Not everyone develops a skin reaction to bed bug bites, but some people will develop itchy red bumps one to nine days later, usually on the face, neck, hand or arm. These are often mistaken for mosquito bites, but while mosquito bites tend to be random in pattern, bed bug bites more often occur in straight lines.

How do bed bugs feed?

Bed bugs are attracted by warmth, and they generally feed during the night, often just before dawn. They tend to feed every five to 10 days, though they can survive without feeding for several months. Adults can survive for up to a year without feeding.

Bed bugs pierce the skin and inject saliva which contains anaesthetics and anticoagulants into the host which often make their bites painless initially. After feeding on the host’s blood for several minutes, bed bugs will retreat to their hiding place. They will generally try to remain within close range of their warm-blooded host.

Should a bed bug infestation be of concern?

Bed bugs are not dangerous, because, although bed bug transmission of human diseases is theoretically possible, it has not yet been definitively established. Most people do not develop any serious skin reactions either. Bed bugs are not attracted to dirt, so a bed bug infestation is not a sign of an unclean home. However, their presence can be upsetting and stressful.

How to spot a bed bug infestation?

Adult bed bugs look like lentils and are visible to the naked eye. They are oval-shaped, flat and reddish-brown and up to 5 mm long. They are often redder in colour after feeding. As they grow, they shed their skin. This looks like mottled brown shells on the mattress.

Because their bodies are flat, bed bugs can squeeze into the smallest crevice or crack, such as a mattress seam or the joints of a bed frame. This can make them very difficult to spot. They tend to prefer fabric or wood over plastic and metal, and often hide near to where you sleep, for example under the mattress or along the headboard.

Five signs of a bed bug infestation

Look for any unexplained skin rash or itchy bump (although not everyone develops this).
Look out for black spots on the mattress. This could be their dried faeces.
Look for mottled shells that bedbugs may have shed.
Check bed sheets for blood spots where you may have rolled over and squashed a bug after it had fed.
Inspect all the crevices and joints of the mattress and furniture using a torch and see if you can spot any bugs.

How do bed bugs spread?

Bed bugs are willing to travel several feet to reach human skin, so they can also be found away from the bed in other furniture. It is also worth checking along the edges of carpets and even behind mirrors or inside smoke alarms. In fact, they can be found in almost any place in the bedroom where they will not be disturbed.

Once introduced into the home, bed bugs can spread easily from room to room. They do not fly or jump but can crawl quickly. They can soon spread within a building by getting through holes in walls or pipes, and can potentially invade blocks of flats, hotels or hospitals.

The bugs can also be transported in luggage, clothing, furniture and bedding from one building to the next. This makes it easy for tourists and commuters to unknowingly spread bedbugs.

The media has recently reported a huge increase in the number of bed bug infestations around the world, especially in developed countries. It is likely that tourists and an increasing resistance to insecticides are the main reasons for this.

Ten steps to eliminate bed bugs from the home

1. Remove all bedding – sheets, pillowcases, blankets, duvets, bed liners and mattress covers. Wash everything in extremely hot water and dry in a dryer. Do NOT put back on the bed until the entire bedroom (or house, if they are everywhere) has been cleaned.

2. Any other fabric-type object in the bedroom, or other rooms in the house, should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner using the hose. Then the contents of the cleaner should be placed in plastic bags, sealed with tape and left for three days. This kills any remaining bed bugs. Items to do this to include soft toys, computer bags, pillows etc.

3. Inspect all cupboards and drawers. If there are bed bugs or bed bug eggs in cupboards and drawers, take out all your clothing and wash that in hot water too.

4. Vacuum the whole room or house and use a vacuum hose in the nooks and crannies, paying particular attention to cracks and openings in the wall. Throw away contents of the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag as afterwards.

5. If there are any cracks or openings in walls, particularly at light sockets, outlet areas etc. use decorators putty to completely close the holes. This will stop any more bed bugs getting into the room and remove hiding places.

6. Check the bed and mattress for bed bugs. It is likely that there is an infestation in the bed or in the box springs. It is incredibly difficult to get rid of bed bugs in a mattress. The only way is to buy a plastic mattress cover. Leave the zipped up cover on for a least a year. A year is how long the life cycle of bed bugs is.

7. Throw out the pillows in sealed plastic bags and buy new ones.

8. Now, clean the entire room or house with a natural cleaner. See the Hygiene, toxins and health page to find out how to make toxin free cleaners. Clean every surface, behind every piece of furniture, inside every cupboard and drawer, along the skirting boards, light fixtures and wall sockets – basically everything in the house.

9. Once everything is clean, you can safely put back all of your clothes and bedding etc.

10. Repeat everything on this cleaning list again in 10 days, again in another 10 days, and one more time in a third 10 days. Bed bugs are very difficult to eliminate, but if you make sure you keep cleaning (and follow all the steps), you should be able to get rid of them naturally within a 30-day period.

Bed bug prevention

The following essential oils can deter bed bugs initially but will be ineffective against an infestation.

Cloves
Lavender
Peppermint
Tea tree,
Thyme

NOTE: Essential oils should be avoided by pregnant women. Many essential oils are poisonous to cats so caution should be taken when spraying where cats may congregate.

Related subjects

Join our mailing list to receive your monthly emailed newsletter with all the latest scientific findings for natural health remedies.