Bed Bugs are everywhere. They are turning up in homes, apartments, hotels, movie theaters, laundromats and grocery stores. Bed bugs have been found on buses, in subways and even on airlines and cruise ships. Bed bugs have earned a reputation as world class hitchhikers and they are quite happy to hitch a ride back to your dwelling, so they can infest your home and ruin your good night’s sleep.

The tiny, insidious insect pest has made a come back that would make a slumping Major League Baseball player proud. In less than 25 years, bed bugs have gone from virtually non-existent in developed nations to being a serious and annoying problem today. Since 2001, bed bug infestations have increased over 500%. Local Pest control companies report that their bed bug related jobs have increased from 2 or 3 a year to 4 or 5 a week in the last year alone.

These totally unwelcome insects are extremely difficult to get rid of once they establish a colony. The question of how to to kill bed bugs without having to resort to spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a professional exterminator is of great concern to families. Now that much of the world is experiencing a major financial meltdown, the last thing any family needs is to drain their savings to get rid of bed bugs.

To prevent bed bugs from becoming an issue in your life, you need to know what bed bugs look like, how they get into a home and how you can prevent bed bugs from ever gaining a foothold in your home. You also need to know if bed bugs are just a nuisance or are they an emerging disease issue that puts you and your family at risk.

How To Prevent Bed Bugs By Identifying The Enemy: Knowledge Is The Key To Protection

The good news is that bed bugs are not a serious health risk. They are not linked to any emerging disease issues. Extensive medical research has shown that bed bugs do not cause any major illnesses other than a very rare allergic reaction to their bites. The main effects of a bed bug infestation are psychological stress and a serious drain on your bank account.

The first step to preventing a bed bug infestation is to be pro-active and learn everything you can about these little nightmares. At the top of the list, you need to know what bed bugs look like. Here is an official description of bed bugs from the USDA and other prominent authorities:

“The adult bed bug is a broadly flattened, ovoid, insect with greatly reduced wings (Schuh and Slater 1995). The reduced fore wings, or hemelytra, are broader than they are long, with a somewhat rectangular appearance. The sides of the pronotum are covered with short, stiff hairs (Furman and Catts 1970). Before feeding, bed bugs are usually brown in color and range from 6 to 9.5 mm in length. After feeding, the body is often swollen and red in color (USDA 1976).” Their larvae are the size, shape and color of a small grain of uncooked, white rice.

Bed Bugs shun the light and they are totally nocturnal creatures. They are most active between 3:00 am and the first light of dawn. Our unwelcome insect visitors are expert at hiding in a wide range of hard to get at places. Although they are most often found between the mattress and the box spring of a bed, they can also be found in tiny cracks and crevices, cabinets and drawers, picture frames, drapes and curtains, sofas and other furniture. More often than not bed bugs are first detected by the evidence they leave behind rather than by spotting the actual insects.

Bed bugs feed on human blood and they are very effective little food processors. Bed bugs are so efficient at digesting their meals that one prominent sign of their presence is their droppings. Lift up your mattress and look underneath. If it looks like someone sprinkled finely ground black pepper all over, then you may have bed bugs.

Another sign of the presence of bed bugs is tiny blood smears on your bedding. As you make contact with your sheets after you are bitten, you may leave traces of blood behind. This can become noticeable over time, as more and more bed bugs use you as their personal blood bank.

The way most bed bug infestations are discovered is as a result of their bites and the wounds that appear on the human body. Bed bugs will feed on any exposed area of skin. The face, neck, arms, hands, feet and lower legs are the most common areas where you will find bed bug bites. The bites will leave distinctive small, flat, raised bumps on the skin that may lead to redness and swelling. Scratching the bites can cause them to become infected. A severe reaction to bed bug bites may even cause rashes and blisters. According to experts in infectious disease, bed bugs have an unusual bite pattern. They tend to leave several bites in a neat, little row. The experts call this, “breakfast, lunch, and dinner bites” and it is a sign of what they label “sequential feeding .”

How To Prevent Bed Bugs From Entering Your Home; Bed Bugs Are World Class Hitchhikers

Now that you have a basic knowledge of bed bugs, their signs and symptoms, you need to know how they travel to your home in the first place. This is of paramount importance as it is much easier to prevent bed bugs from entering your home than to get rid of them once they have arrived.

People will be amazed to find out just how good bed bugs are at using every imaginable method of traveling from one place to another. One unfortunate victim brought home his bed bugs from his favorite restaurant. He checked his coat in the restaurant’s coat room and while he enjoyed his meal, several bed bug bugs climbed from another coat that came from an infested home onto his coat. After dinner, Mr. Unfortunate took home several ready to breed, adult bed bugs and within weeks, his home was fully infested.

Bed bugs travel in suitcases, in bags of groceries, in second hand furniture and may even arrive in your home in your child’s school book bag. While you can’t stop bed bugs from traveling, you can keep them from gaining a foothold in your home.

The goal for every homeowner and apartment dweller is to keep bed bugs out of your home with a minimum of expense and effort. You have many other things to do with your life and while bed bugs are a problem, they should not become an obsession. You want to kill any bed bugs that may actually make their way into your home without totally disrupting your life and turning your home into a war zone. You want to eliminate bed bugs naturally and quickly, without giving them a chance to start a major bed bug infestation.

How To Prevent Bed Bugs The Modern Way: Tricks, Tools and Techniques

Keeping bed bugs out of your home requires a family wide effort. Everyone in the family needs to have a working knowledge about bed bugs. Parents of younger children will need to take care to prevent these impressionable youngsters from becoming overly fearful and this can be done by promoting an attitude of team spirit in the family.

The first step is to find out if bed bugs have become a serious issue in your community. Check the local papers, speak with neighbors, consult local pest control companies and search the Internet. If you find that bed bugs have already infested several homes or businesses in your local area, it is time to take steps to establish a bed bug barrier for your home.

In order to physically protect your home from bed bugs, you need to make the main entrance to your dwelling into a bed bug proof safe room. It is in this area that anything entering your home should be screened and inspected for bed bugs. This is your main line of defense against the bed bug invasion and it must be respected at all times. You can’t decide to abandon your bed bug prevention procedures one evening because you come home from work tired and are in a hurry to sit down and relax. It may be the one time you have a bed bug or two inside the pocket of your rain coat.

The safe area should be free of carpeting and furniture and ideally, there should be a closet that can be used to store all coats and outerwear. One of the cardinal rules of bed bug prevention is that you should never store overcoats and other similar items in the same closet as the rest of your clothing and you should never keep them in a bedroom closet.

Your safe zone should be brightly lit and protected by several bed bug prevention devices. There are many great, all natural bed bug traps on the market and it is highly recommended that your place a few in every room, before bed bugs ever get a chance to enter your home. This is what we mean by being pro-active instead of re-active. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

When you get a delivery to your home, you need to inspect all the packages carefully before allowing the contents into your home. All packing materials should be sealed in bed bug proof plastic bags and disposed of immediately. Companies like Bed Defense have pioneered a wide range of bed bug proof containers that can be used to bag up any suspected infested objects. Bed Defense, for example, even offers a full selection of bed bug proof bags that are designed to enclose and protect your mattresses against bed bugs. These products are affordable, safe, natural and they work.

Every member of your family must be trained to use the safe area entrance at all times. They must be taught how to inspect their belongings for bed bugs whenever they enter the home and what to do if they find one. Guests to your home, delivery people and outside workers must also be screened in your safe area before they enter your home proper.

This all may seem like an imposition but spending two or three thousand dollars to get rid of a bed bug infestation is more of an imposition. Having your entire life turned upside down by a bed bug infestation is more of an imposition. Being forced to throw out and replace all your bedding, draperies, carpeting, upholstered furniture and even clothing is more of an imposition. The last thing anyone wants in their lives is to have their home taken over by bed bugs and when you consider the possibilities, a bit of effort to prevent this from happening is not much of an imposition at all.

Conclusion: Be Pro-active And Protect Your Family From Bed Bugs

So there we have it. Bed bugs are back and they are back with a vengeance. They may not be a risk for emerging disease issues but they are certainly one of the biggest nuisances nature has to offer. They can enter your home, take over your life, ruin your sleep and cost you a fortune.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to prevent bed bugs from establishing a foothold in your home. We have outlined some of these procedures for you here. It is imperative that you expand your knowledge and stay up to date on all the latest developments in bed bug prevention.

The key to bed bug prevention is to be pro-active and aggressively protect your home and family. Once bed bugs have established a colony, most families are simply overwhelmed and opt to turn their bed bug problem over to professionals. More often than not this means a large bill in the thousands of dollars, a stay in a hotel or motel for several weeks, the loss of many of your possessions and a costly, ongoing bed bug treatment program that can last for years.

You decide. Will you make an effort now to protect your home against bed bugs before they enter or will you pay the price when it is too late? The smart choice is to make every effort to keep these awful little insects out of your life. Many families will do this long before bed bugs ever have a chance to destroy their peace of mind and turn their lives into a living nightmare. Which choice will you make?

They can leave anything from a small red bump to a serious, itchy weeping rash. With the resurgence of Bed Bug infestations in recent years, people are starting to wonder if Bed Bug bites are merely a temporary annoyance or if they are dangerous to the health of those who are bitten.

Bed Bugs drink human blood and they are nocturnal feeders.

They crawl onto their chosen victim and like mosquitoes, they inject a small amount of their saliva into the bite wound, This serves as an anti-coagulant to keep the blood flowing and also as an anesthetic to prevent the victim from noticing that they are being bitten. This is why it is only after the victim wakes up that the symptoms start to become apparent and the victim knows they have been bitten.

The first signs of Bed Bug bites are small flat or raised welts that usually appear in rows of three bite marks.

Yikes Bed Bug Bites Hurt!

Bed Bugs feed in what scientists call a “breakfast, lunch and dinner pattern” because Bed Bugs will bite the same area multiple times. The bites will start out as small welts and may swell up and start to itch. Scratching the bites can lead to blistering, infection and scaring. It is strongly advised to use an anti-itch lotion or cream and avoid scratching Bed Bug bites.

The determining factor that will decide if the bites are coming from Bed Bugs is, of course, if the bites occur while you are sleeping and start to flare up later in the familiar 3 bite pattern. Bed bugs bites will usually appear on areas of the body that are exposed while you sleep such as arms and lower legs. If one sleeps in the nude, the bites may appear all over the body with particular attention to the side of the body that is turned away from contact with the mattress while the Bed Bugs are feeding.

The good news in this story is that the latest scientific research has found no link between Bed Bug bites and any serious disease or illness.

Bed Bug bites are generally mild and will disappear quickly once the Bed Bug infestation has been eliminated. On rare occasions, a bite victim may have an allergic reaction to the bites and may need some medical attention to treat any irritation or rash that may flare up.

It should be mentioned that when children are bitten by Bed Bugs, they are more likely to scratch the bites than adults. Special attention should be paid to children who have been bitten by Bed Bugs. They should be made aware that it is important not to scratch the bites and a child safe anti-itch lotion or cream should be used if necessary.

Concern has been raised about how Bed Bug bites might affect pregnant women and the unborn.

Research has also shown that there is no risk of the transfer of infectious agents, illness or disease from Bed Bugs to pregnant women or their unborn offspring. Of course, a pregnant woman should also avoid scratching any bites and running the risk of getting an infection in the bite wounds. Care should be taken by pregnant women in their choice of any anti-itch creams or lotions. It is advised that pregnant women consult with their doctor or pharmacist in the choice of these products.

All in all Bed Bug bites are more of a nuisance than a danger to human beings but if they occur, immediate steps should be taken to remove the infestation and prevent any chance of a re-occurrence.

The choice of whether to deal with a Bed Bug problem on your own or hire a professional exterminator is up to you but it should be said that once Bed Bugs become firmly established, they are extremely hard remove. The real key is to be aware of the fact that Bed Bugs have made an amazing comeback in recent years and to educate yourself in advance. Become knowledgeable about how Bed Bugs establish their colonies and take steps to prevent this from occurring and you may well avoid waking up covered with Bed Bug Bites.

You may think that bed bugs are just another scare story that the media likes to talk about when nothing really important is going on. You might even think that bed bugs only infest dirty homes that are lived in by people with bad personal hygiene. If this describes how you feel about bed bugs then you need a wake up call because bed bugs can affect anyone at anytime. Bed bugs do not care if you are rich or poor, clean or dirty or if you live in a motel efficiency or a mansion. They are everywhere and they are everyone’s problem. Bed bugs do not discriminate based on any social criteria. They will be all too glad to come into your home and make your dream house into the house from hell.

Bed bugs have an amazing variety of ways to move from place to place and with Bed Defense you can prevent them from spreading

They will hitch a ride on a coat that is innocently placed in a coat check at a local restaurant and hung next to a coat that has a bed bug on it. All the bed bug needs to do is to crawl onto your coat and before you know it, you have taken home a pregnant female bed bug. Once the coat is back in your bedroom closet, the pregnant bed bug will simply drop to the floor and try to get a close as possible to a potential source of food. She will use scent and pheromones to detect the location of that food source and make a beeline for your bed. There she will give birth to a new brood of bed bugs who will turn your sweet dreams into a nightmare of horrors. In a matter of weeks, there will be dozens of the little monsters living between the mattress and box spring, just waiting for dark to come out and drink your blood.

Perhaps you have a dog that you board at a local kennel when you go on vacation. Unfortunately, the kennel has a bed bug problem and your dog came home from the kennel with a few bed bugs under its luxurious coat. Being a dog lover, you allow your pet to sleep on your bed at night and before you know it, you are waking up with red welts and bite marks on your arms and legs. Bed bugs come out to feed from under your mattress during the early hours of morning around 4AM and they go straight for exposed areas like arms and legs. If you happen to sleep in the nude, you are a deluxe, multi course banquet for bed bugs.

Maybe you are a devotee of garage sales. Last weekend you brought home a wonderful arm chair from a local garage sale and it was a steal for only $20. A few days later, your youngest child wakes you up crying at 6AM and shows you her back and arms that are covered with red, itchy bite marks. Your youngest was the first one to jump into that plush armchair which just happened to have a small army of bed bugs living inside it. While your daughter curled up and dozed off in your marvelous new acquisition, bed bugs climbed onto her pajamas and later made their new home under her mattress. Now every night, while she tries to sleep, bed bugs come out and feed on her as she tosses and turns in discomfort.

These are examples of the ease in which bed bugs can move from place to place.

While it is true that bed bugs are back and infesting homes in record numbers, the situation is far from hopeless. You can protect your home and family if you are willing to make an effort to learn about bed bugs and how to prevent them from entering your existence. There is an incredible volume of information waiting for you on the internet, on television, in magazines and in newspapers about the bed bug problem. Don’t be an uninformed victim. Take the time and become educated against the bed bug menace.

Bed Defense is currently the best selling bed bugs killer and prevention device available to the general public. To learn more about how bed defense works please head over to the main site.

Learn more about Bed Defense…

They are believed to have originated in the ancient Middle East when humans shared caves with bats. The famous philosopher Aristotle, as far back as 350 B.C.E., mentioned bed bugs in his writings. Pliny, in his Natural History, published circa 77 C.E., suggested using bed bugs to treat snake bites and ear infections. This was based on the idea that since bed bugs feed on human blood, they could drain the poisons from our bodies by sucking them out. Thankfully, we have long since disposed of such dangerous medical practices as putting bed bugs inside people’s ears.

Bed Bugs have quite a history of making human beings miserable.

by louento.pix under CC BY-ND 

Bed Bugs Infection

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They were first mentioned in the historical writings of Germany in the 11th century, in France in the 13th century and in England in late 16th century. Some historians believe that bed bugs may have become firmly established in Great Britain in 1666, hidden in the lumber that was used to rebuild London after the great fire that destroyed the city. The essential factor in the spread of bed bugs was the growth of population and the influx of people to concentrated urban environments. Another significant reason was the expansion of international shipping. This allowed many insects, animals and germs to migrate easily from one area of the world to another. The rapid development of international trade allowed bed bugs to spread from their original habitat in the Middle East until they had even reached the new world of the Americas. Bed Bugs, ever industrious, probably hitched a ride with the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth Rock.

Medieval methods for dealing with bed bugs varied from pure folk lore to effective, innovative solutions.

Sadly, some of the methods used to kill bed bugs also killed human beings and damaged the environment. Many of the Medieval treatments for bed bug infestations relied on the use of herbs and plants. Black Pepper, Eucalyptus, Fly Agaric, Menthol, Cannabis, Cohosh, Mint, Henna, Cranberries and Terebinth (Turpentine) were used. Other methods included the use of certain insects that fed on bed bugs, driving bed bugs out with the smoke from peat fires and dusting the premises with Dolomite or Diatomaceous Earth. While some of these methods removed bed bug infestations, many of them were not only useless but dangerous. Using insects to kill bed bugs sometimes caused huge fluctuations of insect populations and led to the destruction of crops and native flora. There are historical mentions of houses burning down and people dying from smoke inhalation from the use of peat fires to kill bed bugs. While Diatomaceous Earth is effective in killing bed bugs, modern scientists discovered that only food grade Diatomaceous Earth is safe to use. All other forms of Diatomaceous Earth are unsafe for use around humans and can cause a serious, potentially fatal lung disease called Silicosis.

Bed Bugs continued to ruin the sleep of human beings down through the years and into the modern era.

During World War II, General MacArthur was quoted saying that bed bugs were the “greatest nuisance insect problem at military bases in the U.S.” The plague of bed bugs continued unabated until the mid 1940′s when the pesticide DDT was found to be quite useful for killing bed bugs and their eggs. DDT was so effective that bed bugs vanished from all but the most under developed nations. Unfortunately, this was only a temporary reprieve. DDT became a prime target for environmentalists and it was banned in most of the world by the end of the 20th century. With the banning of DDT, bed bugs have made a massive comeback to once again drink our blood and ruin our good nights sleep.

The current bed bug problem is affecting apartment dwellers, home owners and businesses through out the modern world.

In New York City, for example, major hotels have shut down for days at a time to deal with bed bug infestations. Not only were bed bugs invading hotel rooms but guests were taking them home in their clothing and luggage. In another well known incident, a large movie theater, also in New York City, was forced to close for two weeks and spend over $100,000 to get rid of their bed bug problem. Businesses, apartment dwellers and home owners have been forced to bear the additional expense of paying a professional pest control specialist to protect their premises against bed bugs. The actual removal of a bed bug infestation is a financial nightmare that horrifies any unlucky victim. Bed bugs are having an enormous economic impact.

Modern civilization has certainly made the bed bugs job easier.

International trade covers our entire globe with a huge network of planes, trains, trucks and ships. They all provide effective transportation for hardy bed bugs who can live for up to a year without feeding. We add to the problem with our incredible over usage of paper and plastic, both of which provide great hiding places for bed bugs. The problem is compounded by a vastly interconnected, densely populated planet with huge urban centers like Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Cairo, New York, Los Angeles and hundreds of other gigantic cities. Then mix in an over zealous environmentalist lobby that spends billions of dollars a year to do everything in its power to obstruct the use of any and all pesticides and you have created bed bug heaven. As a result we have a formula that has brought bed bugs back in full fury to once again crawl into our beds and feed on us while we sleep.

Bed Bugs On A Hand

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Consider this. You are at the movies watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster. In between mouthfuls of popcorn and sips of coca cola, you feel a nip or two on your shoulder. You are not sure if it is your imagination or if you have been bitten by an insect, so you ignore it and enjoy the rest of the film. On the way home, as you stroll with your wife on a warm summer’s evening, you start to notice an itching sensation on the same shoulder. Being concerned, as soon as you arrive home, you head into the bathroom to examine your shoulder. When you remove your shirt, you notice something fall into the sink. You look down and to your horror, you see two apple seed sized, reddish brown, wingless insects. You grab an aspirin bottle and dumping the contents, you put one of the bugs in the bottle to save it for later examination. The other one you squash with your thumb and you immediately notice a sizable blood smear around the crushed insect. Then you look at your shoulder and you observe two lines of red, irritated bed bug bites; both of which are in groups of three bites.

Being a modern guy, you boot up your home computer and access the Internet. Since you have used the Goggle Search Engine for years, you log on to the Google website and enter an appropriate group of keywords: “reddish brown wingless insects.” Instantly the search results appear and to your utter dismay, they are all for BED BUGS. The top ranked result reads, “What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?”, so you click the link and there, in full, living color, are several large, detailed photos that exactly match the insect in the bottle. Now you know that you have been bitten by bed bugs. You read further and soon you learn why the bites are in neat lines of three bites each. Bed bugs, you discover, feed in what scientists refer to as a “Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner” pattern and they leave rows of 2 or 3 bites per feeding.

Before you shake your heads and think it is all nonsense, be aware that this is a true story. This is how your devoted author first learned about bed bugs and the problems they are causing, as they stake their claim for the most annoying insects of the 21st. Century. Bed bugs are back after laying dormant and forgotten for almost 75 years. Bed bugs had all but vanished from the modern world until the banning of DDT and many other commercial pesticides in the 1980′s and 1990′s allowed them to stage a comeback. Thanks to overzealous environmentalism and an ever shrinking world, bed bugs returned with a vengeance in the dying days of the 20th century.

Now a days, bed bugs are major news.

They are being written about in magazines and newspapers, featured on the nightly news and splashed all over the Internet. Homes and apartments are being infested along with major hotels, movie theaters, cruise ships, trains, planes, nursing homes and hospitals. Bed bugs have had an enormous impact on the economy with removal costs running from $500 to $1000 per room. Imagine the financial impact when a major New York City Hotel with 700 hundred rooms is shut down for two weeks to undergo a top to bottom, bed bug cleanup. Now imagine this impact coast to coast in America, with bed bug incidents up over 500% in the last 10 years.

There is some good news in this gloomy situation because the bed bug problem is not beyond your control. There are many excellent methods to protect yourself against bed bugs and if you ever have the misfortune to be infested with them, there are many effective treatments to get rid of the miserable, little blood drinkers. Fortunately, the Internet is full of useful websites that are packed with tons of legitimate information about bed bugs. They offer solutions and products to assist with every aspect of the bed bug invasion. Take the time to become familiar with bed bugs and arm yourself with the greatest weapon of all against bed bugs: KNOWLEDGE

by StarMaster under CC BY-SA 

Bed Bug Infestation

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There has been a 500% increase in reported cases of bed bug infestations in America in the last five years. They are infesting houses, apartments and businesses. No one is immune, be they at home, on vacation, out for an evening or traveling for business. Bed bugs have been found in hotels, in motels, on ships, on trains, on airplanes, in nursing homes, in movie theaters and even in hospitals. They are a major nuisance and extremely hard to get rid of once they have taken up residence.

Bed bugs do not just appear in these places out of thin air.

They have to be brought there and when it comes to bed bugs, they are world class freeloaders. Bed bugs will hitch a ride on just about anything. They may climb onto a coat left in a night club coat check from another coat that was in an infested home. They might climb onto your suit jacket as you sit in a plush chair in a fancy restaurant. Bed bugs may crawl into a woman’s handbag left open on the seat next to her in a dark movie theater. They may even hitch a ride on your sweater when you visit your grand mother in the nursing home. Bed bugs are found everywhere and they thrive on spreading from place to place on the belongings of the unaware.

Bed bugs are also quite adept at stowing away in many other items

They can often be found in cardboard boxes and paper bags brought home from supermarkets and stores. Bed bugs are expert at hiding in the luggage of travelers when people stay in an infested hotel. They have been found on the passenger seats in airplanes where they found their way into a new home by getting into the carry on baggage of an unaware business traveler. Subway riders have taken home uninvited quests when bed bugs have climbed into their briefcases on an early evening ride home from work. Bed bugs are becoming the bane of the cruise ship industry as several large ocean liners have been  infested with the annoying vermin. These tiny world travelers were all too happy to make their way to the homes and offices of unwitting vacationers who took away more their fond memories of their ocean voyage.

Obviously, it will take a greater effort than any one of us is capable of to solve the current bed bug resurgence. However, everyone needs to be aware of the problem and take precautions to prevent bed bugs from hitching a ride to their home or business. It is important that people take the time to learn how they can protect themselves against the unwelcome return of bed bugs. Yes, bed bugs are a major nuisance and getting rid of them can be quite expensive but you are not defenseless. Prevention is the key and the internet is full of useful information on how you can protect yourself against bed bugs. Study carefully and keep your life bed bug free.

They have become so common place that recently a large movie theater in New York City had to shut down for a week to have the entire theater fumigated due to a massive infestation of bed bugs. Besides the obvious discomfort for the unlucky movie goers, chances are that some of them took home bed bugs in their clothing and they have now infested their homes with bed bugs.

Before you totally panic over bed bugs, be aware that they are primarily a nuisance and they do not pose any major health threats.

Despite the fact that they have been found to carry more than 28 human pathogens, bed bugs have not yet been linked to any known diseases. They do cause itching, rashes and blisters. They also have a powerful psychological effect on people and the fear of bed bugs can be quite disruptive to many of us. Just the thought of having these tiny, creepy crawlers in our bedding can get the most well adjusted person itching like mad in no time.

The first step to dealing with the possibility of a bed bug infestation is to know the symptoms of the presence of bed bugs

These tiny parasites are not as hard to detect as one might think. With a bit of useful information, one can make a fairly accurate initial diagnosis. It is important to remember that just because you have an itch or a bug bite, this does not necessarily indicate the symptoms of a bed bug infestation. If you have an itch or a bite, make note of the time and where you are. If you are at work or on the beach and have a sudden itch, chances are its not bed bugs. If you wake up every morning in bed, itching and showing the signs of bug bites, then there may be a good chance that you have bed bugs.

If you decide that the symptoms may indicate that bed bugs are present in your home, the next step is to do an inspection of your bedding and surrounding area. Here is a short list of the various steps you can take to inspect for signs of bed bugs:

1. Inspect under your bottom sheet and along the seams of the mattress for traces of blood, bed bugs, bed bug droppings or molt shells.

2. Move the mattress out of the way and inspect the box spring for any similar symptoms.

3. If you have a bed skirt on your box spring, be sure to inspect it. Don’t forget to look under the bed skirt for blood, bed bugs, bed bug droppings or molt shells.

4. If you have a headboard, especially one covered with fabric, inspect it for the same signs.

5. Inspect any nightstands directly adjacent to your bed for blood, bed bugs, bed bug droppings or molt shells. Don’t forget to look inside any drawers.

6. Inspect any artwork hanging directly above or next to your bed as well.

7. Inspect any draperies or upholstered furniture near your bed for the signs listed above.

It is important to remember a few tips while conducting your inspection. First of all, blood dries brown not red. You will be looking for small, dark brown spots of blood. Another important point to remember is that although bed bugs are tiny, they are not invisible. An adult bed bug that is fully fed on blood will be the size of an apple seed.

The best procedure is to conduct your inspection with a flashlight and to take your time. A flashlight is particularly useful since bed bugs shun the light. They prefer to hide in drawers, under the mattress, in seams, in cracks and in dark corners. If you want to, you can even take pictures of any findings to compare later with information you can locate in books or on the internet.

These are the basic steps to help you detect a bed bug infestation. It is probably a very good idea to make this inspection today, even if you have no symptoms of bed bugs or suspicions that they might be in your home. It only takes a few minutes and being pro-active is much better than waiting until its to late. If you don’t detect any signs of bed bugs, you can sleep easy. If unfortunately, you see the signs of their presence, you can call your local exterminator for a consultation and a professional diagnosis. An ounce of prevention goes a long way towards giving you peace of mind.

In our marvelous era of technology and progress, an ages old problem has returned to plague our homes, our travels and our sleep. Unbelievably, we are once again being overrun by a massive infestation of bedbugs. Not only is this affecting homes and apartments but even major hotels are being driven to their wits end by chronic infestations of bed bugs. These tiny, almost invisible, blood sucking insects are ruining the sleep of home owners, apartment dwellers and tourists alike. Millions of us are sharing our beds with these microscopic horrors and sadly, the vast majority of us are not even aware of it.

What are bed bugs anyway?

Bed bugs or Cimicidae for the scientifically minded among us, are small, parasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of warm blooded animals. They will drink your blood, the blood of your family and even the blood of your pets. Although bed bugs have yet to be linked to any serious illness, they do cause skin rashes, chronic itching and blisters. More importantly is the psychological effect that bedbugs have on us when we worry about an infestation. Even the slightest itch can manifest into an overwhelming fear of a plague of bed bugs. They can turn a wonderful, well loved home into a torture dungeon simply by the fear of their presence. They can totally ruin a vacation that had been dreamed of for years and even worse, you might end up taking them home with you when they migrate to your clothing and luggage.

Detecting microscopic bedbugs is not easy. They tend to congregate near their hosts and can most often be found in bedding, sofas and near pets sleeping places. They do leave behind some signs of their existence that a trained or observant eye can spot. These include bite symptoms, fecal spots, blood smears on sheets, and molts. If you think you have bed bugs in your home but you are unsure, the next step may be an expensive visit from a professional exterminator to determine if you actually have an infestation of bedbugs.

Fortunately, there is an inexpensive alternative that can not only kill bedbugs but will actually protect you against the problem before it starts. The solution can be found in a product made up of all natural, clinically tested ingredients called Bed Defense. Bed Defense is effective against over 99.9% of Bed Bugs and it works around the clock to protect your family, your children and your pets. Bed Defense is easy to set up, easy to use and it starts to work the moment you open the product. Bed Defense has been created and tested by a company with extensive experience in the pest prevention industry and is so successful in preventing or killing bedbugs that it is the number one selling product of its kind.

Bed Defense is now available in 30 day, free trial samples. If you already have bedbugs, you will want to use this effective product to wipe them out. If you want to prevent bedbugs, you should use Bed Defense before bedbugs pay you a visit. If you are planning to travel, you need to take Bed Defense along in your luggage and place Bed Defense in your hotel room so you don’t take home bedbugs as uninvited guests.  Order Bed Defense today and live without the fear of these microscopic terrors from the dark ages. Put modern science to work to protect your home and loved ones from the itching and worry of bedbugs. Give yourself peace of mind and sweet dreams with Bed Defense. Bed Defense is your best defense against bedbugs

One thing that should be done is to maintain the usual appearance of things.  This includes changing rooms in the home, changing items of furniture, and changing dwellings used for sleeping.  The reason for this is it is very likely the insects will follow the sleeper to the new location.

Follow the normal sleep routine, and start collecting proof that they are actually present. The effort to do this must be deliberate, because they are so tiny. Their size makes them difficult to see with the naked eye. Evidence of their presence is needed to show to landlords, if there is one, and exterminators. Tape the evidence to a surface where they can be easily seen.

Check the body of everyone who sleeps in the house for evidence of the bugs bites. For those whose skin show evidence, the bites will be small and red in appearance. Keep everything in its usual appearance. All furniture can be completely cleaned and restored.

Wash any clothes and linens that are washable and put them in a hot dryer for a few hours, where fabric care will allow this. Do not remove items for several hours even though they may be dried. Once they are finished, store the items in plastic bags.

Bed bug bombs are not effective for getting rid of bed bugs

Buying various chemicals prior to actually doing in depth research to discover which are actually effective is not an effective method. Improperly using chemicals can actually make the problem worse. Caution should be taken to be certain that any exterminators hired specialize in eradicating these insects. They hide in the walls, electrical sockets, and any other opening or crevice available.

Getting rid of bed bugs can require several repetitions  of  treatments. These are extremely resilient insects. Check all furniture crevices and other cracks and crevices in the home. They do hide all over the house, not just in the bedroom or other sleeping areas. One website note suggested that spraying these insects with rubbing alcohol will kill them. The main remedy is to do a thorough inspection for an infestation and be prepared to do several treatments to eliminate their presence..

Bed bugs are probably the last creatures one would like to spend the bed with. Most people who have shared their nights with these creatures usually tell that it’s not the best of experiences one can wish for. Knowing how to get rid of bed bugs is very important.

It is important to note that simple tricks will not work. There are specific methods and procedures that have to be followed in order to effectively get rid of these insects. These methods offer great relief for those who have had wild encounters with them. One of the most tried methods is use of extreme heat. People living in hot areas do not regularly experience them because bed bugs do not prefer hot areas. In fact, they cannot survive in temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Extreme heat is one of the most preferred methods.

How to get rid of bed bugs: Steam Cleaning?

Steam cleaning is a good method. A person can use this method by him/herself. Alternatively one can hire an exterminator to do this job. In order for one to get rid of bed bugs effectively, he/she should strip the area to its barest. This exposes the bedbugs. Many bed bugs tend to hide themselves in crevices and cracks. In order to expose the room well, one should take off all the cushions, strip down mattresses, remove light plates among other things.

Bed bugs usually leave bite marks behind. Other methods of eliminating these creatures from the house may involve use of chemical, organic and other different professional ways. Getting rid of these insects is not costly. Though the procedures may be tedious, hiring a professional to do this job is affordable. Cleanliness is a good way of avoiding these creatures. This is because they prefer dirty or untidy places. All bedding should be regularly exposed to the sun because bed bugs do not like heat. Getting more information on how to get rid of bed bugs is essential in eliminating them.