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Bed Bugs Guide
Bed Bug Control: What Not To Do
By now everyone knows that bed bugs have become a problem in hotels, airports, homes, apartment buildings and other places all across the country including in Fort Collins and throughout Colorado. Because of how widespread they are there is a lot of good information on what to do if bed bugs do make their way into your home; however along with tips there is some information out there that is not so helpful and can actually be dangerous to you, your belongings and family.
Do-It-Yourself treatments for bed bugs may be tempting to try but they are generally unsuccessful and can be dangerous to you and your pets. The only step that you should take if you discover bed bug activity in your home is to call a pest control professional. Things that you should absolutely NOT attempt to do to treat bedbugs include:
Throwing out your furniture, even though your first thought may be to throw away infested mattresses, furniture and other items it is not necessary and is expensive; and it will not get rid of the other bed bugs that are probably still hiding in your home. A pest control company in Fort Collins can effectively treat for bed bugs infesting those items and those that are hiding throughout your entire home saving you a lot of money in the long run.
Do not try to use outdoor pesticides indoors to get rid of bed bugs or store bought sprays for bed bugs. Bed bugs have developed a resistance to many pesticides so they will most likely be ineffective. They are very dangerous for you, your family and pets to be around especially when not being used properly.
Heat treatments are a very effective way to get rid of bed bugs if done safely and properly by professionals. However DIY heat treatments are very dangerous, ineffective and should not be attempted. Trying to heat your home to the correct temperature without the proper technology and monitoring devices will lead to fires and damage to personal items. Wrapping infested items in black plastic and leaving them in the sun is time consuming and will also not work to kill bed bugs.
Do not move furniture around your home, this will lead to the spread of bed bugs throughout your entire house.
Do not soak your couches, mattresses and other items in rubbing alcohol or other chemicals. This can lead to fires, skin reactions and other problems.
Bed bug infestations are very difficult to eliminate from homes as these parasitic insects breed rapidly and easily hide throughout your home in furniture, wall hangings and cracks and crevices. Bed bugs are a type of pest that need the attention of a professional pest control experts, professionals will be able to inspect your home, successfully treat the infestation and provide monitoring services throughout the year to help prevent another large infestation from occurring in your home.
Dealing With Bed Bugs? Get Help Today!
The longer you wait to get help the longer the bed bugs have to invade your home. Contact us at the first signs of bed bugs in your home to get them under control today!
Bed Bug Facts Guide
Getting rid of bed bugs is no easy task. The process is likely to cost you a great deal of time, effort, stress and money. In fact, it’s becoming more and more difficult to eradicate these unwelcome parasites, as they grow increasingly resistant to modern pesticides. When it comes to bed bugs, prevention is definitely better than the cure.
You can forget about home remedies such as dousing them in alcohol. You’re more likely to end up burning down your house, rather than making any significant dent in the bed bug population. Over the past few years, numerous homeowners have ignited devastating blazes when naked flames came in contact with rubbing alcohol that had been used to treat bed bug infestations. In several cases, the fires resulted in death or serious injury.
According to a 2014 survey, rubbing alcohol only kills half the insects in a typical infestation, leaving the rest to breed and rebuild the colony. Other common home remedies like ultrasonic bug repellers, insect foggers, essential oils and mothballs are also mostly ineffective.
Bed Bug Treatments – What to do when you’ve been bitten by bedbugs
Bed Bug Treatment ultimately comes down to eliminating bed bugs to keep the person from being repeatedly bitten. After all, it wouldn’t do much good to treat the bed bug bites only to get more the next time you go to sleep.
It may be possible to use corticosteroids and antihistamines to control symptoms. There however is no evidence that medications improve outcomes and symptoms usually resolve themselves without treatment in one to two weeks time.
Avoiding repeated bites can be difficult, since it usually requires eradicating bedbugs from a home or workplace; eradication frequently requires a combination of pesticide and non pesticide approaches.
Pesticides that have been found to be effective in the past include: malathion, pyrethroids and dichlorvos. Over time resistance to pesticides has increased significantly. There are concerns that using pesticides to kill bed bugs can lead to negative health effects.
Mechanical approaches such as vacuuming up the insects and heat treating or wrapping mattresses have been recommended.
Many people also claim that temporary relief of itching and inflammation can be had by applying hot water to the bites. If you choose to attempt this method the water should be fairly hot (somewhere around 120 degrees F). If the water is not hot enough it may make the symptoms even worse. The water should be hot enough to cause minor discomfort, but extreme care must be taken to avoid burning the skin and for this reason the treatment should only be self-administered in order to reduce the risk of a burn. Symptoms can be relieved for several hours by applying hot running water, a hot washcloth, or even using a blow dryer to heat the area of the bite, for a few seconds to a minute (or longer if desired). The reason why heat causes the symptoms to abate is a question which is still up for debate. Some hypotheses propose that heat neutralizes the chemical that causes the inflammation, that heat overwhelms the nerve endings that signal itch, or that heat triggers a large release of histamine causing a temporary histamine deficit in the area, which would also explain why taking an anti-histamine may alleviate the itch.
Hopefully you don’t have bed bugs. To make sure it stays that way you may want to invest in some preventative measures. If you have bed bugs then don’t worry, all is not lost. Contact us at 720-710-2701 for an inspection. We can identify if you have a problem and just how big it is. Catching the problem early is the key to dealing with bed bugs.
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