Bed bugs?

[Pootle]

Yesterday morning, I awoke to find a large bite mark on my bum. This morning, both my girlfriend and I found 2 further bite marks on our legs which are actually quite painful. We have slept in this bed for 6 months and never had this before. What is it likely to have been?

[Chessman]

You'd be surprised at how much life your mattress can support, even if it appears clean, just vacuuming it once in a while should stop it happening.

[smurfchops]

If it is a new mattress it seems a bit unlikely - do you have cats or dogs that sleep in or on the bed? Could be fleas. Spray inside the bed with lots of fly spray then cover up with the duvet. After a couple of hours open the windows, try not to breathe in the fly spray.

[ineedahobby]

I used to work in pest control. If you do have bedbugs (id be suprised if you do) then check the piping along the edges of the matress and underneath any buttons. They always secrete themselves in those areas. They are dark in colour, fairly flat and about the size of a childs small fingernail. If you dont come up with anything then I too would suggest that its more likely to be something like fleas. Flea bites can take hours to bother you after you have been bitten so the problem may not actually stem from your bed. what do the bites look like by the way?

[Brinjal]

Bedbugs usually leave a rash of spots on the area which touches the mattress so if you sleep on your side you wold find a rash of spots on your leg thigh arm shoulder. If you sleep on your back they would be on behid back etc. So doesnt sound like bedbugs. More like a flea .

[Pootle]

The spots are big and red, certainly no rashes, rather like a wasp bite. I have since obsessively hoovered the matress, flipped it over and effectively boiled all blankets and linen.

[bed-bugs man]

Hi,

Bed bugs is on the increase in the UK, the last 12 months have seen a 300% increase in cases in some areas and is now getting to the stage in parts of London where the sources may include public transport or a public access building.

The initial things to look for are:

blood spots on the sheets
black spots on the bed frame and furniture
bites with a raised often whiteish welt
live insects around the bed area

You can minimise the extent of an infestation with good home hygiene but if they have got to the stage of breeding (laying eggs) then it is easiest to contact either your local councils environment department or a specialist pest controller.

I have created a web site with lots of useful and free information about bed bugs which includes a gallery and check list to see if they are the source of your problems. It can be found at www.bed-bugs.co.uk .

For rapid reference the main difference between fleas bites and beg bug bites is that flea bits always have a red spot in the centre of the bite where bed bugs never do.

I sincerely hope its not a case of bed bugs as they can be quite traumatic when they are established in a property.

Hope this helps,

David