Bed Bugs, once thought to have been eradicated, have made a dramatic return.

​It is not surprising if you have a problem with bed bugs.  They affect those of the most modest of means to the more wealthy.  It is more surprising now if you do not know somebody who has had a problem with bedbugs.

​SYMPTOMS OF A BED BUG BITE

​Many people who are bit by bed bugs may never know that it happened, while others will show a dramatic reaction to a bite.  Others will start showing a reaction after having been bit several times.  In our profession, we are often asked to identify insect bites. The truth is, it is extremely difficult to identify an insect by it’s bite.  Not even your dermatologist will know by just looking at it.  We can make educated guesses by asking several questions about what you’ve been doing, and what’s going on in your life.  Very often, when people show bug bites, it is a mosquito bite.  Other common causes are fleas.  Often now, we are seeing bed bug bites as well.  In each of these cases, it is not the bite we are identifying.  We can see, and you may feel the allergic reaction to that bite.

WHERE DID I GET BED BUGS?

​They can come from anywhere. Lockers at work often help to “share” bedbugs. You may pick it up at the theatre.  Friends visiting may bring their little friends with them.  It is their nature to “hitchhike” on people to spread themselves around.  They commonly come to us through hotel rooms, as well as other lodgings.

​HOW CAN I GET RID OF BED BUGS?

​There are two fool proof methods to control bedbugs.  Many people attempt to control them on their own with over the counter products from their local hardware store.  This may help temporarily as it may eliminate a few of your bugs.  What makes bedbugs difficult to control is that they can hide almost anywhere.  They hide between pieces of wood in the bed. They hide in furniture, box springs, inside walls, under carpet, tack strips, carpet padding.  It is not at all uncommon to find them in places where you just can not reasonably get a pesticide to kill it.  FUMIGATION, that’s right, tenting a house, is a reliable method of killing the entire population of bedbugs.  HEAT, using moving flows of hot air, circulating through your home, penetrating through carpets, walls, and furniture, reaching a temperature less than that of a sauna, but lethal to bedbugs, and sustaining it for a duration that ensures complete eradication, is often the best method of control.