Symptoms of bug bites on a person: what does it look like?

Bedbugs on a person are visualized in the form of small red dots surrounded by patches of irritated skin. In the absence of treatment, they are able to enlarge, merge into a single whole. The leading symptom of a bite is severe itching, which causes an irresistible urge to comb the skin. This often becomes the cause of her infection and significantly worsens the well-being of an adult or child.

Most often, bedbugs are encountered during out-of-town trips, but their appearance in ordinary residential premises is also no exception. And even when the owners carefully monitor hygiene in each room, insects can appear and disrupt a quiet lifestyle. Symptoms of bug bites should be recognized as early as possible so that the body does not have time to show a negative reaction.

In fact, even European countries where the standard of living is high enough cannot boast of the complete absence of these blood-sucking insects. There are settlements in which baiting bugs It has a constant periodic nature with an established schedule. This is due to the fact that after disinsection in one of the houses, bedbugs come from neighboring dwellings and again infect the cleaned area.

Distinctive features of a bug bite

If a small amount of inflamed itchy areas of the skin appears on the body, then quite often people take them for the effects of mosquitoes and other insects. And only after a few days comes the understanding that bed bugs live in the apartment. The bites of these bloodsuckers have certain signs that very simply give them out:

• to saturate a bug, one vessel is not enough, so it moves through the body and sucks blood in several nearby places, leaving behind a characteristic path of small wounds;
• there will always be several bites, since these insects live in colonies and drink blood, having gathered in small groups;
• bugs always feed at night, during the day they practically do not show activity.

Important! Usually, discomfort disappears after a few hours, but in some cases the consequences can be quite serious, which will require medical attention.

Main symptoms

Bite marks are found only after waking up, as bloodsuckers inject saliva into the puncture site, which acts as an anesthetic. As a result, the person does not feel anything and continues to sleep. In the morning, bedbug bites are detected, and these symptoms give them:

• places of bites are red and go one after another;
• severe or slight itching is possible. In some cases, a person may not experience physical discomfort;
• bites have a rather unaesthetic appearance and are located in open areas of the body;
• places of bedbug bites are hard, unlike mosquito bites, which in the morning have the same color as the skin located near the affected area.

As a rule, it is the dwelling of people with dense hard skin that becomes the main habitat for bedbugs, from which the latter migrate to neighboring apartments. At the same time, the culprit of what is happening may not suspect anything, because he simply does not feel that insects bite him.

External signs

Bedbugs bite a person mainly at night. This is a very common synanthropic insect that lives in a dwelling. The bug is an ectoparasite, that is, for its existence it needs human blood. During the day, insects cannot be found, because they hide perfectly in dark places. During these hours, they digest blood, grow, multiply, and from about 3 in the morning go on another “hunt”. Insects find a person by smell, and then bite through blood vessels, which are located close to the surface of the skin.

Each adult is equipped with a hard and thick proboscis. So the bites of bed bugs do not go unnoticed. Immediately after piercing the skin, bright red dots remain on it. The surrounding epidermis begins to become irritated only after 20-30 minutes due to exposure to tissues of alien, aggressive substances from the saliva of the bug. Insects bite more than once - for complete saturation, they make several proboscis punctures, crawling from place to place.

The rather flattened body of the bed bug, the length at the beginning of feeding in diameter, does not exceed 5 mm. And after saturation, its dimensions can reach 8 mm or more. But still this is a very small insect, so only a person with very sensitive skin can feel its movement. The result of the night "raid" is only a thin chain of red dots.

How often bed bugs bite - within 10-15 minutes they are able to make about 10 punctures in the skin. Then they need a day to digest blood, absorb nutrients. And the next night they again crawl around the premises in search of food. As bedbugs bite - they instantly pierce the skin, but at the same time they quickly inject saliva with analgesic properties. Its analgesic effect lasts for 1-2 hours. This time is enough for the insect to saturate and move to a safe place. Entomologists studying bed bugs noted the main features of their attack on humans:

• while the insect digests food, the concentration of bioactive substances in its saliva increases significantly. Therefore, after bites, a rounded seal quickly forms, rising about 1-2 mm above the skin surface. When pressed on it, there is no discomfort. But only in the first time. After several hours, palpation of the seal leads to severe pain;
• redness is localized not only in the area of ​​the papule - an ascentless element that forms at the sites of bites. It applies to adjacent areas of the skin. From afar, the bites look like red spots about a centimeter in diameter, located one after the other;
• bugs never back off - they purposefully move forward in search of the nearest blood vessel. And he can be at a distance of one to four centimeters. This is one of the characteristic features of a bug attack, often helping to diagnose redness, determine the cause of itching and pain;
• through how many bug bites appear — almost immediately after damage to the epidermis and deeper tissues. Due to the thick proboscis of the insect, the puncture is very large, so a liquid begins to ooze from it, which hardens, forming a yellowish crust.

Microscopic drops of blood released from superficially located capillaries can also indicate a bed bug. Sometimes an insect is “unlucky” - a person tosses and turns in a dream and crushes them.In such cases, in the morning drops of blood are found on bedding or underwear, in the center of which there is a bug. The red spots are the greater, the stronger the insect is saturated.

It is interesting! In people with sensitive skin or predisposed to the development of allergic reactions, the size of spots on the skin after bedbugs can reach a diameter of 3 cm or more.

What happens after a bite

Bedbugs are not visible, but there are bites - this is a completely natural phenomenon. Indeed, in the saliva of a sexually mature individual there are so many substances with a local anesthetic effect that it has enough time to crawl into a secluded place. Only after 3-4 hours can a person wake up from a pronounced itching. It is felt directly at the site of the bite due to an acute inflammatory process that is launched by the immune system to destroy foreign proteins from insect saliva.

Bedbug bites itch or not - often there is such a strong desire to comb the skin that it is difficult to restrain even an adult. To cope with uncomfortable sensations, only applying ointments, creams, balms helps. Menthol preparations are especially useful, which simultaneously cool the skin and soothe it. Not only itching, but also reddened areas of the body, inside which there is a red dot, testifies to the night invasion of insects.

Recommendation! If the skin not only changed color, but also swollen, swelled, then the inflammatory process is particularly acute and is often one of the leading symptoms of a local allergic reaction. Here, medical attention is required, since a significant deterioration in the well-being of a person is possible.

No doctors will tell you how long bedbug bites take. If a person is predisposed to allergies, then it will take at least 2-3 days to use anti-inflammatory ointments. After about time, a sexually mature individual again crawls out of its shelter for a new portion of blood. So the treatment can last indefinitely, until the last bug is destroyed. How many bites pass in people who are not prone to allergies - often during the day. As a rule, their skin does not redden much and does not become inflamed.

Taste preferences of insects

Why bugs do not bite all people - because of the characteristics of nutrition. Insects crawl out of their shelter only once every few days, so they should quickly get enough and go unnoticed in a short time. For this purpose, people with thin skin and blood vessels close to its surface are most suitable. As a rule, these are children and young women. After bites of bedbugs, their symptoms are most pronounced.

Adults do not bypass the representatives of the stronger sex either. But in men, they choose body areas with the most delicate skin. The wrists, neck, genital area, and elbow bends are mainly affected. Bedbugs "do not like" smokers, people who abuse alcohol or take pharmacological drugs.

Allergy as a result of bites

The most unpleasant consequence of bug bites is allergy. So the immune system sends signals indicating the penetration of a foreign substance into the body. And today this problem has become quite significant.

Increasingly, people prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle, and poor ecology only adds fuel to the fire. To a weak immunity, a genetic predisposition to allergies is sometimes added and as a result, the body reacts quite powerfully.

Causes of Allergies

An allergy to bedbug bites begins immediately after the insect injects its saliva into the wound. This anesthetic is a fairly strong allergen and as a result - there is swelling, redness and often itching. The last symptom is an indication that the body began to fight poison. At this time, the intensive production of histamine occurs, which is necessary to maintain the immune system.

The fact that such tests for the body is akin to stress is undoubted. This occurs when an infection enters the body. For example, the bronchi begin to contract to remove harmful substances through coughing. But, at the same time, choking can occur if histamine begins to secrete in large quantities, and contractions will occur too intensely. That is why anti-allergy drugs are called antihistamines, as they can block the excessive production of this substance.

What is the danger?

The most dangerous thing that can happen after bedbugs is common allergies. Especially when a person is susceptible to a substance that an insect introduces under the skin. There are cases when the reaction was so strong that anaphylactic shock occurred, although the number of such situations can be counted on the fingers.

Important! Bed bugs are not able to tolerate the causative agents of any disease, despite the fact that some studies have revealed pathogenic bacteria in their bodies. There is no official evidence that bed bugs caused infection.

Consider the danger of bug bites.

1. After bites, a rash appears on the body that does not go away and does not decrease for a sufficiently long time.
2. Women, being squeamish, may experience some mental disorders. For example, fear of sleep.
3. Bad sleep causes a deterioration in overall health and a decrease in performance.
4. Severe itching causes a person to comb wounds, as a result of which they do not heal, and after a while begin to rot.

Attention! Places of bites of bugs can be infected, as evidenced by a prominent sucrose. In such a situation, an appeal to a medical institution becomes necessary.

Danger to adults

An allergic reaction in adults can have a local and general manifestation.

Local reactions include:

• itching of various intensities;
• swelling of the tissues;
• traces of bug bites are distinguished by redness of the skin.

Local manifestations may pass on their own over time. To accelerate the healing of wounds from bites, the use of special means in the form of gels or ointments is recommended. You can learn more about their action from the article: What ointment will help from bug bites?

The danger may lie in severe itching, which leads to the fact that a person begins to intensively comb the wounds, introducing new infections into them.

The general reaction of the body can occur even with a small amount of allergen. It can appear as follows:

• urticaria - itchy red blisters that look like a nettle burn;
• lacrimation and runny nose - the situation may resemble the first manifestations of an acute respiratory disease. To remove such symptoms, it is enough to take an antihistamine;
• bronchospasm - will require urgent medical intervention, as it can lead to suffocation;
• Quincke's edema - the reaction manifests itself on the face, sometimes the larynx suffers;
• anaphylactic shock - accompanied by low blood pressure and suffocation.

For pregnant women, general allergic reactions are especially dangerous. Due to severe shortness of breath in the mother, the fetus will suffer from a lack of oxygen. But even in this situation, the independent use of antihistamines is prohibited. Call an ambulance immediately.

Are bites of bedbugs dangerous for humans - certainly. Constant trauma to the skin predisposes to a deterioration in its condition. Not uncommon and butan allergic reaction to bug bites, weakening the body's defenses. Sometimes it is so acute that the use of antihistamines for parenteral administration is required. A serious consequence of bedbug bites is the attachment of a secondary bacterial infection. In such cases, visible scars may remain on the skin. What diseases do bed bugs carry: hepatitis, brucellosis, typhoid fever.

Danger to children

Since the child’s body is not fully formed and the immune system is weak enough, an allergic reaction can manifest itself quite strongly. Signs of bug bites will be more expressive than that of an adult, as the baby's skin is much thinner and blood circulation is very intense.

Antihistamines should be given to children with great care and only as directed by a doctor. For the smallest, there are special dosage forms: syrups and drops.

Bedbugs in children are more pronounced. The itch will cause great discomfort to the child, and he will tend to comb the affected area at all costs. It is necessary by any means to distract the baby's attention, preventing the infection from entering the wounds. One way out can be a banal nail cutting.

To alleviate the condition of the child at least a little, you can use compresses from simple harmless means. For example, put a sheet of plantain or a compress with tincture of crushed leaves of a string on the bite site.

Now you know how to recognize bug bites, and what consequences they can lead to. At the first detection of the above symptoms, it is necessary to leave the infected place as soon as possible. And if your home is the nesting site of parasites, then immediately take measures to destroy them.