How to Treat Bed Bug Bites
I explain how to treat bed bug bites below, but if you don’t get rid of them, you’ll just end up treating your bites again – so make sure to visit our section dedicated to bed bug treatment.
Bed bug bites can range in severity based on the person being bitten. Some don’t even notice the bite while others swell or even become infected. Take Julio’s picture below for example, this is was a bad reaction to bed bug bites and it wasn’t just his arm, his entire body looked like this! Think that was bad, check out these other bed bug bites!
How to treat bed bug bites? By far, the most popular answer is with baking soda and water to make a paste that you then place on the bite and let dry. Here is exactly how to treat the bites…
1) Make sure to wash the bed bug bites with soap and water.
2) Make a thick sticky paste with the water and baking soda, not too runny and thick enough that it will stay.
3) Let the paste stand until completely dry and then wait an hour or so. Some let it stand for hours while others find that an hour or less is fine.
4) Gently wash the paste off and pat dry.
Other natural remedies for treating bed bug bites include:
Witch hazel, St. John’s Wort and Lemon juice – all work by removing the desire to itch (Astringents).
The gel from the Aloe plant is how many treat bed bug bites and contains anti-fungal and antibiotic properties that work great! Simply trim a tip and apply the exposed area to the bite.
Handed down from generations is the bath with peppermint oil, fill the tub with bath water, then add a half cup of peppermint oil to relieve the itching.
How to Treat Bedbug Bites using OTC or Over The Counter medication.
- Cortisone cream to stop the itching
- Calamine lotion
- Just about any topical anesthetic containing pramoxine
- Hydrocortisone cream
- Naproxen or Ibuprofen or a anti-histamine like benadryl to help reduce swelling
- Light paste of aspirin and water like you would with baking soda and water
Have a home remedy or tips on how to treat bites? Feel free to leave a comment below!
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recently i have gotten an infestation of bed bugs.. i noticed it not long after i got an exterminator to come spray for ants and other outside bugs.. after he sprayed i noticed an increase of spiders(especially black widows) and a lot more bugs coming inside.. i have a fairly new home(5yrs old) and i shouldn’t have this problem… make sure you get a real professional company to come and do the work. ask what they are spraying/laying down, and what they are treating for and research it to be sure.. i think my house was baited rather than treated
I had bedbugs in my house in Florida. Bad infestation. I got rid of them without any harmful chemicals. I moved all of the bedroom furniture away from the walls and vacummed very good and then I bought a bag of diatomaceous earth and sprinkled it all over my baseboards, carpet, etc. This acts like borax powder used to kill fleas.
I got down on my hands and knees and rubbed the powder deep into my carpet and it cured the bed bug problem. I have now been bed bug free for 3 years. You can find the diatomaceous earth in the garden center and it is very inexpensive.
Your only cost is your own labor.
I’m suffering a similar problem. I had a friend who stayed with me on and off for a few months. She just didn’t tell me she had bed bugs right away. I had three kids and one on he way at the time. I bombed everything, threw out lots of things, and washed everything. Its now been a year and they’re back. Only now i have three kids and I have recently become the only income. Im barely holding rent and i don’t know what to do. I’m about ready to burn everything i own. I just can’t take it. I work 40 hrs., go to school, and have a child starting school in a week. Urgggg!!!!!!
Here’s one for ya…I drive over the road truck. On Friday 8/13 it was miserably hot so I stayed the night in a reputable motel. I now have bed bugs in my truck!!!! I’m getting a new mattress but am going to tell them to wrap it and tape it real well until I get home and bomb my truck. Being such a small space I figure using an insect smoke bomb will work. Well, at least it better!!! I have tons of bites all over my ankles, feet, several on my face, on one arm and on both thighs. Yup, the itching sucks…
n washing will not kill bed bugs.. you cannot drown them heat kill them only
will bleach work when washing don a matress to kill bed bugs?
Keke and Becky I hear u on what u wrote. For one I don’t think any1 likes bugs unless they r getting paid to get rid of them or show them at a zoo. Why do they call them bed bugs when they are not always in your bed?
I’ve only thought of them as some bug that is usually found in a hotel room bed because of the different people in and out doing who knows what causing germs. When you have your home and keep it clean where do they come from??? I know what fleas, ticks and mosquitos r.
Well thanx to my yahoo “what’s the trend now” would have never came on this site, plus it comes at the perfect time, kind of weird.
Excellent question! Check out Rebecca’s bites on her legs on my hotel bedbugs page.
Thank you Jayne!
Jim
what will the bed bug bites do to black skin
I have read a lot and saw a video where professionals can heat up your house with a machine to 140deg which will kill the bed bugs.They do make bed bug sprays (raid and others) and you can get mattress covers at wallmart. the ones for allergens will do. Don’t forget to seal up zippers. Read you can mix baking soda and water to a paste put it on for an hour or so. Wichazel, st johns wort and lemon juice, aloe and peppermint oil in tub may help relieve itch. Hope this helps.
I can’t stop inching . I have not had any new bites .but I’m still inching .please tell me how long do it last when do the inching stop? My friend give me a mattess n box s. Last week I just started wakeing up n the med hours of the night with bites n hives on my arms n hands. One night I seen a bug n google it , it was bedbugs i jump up waking everyone up in house we put both mat n box s. Out cleaned up real good spary everynight n havenot seen one sence, but how long is the inch? N are they gone or just hiding.
What in the world is going on with this awful bedbugs? They seem to be all over the place, on the news and now in my bed! I hate these things! Why where they ever created in the first place?
I have no idea what works…. all the benedryl, cortizone, calamine lotion, and any cream/ointment said that they help with insect bites DOES NOT work. Once you start scratching, it’s over, you are going to scratch until the cows come home. If I am able to the trick is not to scratch at all. The enzyme is only released when you scratch, unless you are highly allergic like the picture that is show above, and I thought I was allergic, guess not.
Thank god! Witch Hazel seems to work. I am gonna try the baking soda paste and peppermint oil and see if that helps. I guess I could get off the embarrassment wagon and ask my doctor for something.
Why do I have over 100 bites on my left leg (from toes to mid-thigh) and I have none on my right (leg)?
Also, I blanket sprayed my sofa with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and how do I get rid of the fumes?
Warning! Never allow a friend going through a divorce to “house-sit” your place for a few days when they’ve just come from a 3 night stay at a $50 a night cheap motel!
I use witch hazel with aloe vera (from Thayers). Apply with Q-tip or cotton ball. WORKS VERY WELL for me, especially when applied soon after bite is detected. Found that if it stings a bit when applied, it is likely that bite was recent, and more likely to reduce the itch. If I apply soon after a bite, I feel a little sting from the astringent, and the itch if often eliminated (although not sure how large the bugs are that bit me).
So if you are good at being able to detect the bite ASAP, you may be more likely to reduce the itch than if you treat long after you’ve been bitten. The more mature the bug, the greater the reaction.
Plain witch hazel probably also works fine, but the additional aloe vera in the bottle I use may help.
Tried vinegar once when I had no witch hazel, and it seemed to help, but not as much as witch hazel. Very dilute ammonia had no effect for me. Hydro-cortisone helped, but not that much.
Hi Ann,
I have not idea on the success rate of tenting a house to kill bed bugs, perhaps someone here who has done this can chime in?
Jim, Do you know what the success rate is for having your house tented with Vikane Gas/Chloropicrin is?
I’m still freaking out about this. I see where someone said that they had their house fumigated and they still have BBs. Has anyone ever had their house tented and with what and what was your results? I had my house done over a week ago and I havent’ stayed there yet.
Well I had my house tented for bed bugs. It cost me $2600. My home is about 2000 sq ft. They said it wasn’t necessary to wash anything unlike some of the other treatments. It is more than worth it to me as long as it works. I haven’t stayed in my house for over a week now. I’m still itching, but no new bites. Is that common, to still itch for so long afterwards? I just don’t feel comfy/cozy at home any more. I don’t want to be here. I’m seriously thinking of selling or renting my home and moving out. I’ll keep you posted as to whether it worked or not as soon as I can start staying home again.
Another problem is mites. Yes, mites! A mourning dove had built a nest by my apartment window. The baby bird died, not sure if it was the mother or a crow. Anyway, the bird mites swarmed and caused a similar problem. Covered with bites! Had to call an exterminator! Same thing as bed bugs!
My house mate has bed bugs and I just moved in with her the bites are so bad on me that I had to go the hospital! She thinks that its fleas and refuses to believe that she has an infestation of bugs!
OMG! This is the worst ever. I have no way near the bites I’ve seen in your pictures, however this itch is worse than any pain I have ever felt. I would take the birth and labor pains of childbirth over this any day and I have had 4 kids, natural. At least I knew the pain would end.
This…this…ugh!!! I went to the doctor and the moron said my son and I had scabies. I wish. They are easier to get rid of than bed bugs. He gave us a CREAM to cover our bodies from head to toe. Said to bag everything that can’t be washed. Make sure sealed air tight for 3 days. Ok I believed him after all he is a doctor. Did everything just as he said I had to pay 70 $ cash for my medicine. I lost 3 weeks of work because of how severely I scratch in my sleep.
One month an a half later here I am. I went back an d told the doctor, it isn’t scabies because I have been to the badbedbugs site at least 30 times this past month and he should feel free to check it out. I guess he felt insulted. Needless to say I have changed my carpet, washed everything in hot water, and vacuumed and vacuumed yet somehow 1 or 2 pop up daily.
Please some help here. I cant afford this. Does the baking soda really work. And my son poor guy is only two his blood is sweeter than mine. He has like 3 or 4 new bed bug bites a day. Help!!!!!!!!
I recently went through a bed bug experience in my home. My upstairs where my children sleep was infested. I am still in the process of having my home professionally exterminated. Lots of money invlolved.