How to Treat Hives From Bedbugs
Bedbugs may have followed you home, hitching a ride in your luggage or on your clothing. Carrying them into your home is perhaps one of the most common means of becoming infested with the wingless parasites. Perhaps you carried them in after staying at a hotel or by bringing home clothing from a second-hand store. Of course, you may have also moved in with them when you moved into a new apartment or home that had previous occupants. Even without human hosts present, bedbugs can survive (and wait) for months.
So if you have woken up with little red bumps, a rash or hives, chances are you have been bitten by bedbugs. What you are experiencing is an allergic reaction to a chemical in the bug's bite. This reaction produces red, itchy bumps that resemble hives. Treating the condition really has two parts: treat your allergic reaction and get rid of the bedbugs.
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Things You'll Need
- An antihistamine cream Or antihistamines Or a Cortisone-based cream/gel Mattress cover Bedbug insecticides Sea salts for bath (optional)
Instructions
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Dealing with Bedbugs
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Stop the itching with antihistamines. Your itching is due to your body producing histamines when it reacts to the bite. Therefore, antihistamines will help. The bug bite itself will heal on its own.
In general, Benedryl is a long-used product for allergic reactions, including hives and swelling from insect bites. You could try the capsule or pill form. There is even a Benedryl cream. If you have other antihistamines which normally work better for you, you could try them as well. The antihistamine works by blocking the histamine receptors, so that the body stops producing more histamine.
Calamine lotion is another classic remedy for hives and bites as it soothes the stinging itch. Another product you might look for is called Corticool--a hydrocortisone gel. -
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For added relief, soak in a tub to open up the bites and let them get clean. Optionally, you might consider a soak in sea salts. Ocean saltwater is very soothing to the skin and has been used for many therapeutic uses for centuries. While sea salts are available at drug stores and on line, for as an inexpensive and non-perfumed option, you can use the sea salt mix available at aquarium shops (or places that sell saltwater fish). Just mix it into your tub and you'll be soaking in what approximates ocean water. This will not cure the bite, but it may alleviate some of the itch while helping clean it. Sea salts help remove toxins from the body and will help soothe by removing some of the toxins injected during the bite.
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Make your bed a bug-free zone. Start by stripping down the bed and washing everything, including the bedspread and pillows. Next, seal your mattress in a zippered cover designed especially for bedbugs. This way, any bedbugs will be trapped inside and will die off.
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Treat bedding and surrounding area with insecticides designed to kill of bedbugs. Because they can be in your carpet, waiting to climb back onto your bed, you cannot simply treat the bed, but must treat the room.
Treating the whole house, killing the eggs, should eliminate your problem, if you live in a home. If you are in an apartment, you may have to stay more vigilant as the original infestation may have come from a neighboring apartment through tiny cracks or holes in the walls. As such, a return infestation may occur, despite your efforts. If this is your case, follow the directions for reapplication on any bedbug insecticide kits you decide to try. -
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Try using double-sided tape around the edge of your mattress. It works on the same principle as flypaper, trapping any new bedbugs which climb across it.
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Tips & Warnings
Keeping good hygiene and keeping your bedding clean is the easiest way to prevent bedbug infestations.
