How to Get Rid of Bed Bug Scars & Marks

Video Transcript

"This is Dr. Loretta Ciraldo. Board certified dermatologist and author of "Six Weeks to Sensational Skin." In this clip, I'm going to tell you how to remove bed bug scars and marks. First of all, if you are unlucky enough to have some marks from bed bugs, just be sure that you have change your mattress so that you don't have new bed bugs coming out, actually getting new marks as you're trying to get rid of the old ones. But assuming that you've taken care of the problem, you now have these little marks on you, which kind of kind of look almost sometimes like little stains on your skin, then the best thing to do is to go to the drugstore and look for a fade cream, and in using the fade cream, you might want to be applying that just to the spot of the bed bug mark, apply that twice a day, and often times it's going to help you if you layer that with an over-the-counter cortisone cream. So, you take your spot and you put on the fading cream and then the cortisone cream, and you'll do this twice a day. Now, what I like to tell patients is if you are covered with a number of marks then to know for sure if this therapy of the fade cream and the hydrocortisone is working well enough or not, I would suggest you that you do it for instance, typically you may have bed bugs on one arm and then the other, do this on a couple of spots on the one arm but not on the other. If this is going to be a good enough treatment for you then after about two weeks, you should take a look and say, wow, the marks on this arm looks so faded compared to the marks on this arm. If that's the case, continue with this treatment and please do know in advance that this may take you a full 8-12 weeks to really get good enough fading from the over-the-counter fade creams. If this doesn't work, consult your dermatologist for a prescription. This has been Dr. Loretta Ciraldo."