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Bed Bugs 101: If you suspect you have bed bugs, the first thing you should do is encase all your mattresses and box springs. However, encasements will rarely completely get rid of bed bugs. If bed bugs are in your bed then they are most definitely elsewhere in the room like walls, furniture and closets. If an infestation has gone undetected for a few weeks or more, than it is very likely that the bed bugs have spread to any adjacent rooms where other people may be sleeping. This is how they spread so easily in apartment buildings, hotels and hospitals.
Unfortunately, there are no safe pesticides on the market today that have the ability to kill bed bugs reliably unless they are sprayed directly on the bugs. Additionally, pesticides do not kill any bed bug eggs waiting to hatch. Absent using very expensive vikane gas or thermal treatment, which do kill eggs, treatment for bed bugs will usually require multiple visits from a pest control professional. Usually, visits are scheduled about two weeks apart since that is about how long it takes for any eggs to hatch that weren't found during an initial visit. The ClimbUp monitors above will trap bed bugs as they climb on or off the bed. If you find one, then immediately contact an exterminator.
The reason that a bed bug infestation can go undetected for weeks is that many people do not react to bed bug bites initially. Everyone has different sensitivites to the bites. Some people will itch right away, some people will itch a few days later and some people will not itch at all until the bites become very frequent. When two people share a bed or bedroom that is infested, it is common that only one will notice itchy welts even though both people are getting bitten each night. For this reason, bed bugs frequently get misdiagnosed.
Early detection is the key to getting rid of bed bugs quickly. Encasements and monitors will allow you to detect bed bugs as soon as they enter your home. If you use a monitor then you will be able to catch live bed bugs to show to your landlord or exterminator. Monitors are also useful after treatment so you will know for sure if any bed bugs survived and attempt to feed on you at night. They will be caught in the trap before entering the bed so you can sleep peacefully knowing that you are not getting bitten by bed bugs anymore. If bites do persist after treatment and encasing your bedding, then you know that the bed bugs must be living somewhere in the bed frame itself.
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