It is very sad when, in the most secluded and beloved place, danger can lie in wait for us. Returning home after a hard day's work, we look forward to the moment when we can lie down on a comfortable and soft bed. But, sad as it is, sometimes we are not the only inhabitants in it. No, we are not talking about children or a spouse now, but about those creatures who are the daily tenants of our bed linen- bed mites.
Bed mites are very small and their proximity can negatively affect our health with you. But where do these microscopic pests come from? This may sound strange to you, but bed mite emerges from the most common dust and pet hair. Everything natural materials that come into contact with bedding in one way or another are a potential home for ticks. If you regularly use woolen blankets, feather pillows, terrycloth sheets, wadded mattresses and fleecy capes, remember that the bed mite, photo (1) of which you see, can settle there with great pleasure. Since these items are rarely cleaned or washed, and moisture and temperature regime in them it is optimal for a tick, it becomes almost a permanent inhabitant in your bedroom. These invisible neighbors make good use of the fact that we do not always have the opportunity to wipe the floor under the bed with a damp cloth or change the sheets every day. At best, we do this no more than once a week, thereby contributing to the successful stay of the bed mite.
The bed mites, the photos of which you have already looked at, are about half a millimeter long. The six-footed creature is visible only under a microscope, which helps to see the chitinous shell of the bug. Such a mite feeds on dead particles of keratinized human skin. It is customary to refer them to saprophytes, since, from a medical point of view, they are not capable of causing significant harm to a person, due to the fact that they do not live on a person, do not drink his blood and do not lay larvae. But you must admit that the bed mite, the bites of which we feel on ourselves, can hardly bring us positive emotions... In addition, asthmatics may develop an allergy to the products of the life of the bed mite, which can hardly be called a harmless effect.
The harm that bed mite brings, symptoms and ways to deal with it.
Reply to earlier the question asked lies in the contact of a person with the faeces of a microbe. The products of life of the activity of a tick when interacting with a person lead to an unpleasant and infectious disease, which is known to everyone as scabies. In a word, bed tick bites are not so terrible as his feces, which are near us all the time. If a person has experienced on himself Negative influence bed mites, they usually have one very obvious symptom: the appearance of red, itchy patches on the skin. By the way, many people mistakenly believe that these spots provoke a bed tick bite, but, as you can see, this is not entirely true. In some cases, in addition to this symptom, an allergic reaction manifests itself in the form of a stuffy throat or nose.
How to get rid of bed mites
It is clear that the treatment itself and contact with ticks are not pleasant activities. Therefore, most of us, ask one single question, having learned who a bed mite is: how to get rid of it?
To minimize the presence of ticks in bed, try to follow a few precious rules:
- - Ventilate the area daily and, if possible, do wet cleaning;
- - Avoid dust accumulation, especially under the bed.
- - Periodically wipe the mattress covers;
- - Bedding in summer period fry in the sun, and expose to frost in winter;
- - Periodic washing of pillows, bedspreads and blankets.
By doing everything on this list, you will significantly reduce the risk of bed mites in your home.
Bed mites are a fairly urgent problem that can affect every family under certain conditions. The main problem is bed mite bites with characteristic symptoms. Only decision a similar problem is to get rid of the "tenants" of the bed. You can get rid of bedbugs forever at home using special effective means and drugs.
They can live in the following favorite places:
- bed;
- pillows;
- carpets;
- dark corners;
- furniture;
- books;
- clothing and footwear;
- cabinets and shelves, various dusty / dirty places.
Symptoms of bites
Despite the fact that bed pests do not have direct contact with humans, they can be especially dangerous. The danger is that an adult tick can defecate about twenty times a day. Contact with their feces causes the development of all kinds of allergic reactions, the occurrence of bronchial asthma. Many people have a misconception about what bed mite bites look like and symptoms caused by lesions.
An allergic reaction can be manifested by scabies - a rather painful pathology of the skin. As a result, you can observe signs such as: increased body temperature, severe itching. If you find these symptoms, seek urgent medical attention to start timely treatment.
Elimination of pests
Observe the following algorithm:
- Wash bed linen and clothes at a high temperature (not sixty degrees), dry on fresh air and iron it with a hot iron. The storage place for such things is a dry place.
- Vacuum all carpets and upholstered furniture.
- Prepare a special saline solution and rinse the baseboards throughout the house / apartment.
- Change pillows.
- Do wet cleaning regularly.
- Avoid dust and dirt formation.
You can use the following tools, for example:
- "Tsifox";
- "Acaritox" - a popular remedy for bed mites, quite cheap;
- "Sipaz Super" and others.
Observe cleanliness and order, then you will not be affected by a similar problem. Take care of yourself!
Practice shows that people usually call “bed mites” either bed bugs or dust mites, which also often inhabit mattresses and pillows (especially down ones). Next, we will take a closer look at both variants of the problem.
The photographs below show bed bugs and the typical appearance of their bites:
In the photo - a dust mite in a pillow (at high magnification):
Next, we will take a closer look at how to correctly recognize who exactly settled in bed and, most importantly, how to effectively get rid of uninvited guests, regardless of whether they are bed bugs or house ticks ...
Who are bed mites and where to look for them
Human dwellings are inhabited by several types of dust mites. The most common are the American dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae and the European dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, as well as the Mainey mite Euroglyphus maynei. Representatives of these species are difficult to distinguish from each other, even under a microscope.
On a note
The word Dermatophagoides means that the tick is a dermatophage, that is, it feeds on the skin (from the Greek derma - skin, phagos - to devour).
Dust mites are relatively small and difficult to detect. The length of an adult is about 0.3 mm, and due to the light translucent body, it is rather problematic to see an individual individual with the naked eye on bed linen. Without a microscope, they can be more or less clearly discerned only in large accumulations of dust, where they look like peculiar whitish dots.
The photo below shows an adult of the species Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus:
The following photograph, also taken using a microscope, shows the accumulation of dermatophage mites in the carpet:
Dust mites feed on dry crumbling skin of humans and pets. It is known that every adult loses on average about 0.5-1.5 g of skin with dandruff and normally exfoliating epidermis every day. This amount is quite enough to feed many thousands of dust mites within one apartment.
It is interesting
According to studies, these arthropods also eat molds, which, however, cannot be the basis of their diet. In other words, in an apartment with people, but without mold, mites will live quite normally, but in a room with moldy walls, but without people, they will not be able to live long. That is, mold for them is just a kind of additive that cannot replace the main diet.
Unable to travel long distances due to their slowness and small size (and even without the need for such movements due to the absence of dangers), dust mites settle and accumulate in rooms where a person spends most of the time and where the greatest amount of waste accumulates. im skin. Including, such places are sofas and beds, pillows, mattresses, armchairs, and dermatophage mites found here with light hand the owners of the apartment are called bed, sofa, mattress, bed, feather bed, etc. It is important to understand that in all these cases we are talking about the same dust mites.
Danger of dust mites to humans
House dust mites could be completely harmless waste collectors human skin, if it did not cause allergic reactions and respiratory diseases in a person.
V digestive tract dermatophage mites contain special enzymes with high biological activity. Some of these enzymes are excreted together with feces, which are very small (hundredths of a millimeter) and easily get into the air - along with house dust. Over time, the particles of excrement dry up and disintegrate into even smaller fragments, which can rise even faster and more easily into the air with dust.
Due to their high biological activity, the digestive enzymes of bed mites are strong allergens and cause allergies in many people. They can irritate the surfaces of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, acting destructively on epithelial cells (in the same way as they act on skin particles consumed by mites). Both allergies and irritations lead to edema and inflammation of the mucous membrane of the entire respiratory tract, which can manifest itself in the following symptoms and end pathologies:
- Itching in the nose, rhinorrhea;
- "Dry" nasal congestion without a runny nose;
- Allergic rhinitis;
- Allergic conjunctivitis or rhinoconjunctivitis;
- Chronic rhinitis.
Over time, in many patients, against the background of tick-borne sensitization, allergic rhinitis turns into asthma. It is believed that more than half of the world's asthma cases develop precisely because of allergies or irritation in response to inhalation of dust with mite antigens. And for many people who do not understand why they have a stuffy nose at night and seemingly for no reason, problems are often associated with the same inconspicuous bedmates.
On a note
Cases of the development of anaphylactic shock in allergy sufferers after eating food with accumulations of dust mites have been described. Also from contact of dust containing mite antigens with the skin in especially sensitive people a characteristic allergic rash may develop with the formation of small pimples.
At the same time, it should be noted that if someone bites you regularly in bed, and in the morning you find traces of night bites on your body that itch and itch - these are definitely not ticks. Dust mites do not bite and do not leave bite marks.
Bed bugs and their bites
It is interesting
Bed bugs have nothing to do with dust mites (as well as with other types of mites). To begin with, all ticks are representatives of the arachnid class (they have 4 pairs of legs), and bugs are insects (they have 3 pairs of legs). At the same time, externally, these creatures differ significantly - even the smallest bug larva (more correctly, a nymph) is clearly visible to the naked eye, while even an adult dust mite is microscopically small.
This is what a bed bug nymph looks like:
Adult bed bugs have a wide, rounded body, flattened from above when hungry, and reach a length of 1 cm or more. When saturated, their abdomen swells and lengthens greatly. Then, as food and bowel movements are digested, they again become like a button or a small coin.
Small larvae (nymphs) of bed bugs have a translucent body and look like light little bugs. Most indoor bugs are nymphs. of different ages and correspondingly, different sizes(from 1 mm or more in length).
It is bites that are the main danger of bed bugs. Most people are quite sensitive to them, itchy blisters often appear at the site of the bites, which the victims often comb, increasing the itching, sometimes provoking infection and the appearance of pustules. In children, with a large number of bug bites, the temperature may rise, and the affected areas swell greatly.
On a note
The situation is aggravated by the fact that each bug usually bites several times during feeding (the exception is only the smallest nymphs). A blister remains at the site of each bite, and after the bites of many bedbugs, the whole body is covered with itchy bumps.
Often, the victim develops an allergy to bug bites. Cases of life-threatening reactions have not been described, but serious conditions may well be observed, especially in children.
For the treatment of the bites themselves, ointments with analgesic and anti-inflammatory components are used. If the allergy is extensive and manifests itself as signs of urticaria, it must already be treated under the guidance of a doctor using, among other things, effective antihistamines.
Similar to the situation with dust mites, allergies can develop to the waste products of bedbugs - the remains of chitinous integuments remaining after molting, excrement, egg shells. Moreover, all these allergens are located near the place of sleep of a person and can easily be inhaled with air. They can also cause atopic chronic rhinitis and asthma.
On a note
The most effective thing to do to identify an intruder in bed is to try to find and examine him. To do this, it is useful to carefully consider the mattress, pillow, bedding, the bed itself (sofa). Already at this stage, fleas, lice and sometimes bedbugs can be accurately identified.
If the insect does not jump, but simply crawls on the bed, it can be either a louse or a bug. And small larvae bedbugs can be confused with lice - they are similar in size.
Here is a photo of a head lice (this is what a linen louse looks like):
Pubic lice:
All these types of lice are quite slow (which cannot be said about bedbugs). It is important to understand that a louse that fell from the head, body or underwear could only be taken from the body of the person who sleeps here. This person needs to be examined.
And this is what bed bugs look like:
Also characteristic feature the presence of bedbugs in the house are such specks of blood on the bed linen:
These traces of blood are formed when a sleeping person in a dream slightly presses down a full bed bug.
Additionally, the identification result can be confirmed by the bite sites. If they concentrate on the head or in the groin, that is, on the areas of the body covered with hair, then they are most likely left by lice - they live in the hair and here they attach their eggs (nits). Bedbugs, on the other hand, avoid hairy areas of the body and bite mainly on the abdomen, sides, neck, arms and legs.
On a note
The photo below shows how the bite marks of bed bugs look on the victim's body:
What to do if there is a suspicion of dust mites in bed?
Special test systems will help here: analyzers, in which it is enough to add dust from the bed, from the floor near the bed, from any other place in the apartment, pour water and lower a chemically sensitive piece of paper. In this case, the piece of paper accepts specific color to be compared with the color on a special scale of the analyzer. The color shows how many dust mite antigens are in the dust sample. In fact, this shows how many mites live near where the dust was collected.
If, according to the test results, it turned out that an increased concentration of tick-borne antigens is found in one place or another, this is enough to start the fight against dust mites, even if it was not possible to find, see and examine them, for example, using a magnifying glass or a microscope.
On a note
Dust mites are ubiquitous and are found today in the vast majority of apartments and houses. Initially, they appear in a room with dust on shoes, things, bags, various objects, and if the conditions in the apartment are suitable, then they actively multiply here. In fact, they constantly penetrate into every apartment, and it is only on whether the room is kept clean that the mites will multiply in large quantities, or will be massively removed with dust at each cleaning.
Destruction of bed bugs in the house
Exterminating bedbugs indoors is a serious task that requires some preparation and careful implementation of all work. An attempt to carry it out half-heartedly usually leads to the fact that it is impossible to completely remove bedbugs, over time the surviving individuals multiply again and the pest control has to be repeated, sometimes many times (some people live with bedbugs for years, periodically making not very active attempts to get rid of them).
The fight against bedbugs itself should take place in the following sequence:
Bedbugs can be destroyed by chemical and thermal methods. The first ones involve the use of powerful insecticides, the second ones - freezing the room or treating the places where bedbugs accumulate with steam from a steam generator (less often, using special heat guns, they warm up the entire room to 65 degrees).
Practice shows that the use of insecticides gives a more reliable and quick result... However, as an adjunct, hot steam treatment of mattresses is also quite appropriate.
On a note
Folk remedies - herbs, alcohol, turpentine, vinegar - in practice, do not effectively destroy either bed bugs or dust mites. For several days, using such funds, you can reduce the activity of arthropods, but it will not be possible to completely remove them from the apartment.
On a note
If you initially have a feeling that it will be problematic to cope with bedbugs on your own, then it makes sense to call a pest control service. The services of such services, although they cost more than you have to spend on the drug, provide a high probability of complete removal of insects.
Tick control rules
Dust mites are generally easier to control than bed bugs... These creatures are less mobile and more sensitive to the sanitary state of the premises. In most cases, relatively simple but systematic measures are sufficient to destroy them.
In particular, it is necessary:
- Carry out a thorough wet cleaning throughout the apartment;
- Change bed linen;
- Dry-clean pillows and blankets and (or) wash them at a temperature of 60-70 ° C for at least 30 minutes (at this temperature, tick eggs die, too);
- "Fry" mattresses in the sun or treat with hot steam;
- Remove dust from all crevices, from under furniture, carpets and rugs.
There are also special vacuum cleaners for getting rid of dust mites:
However, it is quite effective to remove dust from those places where mites have settled, and you can use a regular vacuum cleaner in combination with a damp cloth.
Also, ticks die from the same insecticidal agents that poison bugs and cockroaches. The use of such drugs will give a well-pronounced quick effect, however, with due care and only mechanical and thermal methods may be enough.
If, in the future, the premises are maintained in good sanitary condition, "bed" mites will not multiply here, and will no longer pose a danger.
Effective prevention measures
Reliable prevention against the appearance and reproduction of dust mites in bed is to maintain cleanliness in the apartment as a whole (first of all, the fight against dust is important).
- Carry out a thorough wet cleaning at least once a week. As part of cleaning, dust must be removed, including from under furniture;
- Change and wash bed linen at least once a week;
- Once every 2-3 months, you need to wash those mattresses that are not completely covered. bed linen and on the surface of which dust may fall;
- Use bed linen made of fabrics with the following characteristics: pore size no more than 10 microns, the ability to retain allergens - 99%, the ability to pass dust - no more than 4%.
The only reliable prevention against contamination of the room with bed bugs is high quality insulation him from neighboring apartments and a strict check of all large items brought here - especially furniture, as well as bags, suitcases and clothes after vacation at resorts and business trips with accommodation in hotels. Various folk remedies like wormwood or tansy, they do not represent a serious obstacle to the movement of bedbugs. Although insects are afraid of their smell, in case of acute hunger they will bypass them in search of prey.
if you have personal experience fight bed bugs or dust mites - be sure to leave a review at the bottom of this page (in the comment box). By what signs did you manage to find the source of the problem, what actions were taken and whether they gave a result - those who are in the same situation will be interested in any details.
Interesting video showing a lot of dust mites in a pillow
Mites in Bed: Why You Should Get Rid of a Feather Pillow
"Fighters of the invisible front" - bed mites are one of 150 species discovered to date by microscopic apartment dwellers.
Bed mites can be a big nuisance. See what a bed mite looks like - photo
Everyone needs to know: why are house ticks dangerous?
Their size (only from 0.1 to 0.23 mm) does not allow, without special optical means, to detect "lodgers" or cockroaches, which annoy household members with their appearance. And they do harm “in a quiet way: they don’t bite, they don’t suck blood.
But they cause allergies in people susceptible to a special type of protein secreted by ticks in feces. These allergens do not affect everyone, but their fair concentration in house dust, caused by accumulation over a certain period of time, can cause a lot of inconvenience, irritation, asthmatic manifestations, dermatitis, rhinitis based on allergens in people genetically predisposed to these diseases. By settling on the mucous membranes of the nasopharynx, fecal formations ranging in size from 10 to 40 microns dissolve, causing allergic manifestations.
Mites, people prone to allergies can cause great harm
Attention! Despite the fact that the bed mite acts selectively, i.e. causes allergies only in susceptible people, it should not be allowed that the concentration of arthropods in 1 g of dust exceeds 100 animals. Considering that there are about 50 thousand of them per 1 g in the dust of the mattress, it becomes clear why prevention and maintenance should be carried out.
"Bed rest" for ticks
There is no better habitat for ticks than a human bed. In a dusty, warm, humid environment of feather pillows, mattresses or feather beds, woolen blankets, they live their life. Here they lay eggs, reproduce, giving life to new generations.
A tick, like a bug, feels great in bed.
Clinging with suckers on legs to a person's clothes, they travel with him, settling on upholstered furniture hotels, laundries, schools, etc. Mites are invisibly present in the carpet pile, on soft toy, "Gathering dust" on window curtains traveling on airplanes, trains and public transport, feel great in other "dust collectors". Their habitat is so vast that no one can say with 100% certainty: "There are no ticks in my apartment."
Blood does not drink and does not bite: what does the tick feed on then?
Mites in bed are found in all parts the globe... They find their food in the form of flakes of peeled skin, dandruff. It is there that a favorable "edible" microflora is created: fungi and bacteria. An unmade bed with dust and sweat residues on it is an ideal place chosen by ticks. Studies have shown that about 1 g of dead particles remain in bed from one person in a weekly interval. skin... This is the ration for thousands of starving arthropods. In fact, a bed tick bite in the form of a rash and redness, accompanied by itching, is nothing more than an irritating reaction of the body to protein material in the fecal masses of arthropods.
The presence of a bed mite: signs
If it is not possible to conduct laboratory tests, then it is possible to determine by a person's well-being that a bed mite has wound up in the room: the symptoms are common, typical:
- bumpy skin rashes without a characteristic bite mark;
- atypical, but possible increase in body temperature;
- sneezing without signs of a cold;
- breathing problems, wheezing;
- inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, accompanied by tearing and redness;
- runny nose.
Baby's delicate skin is the first to signal. Bed mite bites on a person - photo
Bed mite: prevention of occurrence
The fight against ticks at home is carried out different ways, although almost always it is not possible to achieve complete disposal of them. But, if the house is allergic to dust, carry out preventive actions, as well as the use of intensive methods of struggle is simply necessary.
Remember! The amount of dust is directly proportional to the prevalence of mites. With a decrease in it, the population of arthropods sharply decreases.
- if possible, replace pile carpets with wicker or homespun paths;
- remove upholstered furniture;
- abandon draped compositions on the windows;
- ensure regular ventilation of the premises and maintain a microclimate with a relative humidity of less than 40%;
- periodically wash and comb out pets;
- boil bed linen;
- pillows and mattresses in winter time take out for an hour or two in frost, in summer dry in direct sunlight.
- use steam and air cleaners for cleaning;
- replace feathers as soon as possible. bedding to sentipone or others that do not cause allergies.
- put on special covers on mattresses;
- it is advisable to do wet cleaning every day with 20% saline solution.
Tick control: when all methods are good
Getting rid of a tick in bed can only be done with radical measures.
- "Acaritox": powder for further preparation of an aqueous solution based on alphacypermethrin. The effect of the drug lasts for 14 days.
- Spray for treatment of bed, furniture "Milbol". It contains medicinal oils of the neem plant.
- Easy Air liquid.
- Sipaz Super is a highly effective product that gives almost 100% positive results.
- Allergoff: as a spray or as a component added to the detergent solution.
- Tsifox is a strong dry insecticidal preparation. Prepared before application, according to the instructions, by diluting in water. The active phase of action is half an hour, followed by re-treatment.
Who is wary of chemicals, can check the action folk way... It consists in making the composition of the following recipe. Quarter glass liquid soap should be stirred in a liter of water. With continuous stirring, add half a glass of ammonia to the solution. Stir the composition thoroughly. Add the resulting mixture to the soapy solution when washing bed linen. They also treat the "risk zones" in a room with a maximum population concentration.
Pest types
Only people prone to allergies suffer from the presence of mites. However, exceeding the concentration of more than 1000 mites in 1 g of dust is unacceptable. If it is exceeded, prevention is needed, sanitization premises and all contaminated things.
Preventive measures
Despite the many ways, getting rid of them completely is difficult. It is troublesome to wash things dusting in the closet every time, and no one is safe from the fact that pets will not bring ticks into the house on their fur. The less dust in the room, the lower the population of these arthropods. There is no instruction on how to get rid of them completely. In each living quarters people have different nuances and living conditions.
- frequent cleaning of upholstered furniture;
- periodic washing and combing of hair in pets;
- replacing pile carpets with wicker carpets;
- boiling bed linen;
- maintaining a microclimate in a room with a humidity of at least 50%;
- drying home pillows, mattresses, blankets, taking out in the sun or frost;
- putting on special covers on mattresses;
- carrying out daily wet cleaning with the addition of 20% saline solution;
- replacing a feather bed with a synthetic winterizer, another material that does not lead to allergies.
Use of special tools
- Tsifox - insectoacaricide powder, previously diluted in water;
- Sipaz is an effective drug;
- bedding spray based on medicinal neem;
- Acaritox (the powder is diluted with water, the infected areas are sprayed, and retains its effect for 2 weeks);
- Easy Air liquid;
- Allerqoff for adding to washing soap solution.
All these are chemical preparations. It is advisable, after disinfestation, to leave the room for a day, ventilating it. After processing, it is worth carrying out general cleaning at home with a solution of bleach, salt 20%. Mattresses, pillows can be taken to a dry cleaner or you can use a steam cleaner - steam along the seams of upholstered furniture, all the places where bedbugs are found. If you use chemicals independently, proceed according to the attached instructions.
The Rainbow dust collection system is effective. This moisturizing, fragrance and decontamination vacuum cleaner guarantees saprophyte removal.
How is scabies treated?
If, against the background of ticks, allergic manifestations on the skin of the type of urticaria occur, attacks have become more frequent bronchial asthma, then you need to see a doctor, take an allergy test. When examining the analysis in a laboratory way and positive result the doctor will prescribe drugs, develop a treatment method.
All procedures will be in vain if the bugs are not eradicated, so you need to direct all efforts to destroy saprophytes, process linen, upholstery.
- for convenience, it is appropriate to use a steam generator;
- do not let dust accumulate in the room;
- wash more often;
- emboss carpets and rugs;
- ventilate the room;
- do wet cleaning daily;
- fry and even boil linen;
- throw away the old mattress infected with insects or dead particles of your skin (use modern accessories on a padding polyester, in which bed mites certainly will not start);
- look through well the blankets and pillows.
You can fight a tick by preparing a remedy at home, mixing laundry soap (50 g) and ammonia(100 g). The composition is added to water for treating infected areas and when cleaning floors.
The debate about what bed mite bites look like continues. But it only seems to people that they are being bitten, because severe itching, scratching, redness on the skin begins. The bed mite does not bite and prefers dead skin cells for food. There are always enough of them in our beds.