Heres a great way to deal with those horrible things – Bed Bugs!

An old nemesis from our distant past has returned to pay us a visit and the results can be quite annoying. bed bugs, those tiny, voracious, blood drinking insects pests are making a rather dramatic comeback in our modern world. After an absence from our lives of more than 50 years, bed bugs have once again begun to proliferate in our homes, apartments, hotels, motels and even movie theaters. Anywhere where the lights are dim and warm blooded creatures can be found, bed bugs are rearing their microscopic, ugly heads.

bed bugs have not been directly linked to any serious illnesses or diseases. They do cause skin rashes, chronic itching and blisters. However, just the thought of having bed bugs is enough to set off the panic alarms in most people and before long, every minor itch has a deeper, darker meaning. People start worrying about bed bugs and soon they are at their wits end just thinking about these annoying invaders.

Getting rid of bed bugs once they have infested your home can be an expensive proposition.

Bed bugs like to live in mattresses, sofas, draperies, pet bedding, cracks in your walls and even in the clothes hanging in your closet. Anywhere warm and dark that gives them easy access to a nice, warm blooded body. Since most people are not equipped to handle the situation on their own, they usually end up calling in a professional exterminator and paying a good deal of money to eliminate bed bugs.

Once the exterminator has done their job, the work is by no means over. Any clothing that may have come in contact with bed bugs must be washed in boiling water or professionally dry cleaned. Bedding has to be replaced or wrapped in plastic to suffocate anything that lived through the spraying. The entire home must be vacuumed or preferably steam cleaned to assure that any remaining bed bugs or their eggs are removed. Pet bedding should be thrown out and replaced. This is an expensive, labor intensive process that has become a true nightmare for thousands of families since the return of the bedbug.

Now before you sink into despair, there are many things you can do to be pro-active instead of waiting until it is too late. The solution is to follow an integrated pest management plan. One that includes protecting your home in advance with bedbug traps and regular visits from a professional exterminator. It also requires some common sense and good judgement when bringing new items into your home, especially antiques or second hand furniture. You have to be aware enough to realize that even a cardboard box that contained your new computer could be hiding bed bugs.

Travel must also be planned carefully as many hotels are experiencing a bedbug problem and guests may be bringing home more than just happy memories from their vacations. If you plan to travel, you need to take several bedbug traps along with you and place them in your luggage, by your bed, in the drawers where you put your folded clothing and in the closet where you hang your suits or dresses.

It is possible to protect your home and your family from bed bugs. It juts takes planning, knowledge and a bit of elbow grease to do a effective job. Take the time to become informed by reading the most up to date information available about bed bugs then make your own integrated pest management plan. The first step is to hire a reputable exterminator to inspect your home. If your home is still bedbug free, you and the exterminator should plan out your bedbug prevention strategy for the future. If you are already infested with bed bugs, you must take all the recommended steps to remove them. Afterwards, you should put a complete maintenance and prevention plan in place and follow it to the letter. bed bugs are a nuisance but they can be prevented and they can be eliminated. It can be costly and it does take some work but your home and your family are worth the effort.