Millions of tiny blood-sucking creatures infesting your mattress and bedding…. Sounds like the stuff of nightmares but it’s actually nothing more than your common bed bug (Cimex lectularius). Visible to the naked eye, bed bugs are oval-shaped insects about the size of a lentil. They are often found living in the crevices around your bed and within the tufts of your mattresses. Besides obvious bite-marks on your body, tell-tale signs of a bed bug infestation are small black spots (their droppings) along the mattress seams, headboard and box spring.
Not everyone has an allergic reaction to bed bug bites. In fact, only 50 percent of people show signs, which can range from red itchy bumps to raised blotchy patches. Bed bugs are attracted to your body heat (exhaled carbon dioxide draws them) and feed at night on exposed skin. The neck, face, hands and arms are usually the first targets, which are left with a linear path of red dots.
Fortunately, bed bugs are not known to spread disease or pathogens, but if you suspect an infestation you need to act fast, as the creatures reproduce and spread quickly.
Bed bugs can infest virtually anything that people sleep on—finding safe harbor under the sheets and between tufts and seams. The insects are not lured so much by the type of sleep surface but by the actual person, and can live in the nooks and crannies of a bed frame, nightstand or surrounding furniture. It bears mentioning that bed bugs are not attracted to dirty or soiled bedding, and can find their way into a brand new, very clean home.
With this in mind, there is no particular mattress that is 100 percent impervious to bed bugs, since the insects seek out environs closest to their future meals. Highly dense materials like memory foam and latex can do a good job of keeping them out of the center of your mattress, but the bugs can still crawl into the box spring and adjacent framework. Even a heavy-duty mattress and box spring cover will not stop bed bugs completely. A good cover, however, can help you spot and contain them more easily.
Evidence suggests that encasing mattresses and box springs can aid in the early detection of bed bugs and prevent future infestation. Combined with an inverted-seam mattress – some of the most bedbug-resistant on the market – you can once again enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep.
For more information, please call or visit Mattress World Northwest — Oregon’s #1 seller of organic latex mattresses and advanced sleep systems by Simmons, Stearns & Foster, Aireloom and other leading brands.