There is no denying that some people feel the impacts of bed bug bites more than others.
Why are bed bugs only biting me? I have experienced this phenomenon and in this article, I discuss four reasons why bed bugs could be singling you out.
In this article, I explain why those blood-sucking night insects are only singling you out. Some of the reasons I will focus on include:
Why Are Bed Bugs Only Biting Me?
- You are getting reactions to Bed Bug Bites, but others are not
- Bed bugs like your heat more
- Your sweat and odor stand out from the rest
- What about your blood group?
- Do you sleep with less clothes than others?
So, let’s discuss all those points one at a time.
See also: Clear Pictures of Baby and Adult Bed Bugs
Read also: How Long Can Bed Bugs Live Without Food?
Why are Bed Bugs only Biting Me Alone?
Bed bugs could be biting you more than everyone else because your sweat and odor attracts them. However, more itchiness does not always mean you’re receiving more bites than others. What is happening is that you could be getting excessive reactions to the bed bug saliva than other people.
When you have a bed bug infestation, you may find that the blood-sucking pests prefer to feast on you rather than other family members or even the significant other with whom you share your bed.
You’re the one who’s missing sleep and has itchy welts, while the rest of the family is well and unaffected by bites.
“How can this be?” you might ask. What makes your blood taste so much better than everyone else’s? It’s crucial to figure out what draws you to bed bugs in the first place, since if it’s a certain quality or quality, you could want to change it to reduce your appeal. Here are some of the reasons why bed bugs might prefer one individual over another:
1. You are Getting More Reactions to Bed Bug Bites
Other people may not be too reactive to bed bug bites.
As previously stated, bed bugs do not have a strong predilection for certain blood types.
They will feed on you as long as you are a human and you are in close vicinity. However, most bed bug bite victims are surprised to learn that some people who are bitten by bed bugs do not experience itching or even welts, and they feel as if nothing happened while they were sleeping.
Bed bugs bite everyone, however half of the population does not react to bites, resulting in no spots. Bed bugs may exclusively infest one side of the bed or have a propensity for certain blood types.
They may be in someone person’s bed, but not yours. You could possibly be bitten by a different kind of bug or repel them without even recognizing it.
Our bodies actually recover quite quickly from bed bug bites, but the painful skin irritations are caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva left behind by the bed bugs during the feeding process, which the body reacts to with histamine, causing swelling. So it’s possible that others in the house are being bitten just as frequently as you are; it’s just that their bodies don’t react the same way yours does, leaving you itchy, unpleasant, and nervous when bedtime comes.
2. Bed Bugs Like Your Body Heat
In some situations, your body’s attraction to a hungry, blood-thirsty bed bug is largely determined by your body heat and how it is generated.
Bed bugs prefer to hide in chilly sections of the house, but they are attracted to the warmth of human bodies.
Unfortunately, because you will be lying in your bed for a long time, it will generate a lot of heat. This is why they prefer to hide in beds and the nooks and crannies of mattresses to stay near to you and feed on your warm blood.
While this doesn’t explain why bed bugs prefer one person over another, it does illustrate that bed bugs are drawn to us by things we can’t control.
3. Your Sweat and Body Odor
Have you completed a strenuous workout?
Congratulations on burning calories and getting some exercise, but you may have also created a bed bug magnet. The more sweaty and odorous you are, particularly after activity, the more enticing you are to bed bugs.
There was even a recent study when researchers released bed bugs into a room with a bin of clean clothes and a bin of sweaty used garments. The experiment revealed that bed bugs traveled from the area where clean garments were laid to the bin containing sweaty socks and garments.
When we sweat, we make lactic acid, which is expelled through our sweat glands. Some of us produce more lactic acid than others, and bed bugs may be flocking to you over others in the house as a result.
Furthermore, the more you sweat and the longer you go without showering, the more lactic acid builds up, making you the meal of the day.
What is the solution? If you’ve just gotten home from the gym, don’t forget to shower! Showering and cleaning off all that lactic acid afterward can make a significant impact in diminishing your meal attraction to bed bugs, albeit it may not completely prevent them from eating on you.
4. What about your blood group?
Although not scientifically established, experts believe that your blood type may be causing you to get more or fewer bites than your partner.
Bed bugs have a predilection for what they grew up with. Bed bugs that have grown up on O positive blood will continue to feed on O positive blood in the future. Other blood types are similarly affected.
To be clear, bed bugs don’t favor any one blood type over another. Instead, it’s a matter of personal preference. They can eat any type of blood.
This could explain why your companion gets bitten all the time but the bugs ignore you.
5. Sleeping with less clothes
Some people prefer to sleep with less clothes than others. So, if your spouse is not being bitten by bed bugs while you take all the attacks, check how many clothes they are putting on.
Ensure that you sleep with clothes that cover your arms, waist, neck, back and legs. That sounds like pretty much every part of the body. But when you have an infestation, you cannot afford to sleep naked. You will just be giving bed bugs easy time to feed and multiply.
I wake up with bug bites but my husband does not, Why?
Just because your spouse doesn’t have welts doesn’t mean he isn’t getting bitten; it simply means that his body doesn’t react to the bites in the same manner that yours does.
This could also be caused by a moisturizer, shampoo, or any other post-shower or cumulative skincare routine that is/smells appealing to the little bugaboos. This may be something to focus on if you have a similar diet, extracurricular hobbies, and so on.
Bed bug bites are the same way; some people’s bodies simply do not react to them, while others may be more sensitive or allergic to them. Even if a bed bug is actively biting a person, they may not swell. This could be one of the reasons why you aren’t getting bitten while your companion is.
If you can’t locate any evidence of bed bugs but still suspect your home is infested, calling professional exterminator for a quick inspection is one of the greatest things you can do. They’ll probably look in places you didn’t think to search, and they’ll be able to test more completely.
If you’re familiar with bed bug bits, you will know right away what you are dealing with and begin treatment.
Can a hair dryer kill bed bugs?
Definitely, after 30 seconds of constant contact, the heat from a blow dryer will kill bed bugs. Remove clutter to minimize the number of hiding spots for bed bugs. Clean clothes and bedding suspected of having bed bugs should be dried for at least 30 minutes in a hot dryer.
Yes, bed bugs will be killed by Lysol if you smother them in the cleaning product. Therefore, you will need to directly spray the pests, which is difficult because they try to avoid open places as much as possible. Rather than using Lysol, I recommend hiring an exterminator to start a more comprehensive pest control program.