Free

E-newsletter

Subscribe to Housecall

Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics.

Sign up now

Tests and diagnosis

By Mayo Clinic staff

If you suspect that you're being bitten by bedbugs, immediately inspect your home for the insects. Thoroughly examine crevices in walls, mattresses and furniture. You may need to perform your inspection at night when bedbugs are active.

Look for these signs:

  • Dark specks. Typically found along mattress seams, these specks are bedbug excrement.
  • Empty exoskeletons. Bedbugs molt five times before becoming adults. These empty skins are light brown.
  • Bloody smears. You may find small smears of blood on the sheets where you accidentally crushed an engorged bedbug.
Treatments and drugs Preparing for your appointment
References
  1. Joint statement on bed bug control in the United States from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). National Center for Environmental Health. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/publications/bed_bugs_cdc-epa_statement.htm. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
  2. Eiston DM, et al. Bedbugs. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
  3. Bed bug information. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/bedbugs. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
DS00663 Feb. 16, 2012

© 1998-2013 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

  • Reprints
  • Print

  • Share on:

  • Email

Advertisement


Text Size: smaller largerlarger