Terri Ramsey Beavers Did you know that one out of five Americans has had a bed bug infestation in their home?
If you or a family member is waking up with bites but are wondering between bed bug bites vs scabies, you are in the right place. Both pests are annoying and not great for your health, and they can look very similar as well.
Keep reading to learn the difference between both.
Bed Bug Bites
Bed bugs are attracted to the odor of sleeping humans and soiled clothing. They usually like biting areas of the skin that are exposed while humans are sleeping. This usually includes arms, face, back, and legs.
Their bites tend to be in a row, and you will often see clusters of bites. Each cluster will have between 3 to 5 bites that are in a zigzag pattern. Many people confuse bed bug bites for mosquitoes bites because bed bugs are barely ever seen.
Scabies
If you are dealing with a scabies outbreak, at the beginning of the infestation, the bites will look very much like bed bug bites. Scabies are very tiny mites that feed on your blood like bed bugs, but while bed bugs do it from the outside of your skin, scabies do it under your skin.
They will burrow under your dermis to feed off your blood and to lay more eggs. Scabies are so tiny that you will not see them with the naked eye. You need a microscope to see them, unlike bed bugs, which, if you look for them, you can see them without a microscope lens.
Tips to Differentiate Both Pests
One way to tell the difference between scabies and bed bugs is that scabies bites will look more like a rash on your skin. Bed bug bites will be a bit raised and will be in rows.
Another difference is that scabies burrows look like grayish-white raised lines, and they will lay their eggs under the skin, which is what causes you to have itchy skin. They will quickly turn into red and swollen papules that can end up festering.
You can mainly find scabies in joint areas, finger webs, and wrists. They will burrow anywhere on the body, but these are the most common areas where you will find them.
Treating Them
The best way to get rid of either pest is to call in the professionals as soon as you notice one or the other. Whether you are dealing with scabies vs bed bugs, if you let them go too long without treatment, they will infest your entire home, making it more difficult to get rid of them.
Bed Bug Bites vs Scabies
Now that you know the main differences between bed bug bites vs scabies, you can now properly identify which pest you are dealing with. When you identify the pest, you can then determine the best way to treat the bites, and you can handle the infestation.
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Image Attribution:
Adobe Stock royalty-free image #132186211, ‘Mosquito bites sore and scar on child legs’ uploaded by gamelover, standard license purchased from ; file retrieved on October 4th, 2019. License details available at – image is licensed under the Adobe Stock Standard License.