Always Thought Scabies and Bed Bugs Were One and the Same?
Welcome reader to the post of Mills Termite & Pest Control. Many of our clients are confused about what the differences are between bed bugs and scabies, so we will try to explain it below.
The biggest difference between scabies and bed bugs is that the latter is a type of insect, and scabies are small mites. However, they both feast on human blood, but do it in different ways. Scabies mites are too small to see with the naked eye, and they burrow into a person’s skin to lay their eggs and feed. A bed bug will hide in a person’s furniture and only come out after dark when they need to feed.
The symptoms of both of these on the skin are very different also, scabies target very specific areas and a bed bug will bite any area on the body. When they bite someone, they will inject a numbing agent. Which many people are allergic to, and this is what causes bumps to appear. After being bitten, there will be a pattern of bumps over a wide area of the skin. These bugs have soft bodies which burst easily, especially after they have fed.
Scabies will target certain zones on the body. They are frequently found on a person’s wrist or in the creases between the fingers. It is common also for people to have scabies sores under their stomach area, around the genitals, between the toes, and on the elbows. At the start of an infestation, scabies sores will look like white lines, however, over time, they will become inflamed red bumps. These itches can be pretty bad, and people will usually scratch them aggressively enough to open up the skin and cause additional skin infections.
The treatments for both are very different also, and many doctors will prescribe medicated creams for scabies rashes. Without these, one may not get rid of scabies. Scabies is contagious also, so there are a lot of precautions which need to be taken in order to avoid passing the infestation on to others.
Sadly, we have finally come to the end of our blog. If you would like to find out about the services offered by us, and you live in the Columbia, SC area, please do not hesitate to call us at (803) 252-1467 now.