# insect pests in the home that bite



## tomsjule (Jun 8, 2009)

this is not a household repair -maybe someone can direct me to a site where I can get some help. This seems like such a little thing compared to what many people are dealing with. I am sustaining little red bites on my face, neck, hairline and in my hair -low, back of neck. I have never felt or seen ANYTHING! They don't itch, are not clustered; but last weeks to months. They will heal over, break open, fester, heal over, break open. I have been told about "no see ums". That they can lay eggs under your skin [yuk-panic] and live in your house or could they be fleas from a cat [long since gone from the house]? No one else has the problem including my husband whom I sleep with every nite. I have set off 5 insect killing bombs, sprayed 5 cans of Raid; washed, cleaned, torn everything apart. I have used up 6 little pillows of cat flea medicine into my hairline, etc. Still
getting bitten. I am an R.N. healthy in every way and am not mental but will soon be there if I can't get to the bottom of this. Have seen a Dermatolgist twice ....no help. Spoken with 2 vets, tried the internet....
This has been going on-on and off- for 3 years. Mostly in the spring, I beleive. I live in MN, have wintered in Texas on the coast for 8 winters.


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

Get some teatree oil and mix it in with your shampoo 1 Tsp at a time. Use daily and mix with shower gel as well but Keep it out of your ees


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

And add it to your laundry....


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

ok, but what kind of critter do you think it is, Chemist?

DM


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

DM , I have no clue. You could also try posting under Pest Control and see what comes back. But I will tell you Tea Tree Oil is very good for scalp and skin problems, natural antiseptic properties...
I have read it is also good for head lice and can be used with laundry for bed bugs.... so just taking a stab. I say get to the health food store and fight nature with nature, cheaper than the dermotologist too. The winterring in Texas could be something is brought back from there....or it could just be coincidental as it is not affecting the husband


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

hmm, i thought bedbugs as well, at first, but she's inspected, cleaned, etc... and besides, why would hubby not be getting bit? she just tastes better? maybe she's just that sweet? Po) 
maybe it's mange mites? sounds like a mystery, for sure... 
neem oil may be of some help here as well? couldn't hurt....
fels naptha soap too....

DM


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

texas has chiggers, right?

DM


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

Buddy I get frostbite and mosquito bites, too far north, I don't know about chiggers:laughing:


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

me too, but ya never know... the wife flew to louisiana a while back and got pretty bit up like she describes.

DM


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

After living in Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri I am getting to know chiggers fairly well. They tend to bite along the waistband and under socks etc, where clothing is tight. And from what I have researched in the past, don't live or reproduce in the house.
With bites around the head and scalp I would tend to think head lice or bed bugs. From what I understand bed bugs are very resistant to insecticides.


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

A couple of times over the past few years my wife has wakened up with bites on her ankles. She often sleeps with her feet sticking out from the side of the sheets, but the number of bites was the mystery. We thought mosquitos but never figured it out, does one return to the scene over and over and keep biting , both feet. We have screens on the windows. I on the other hand burrow into the sheets. I GUESS MY FEET SMELL BAD, they never touched me, we couldn`t figure out if this was sand fleas from outside work or what so we ripped the MBR apart, washed the linens with Tea Tree Oil and detergent and vacuumed the matress, walls , bed rails, everywhere and all was good. Still suggest the TEA Tre Oil for laundry and personal use especially with the scalp issue. Sounds like something nesting in long hair and guessing the hubby has short to no hair...


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## tomsjule (Jun 8, 2009)

*Insect pests*

Huge thanks for the comments & help. Needless to say, I am very frustrated by this whole thing, I am using to tackleing problems and solving them. Where do I buy tea tree oil? 

Bed bugs, God what a horrible thought. I know a gal from the Childrens Hospital Guild that I belong to, her husband travels a lot, they live in a million $$ house in a swanky gated community.....he brought home bed bugs from these 5 star hotels. They have spend $10,000.00 getting rid of them, honest to God. She was bit up and down her arms and legs, and there was a lot of droppings seen in their bedroom, they did not bite her husband. An entomoligist [sp?] diagnosed the situation, I presume they had to provide a bug. We have torn everything apart twice & I have been doing detective duty ala "Caddy Shack" fervor....absolutely can not find any droppings, I have found some tiny insects that I can only see with my magniflying glass & some things that look like could be eggs. I am using flea and lice shampoo at this time. Brush and fine comb my hair every morning and shake out on white paper to look for whatever. Betadine solution bobby pinned into my scalp does cause healing and bites seem to decrease. [I am retired ...40 years...surgical nurse] Any kind of ointment [and beleive me I have tried them all] eccascerbates the bites like really bad....so crazy. I have looked behind pictures, drapes, baseboards..nothing! I think I will have to find an entomologist to look at this little tiny dead redish bugs...probably the common ant that stuck to my foot or something. Thanks again, appreciate the input.


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

ok, since you're dealing with an unknown, let's try a broadscope approach. go to your local health food store and buy some diatomaceous earth (it's just comet or ajax cleanser without chemicals or perfumes) and some dried basil. powder the basil and mix it with the powdered ocean critters and sprinkle liberally around the bed, on the bed, under the bed, etc. basil is a good natural repellent and diatomaceous earth dries up and kills mites, spiders, fleas, ticks, etc. it's a bit messy, but the next step is borax.... you may have mites that DO burrow under your skin, and DO lay eggs. dogs and cats get them mainly, (mange) but i guess they can get people too. to cure my dog, i mixed 2 parts water to one part hydrogen peroxide, and added "20 mule team borax" laundry additive until it was saturated and would dissolve no more borax. i bathed the dog, then poured the mixture over him up to his head, avoiding his eyes. did not rinse, did not towel dry. just let it dry on him. the results were nearly immediate. he stopped biting and in a few days the hair was growing back. after spending bigbux at the vet for shots and pills that did nothing, it was nice to find a real cure.

DM


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

still sounds like bedbugs to me though.... but they're about the size of an apple seed....?
check in the creases where your matress is sewn together, during the day they hide there and inside the matress if they can get in.
and as in the case of headlice, they have nothing to do with how clean you keep your place or body. 
filthy people can live their whole lives and never see them..... but they can infest hospitals.....
social stigma only helps them to spread. people are embarrased to get them taken care of and in the meantime, they're reproducing and infesting others.

DM


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

Tea Tree Oil can be found in the natural remedy section in many grocery stores now, probably walmart and for sure a natural health food store. It is a common ingredient in a lot of "Aussie" Shampoos , but you can buy a bulk bottle and mix your own with shampoo, shower gel and laundry detergent. Should be less than $10. Soothing and cooling.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Do you have a zippered mattress cover on your bed and on your pillows? Putting these on your bedding won't allow bugs in or out. 

Have you spent a week or so away from home on vacation, in a different bed? If so, do the symptoms get better?

Do you spend time outside in the evenings/mornings or other times of the day when mosquitoes are out? The reason I ask, is that most people using the bug spray, don't get it on their face, neck or on the hairline in the back of their head. You said it happens mostly in the spring, which is the 'skeeters favorite season. Some people (me included) hardly feel a mosquito on their skin when it's biting them.

Some people have bad reactions to mosquito bites. My little buddy (grandson) gets some of the same symptoms you get when he is bitten by a mosquito. He doesn't notice it when he is being bitten. Sometimes he has to go to the doctor because of the reaction.


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## MALCO.New.York (May 29, 2009)

gma2rjc said:


> Do you have a zippered mattress cover on your bed and on your pillows? Putting these on your bedding won't allow bugs in or out.
> 
> Have you spent a week or so away from home on vacation, in a different bed? If so, do the symptoms get better?


Bed Bugs are at Plague Status in NYC. This would be the first place I would look.

Any little Blood Stains on the sheets?



http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/










http://www.lugaluda.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bedbugs_bites.jpeg




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKCcSPCOQo


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## 4just1don (Jun 13, 2008)

I would spray Tempo SC all over the place and see if that helps. Saw best price was $44.25 for 8 ounces which would last forever. Most handy for spraying around foundations for spiders and other creepy crawly things. For max residual i think it says 16ml in a gallon of water. It smells like water,and is safe for inside and outside the home and food processing plants so it MUST be really safe. It is derived from geranium flowers so its pretty benign.


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## tomsjule (Jun 8, 2009)

*Thanks for trying to help/mystery bug bites*

*I am not real savey on how to interact with this site, however, I am trying to answer all the kind folks who offered input. I forwarded a message re: this problem that really has focused things for me. I hope it will get posted for all of you to read. I also have spoken with people here where I live.*
*We winter in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico in an RV. We are on a cement pad but why do we go there in the winter? To be outside. When their spring starts [February], I get bites when I go out in the evening. They are never anywhere on my body besides my hair line, my face and my neck. I feel nothing, I see nothing but these bites last for weeks. I come back to MN, we live on a lake, we take our RV to a large lake up north in the spring, to fish, camp on the sand. Sit out by a camp fire in the evening, I am all bit up. The bites from TX are not healed & I already have sustained some in MN. Head and face same places, 3rd year in a row. No matter when I try to repel with, nothing works. I am an RN, I have thrown every ointment, peroxide, alcohol, seen a dermatologist....nothing works they just fester and scab, break open. SO I thought maybe someone out there would have some solid help but it seems there is none. I put skin so soft on yesterday while planting my outdoor plants....they found about an inch on my cheek that they feasted on. No one else is getting bitten. I was just told my nephew & his son were eaten alive in Florida this spring...by no see ums. They suffered so, they said they will never got back to FL. It is a mystery. thanks again.*


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## tomsjule (Jun 8, 2009)

*The bug challenge*

*Again, thanks. A friend of mine who lives in TX, said No see ums can get in your house, thru your screens and live there, that is why I was concerned that they were in the house. As far a bed bugs, we have never seen any "droppings" or sign of them, they look like a seed from an apple. And I have never gotten a bite anywhere but my head and neck. My husband sleeps against me every night, he has no bites, anywhere. We have torn our entire bed, pad, frame, mattress apart, vacumed, used a toothbrushin every groove, looked in carpet, drapes, behind pictures, set off insect bombs [had to leave the area for 4 hours], I have used 6 little pillows of flea medicine [frontline] one puts on their catin and on my hair. We can find nothing, no bugs of any kind or their residue, etc. I have 2 magnifying glasses in my bedroom and a powerful light. 3 cans of Raid have been emptied, just in case.....nothing. So my conslusion from all evidence so far is: "No see ums" that bite my outside, not inside. I also have checked for fleas as I comissurate with feral cats who on rare occasions come in the house. Have not been able to establish that either. Thanks. *


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

so take a pill.... seriously..... try some garlic capsules daily for a week or three.
not too many bugs (or vampires) like the taste of garlicky blood......

DM


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## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

So true to your profession we have a conclusion, but no soultion.
My father used to say treat the cause not the symptom, yet modern medicine seldom adresses the cause.

Hopefully I am wrong ....:whistling2: .....but since you haven't mentioned going to the health food store, guessing you passed or we would likely be reading about your new found relief and elation after long suffering and many $ spent elsewhere with no solution. 

My conclusion, you are as noted, a tastey treat,:yes:likely with great pheremones or scented hair products or both and a therefore you are a bugs buffet. 
As a camper you likely know why the citronella in your Skin so Soft repells the bugs so the answer is right there for you. But you haven't dealt with what attracts them to your hairline. 
The odourless garlic mentioned by DM is a great idea and you won't smell like you work in a deli...but don't stop there.
Google tea tree if you haven't. Then go out on a limb and find some....
Tea tree oil, menthol, eucalyptus, jojoba, aloe vera, are all natural and the main line shampoo companies are adding them and have been for a number of years perhaps with the exception of eucalyptus. You can also find them in the drug store in lotions, conditioners and shampoo, but that stuff is scented. Some drug stores now have these oils pure in bottles as well.

However, your local health food store will have alternative odourless soaps and shampoos, many with soothing ingredients for irritated skin. These are derived from centuries of use by people in deserts and rain forest villages where modern medicine has yet to arrive and the BUGS are nastier than yours....and the people in these villages have stunning, ageless skin with no makeup.......

Find the health food store and quit suffering. It' s in the yellow pages... not GNC,...a real health food store, find the one where the customers wear Birkenstocks and the Amish would shop:thumbup:. Then send us an update with your GOOD NEWS


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

thanks Chemistdude, i guess i should have remembered to mention buying ODORLESS garlic capsules.
i grow citronella and just grab a leaf and rub the oils on myself to repel mosquitos! works fine and smells great! (it's a main ingredient in Off! and Cutter's) and do try the Fels Naptha soap too, even for your hair. the wife uses it for poison ivy relief and me, i just like the smell, and it's a good soap! 
(it may be in laundry aisle at your local store) i use it to bathe my dog also and he smells great and the bugs tend to leave him alone too.
please let us know what, if any of these ideas bring you relief.

DM


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## tomsjule (Jun 8, 2009)

*Thanks again, everyone for trying to help and give good suggestions, I have been taking garlic for 5 years as it is supposed to be a good natural cholesteral fighter & I do not have that problem, I am retired, I am not on any prescription medicine just vitamins, etc. and would like to keep it that way. My hubby is on a ton of RX meds, maybe that is why they leave him alone. My brother-in-law who is an ag/horticulture college professor, just left here. He and I decided maybe the bugs like the garlic and that was attracting them so I was going to quit taking that for a while. I put myself on B1[Thiamine] hoping that would make me smell bad. I will try your suggestions.Skin so soft is so greasy, not user friendly for ones clothes, I got it in my eyes just from body heat I would imagine. I was in Panama City, Panama 3 years ago, maybe I brought back a tropical no see um colony I have tried Aloe vera and menthol. Yesterday, I dug out carbolic acid ointment and put that nasty stuff on the bites.I think it helped one bite in the back of my head in the hair....messy foul stuff. I have never had any problems with mosquitoes.Thanks. *


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

Since it it strictly on your hairline and scalp I would consider the possibility of your hair products at least contributing to your problem.

Do you use a scented shampoo or hairspray? Certain scents can attract bugs. I know my sister's perfume makes her a target for any bees in the area. You might try switching to unscented (or at least different non-Avon) hair products for a while and see if it makes a difference.

You say you have not seen evidence of any bugs. Could it be a rash or reaction to a shampoo or hairspray rather than actual bug bites?


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