Can Bed Bugs get in your hair? Well, the best way to answer this question is perhaps to start with a brief about these pesky insects. Bedbugs are small brownish, pesky insects that usually feed on animal or human blood. Adults are often flat in shape and on average, they are equal to the apple seed in size. However, the insects swell after feeding and become reddish in color. Bedbugs don’t fly; rather, they crawl quickly on walls, floors, and ceilings.
Females lay hundreds of eggs, which are often dirty white in color. Young bed bugs, known as nymphs, can shed their skins about five times before maturing and require feeding on blood before shedding. The bugs can fully develop within a month and produce about 3 to 4 generations within a year. Now that we’ve gotten that out of way, let’s get to the question of the day.
Can bed bugs get in your hair?
The short answer is yes. Bedbugs can go pretty much in any place. If you have a bed bug infestation, chances are you brought them in from one of your travels. You could have picked them from an infested bus, train, motel or even an airplane. Bed bugs can multiply really fast and tend to grow in number within a very short time.
Bedbugs usually lay eggs in crevices and cracks and will feed on your blood at night. During their nightly adventures, they might naturally hide in your hair. Many people suffering from bedbug infestations have reported that bedbugs can indeed get into the hair, and once this happens, it can be quite difficult to get rid of them.
After puncturing the skin on your scalp, they suck your blood for about 2 to 5 minutes and then crawl into hiding. After a few minutes, the bite can turn into a small bump or an itchy welt. You may also notice blood stains on your pillow and sheet. If you have a serious bed bug infestation in the hair, you might notice a musty, offensive odor. The bites on your scalp will be in straight rows. Bed bugs bites will commonly make your scalp sore and raw. You may also get the feeling of something crawling on your scalp from time to time.
Can Bed bugs live in your hair?
No, bed bugs do not prefer living in human hair or on the skin, but this doesn’t mean that they won’t bite you on your forehead, scalp, neck, and cheeks. Bed bug bodies and legs are simply not designed to crawl through human hair. Unlike head lice, they aren’t equipped with claw-like limbs to help them cling onto humans’ hair. Additionally, they prefer cool environments than around the human body. So they will often come for a bite and crawl away once they are full.
Bed bugs can expertly hide in your hair for days, but they might not stay there for too long. These pesky insects crawl on your scalp and into your hair sucking blood from exposed regions of your skin. They are also least likely to lay eggs and nest in your hair, but this is not entirely impossible. Whichever the case, most people cannot even withstand the idea of bed bugs in their house, leave alone in their hair. If you see any signs of bed bug infestation in your hair, you need to move fast. And there are various ways of getting rid of bed bugs from your hair. How to get rid of bed bugs in your hair.
Bed bugs infestation in the hair can be quite an exhausting experience; you will be required to comb and comb some more while undergoing frequent hair washing. Many people have reported significant success by rubbing alcohol together with regular shampooing. Despite all these, there are high chances that some bed bug eggs will be left behind, which is why repeated treatment is important.
• Remove them manually: most cases of bed bug infestation in the hair happen to people who wear infested wigs or hairpieces. If this is your case and gets extreme, you might want to remove such bed bug infested items to eliminate the eggs.
• Thoroughly wash your hair using hot water: thoroughly combing and washing hair with hot water has been proven successful in the removal of bedbug eggs, nits and nymphs. I recommend that you first wash your hair before washing your body. If possible, just fill your bath tab with as warm water as you can handle and immerse yourself for some minutes; the heat will drive the bugs away and die.
• Alcohol: not the one for drinking, of course; the type used for cleaning outer wounds would do a perfect job. Simply mix the alcohol with water and soak your hair in it for about five minutes. Be sure to smear and massage the same into your scalp around the hair roots. Do repeated washes in about a week until you’re sure all the bugs and their eggs are dead.
• Almond Oil: Almond oil is also great at repelling bedbugs from the hair. You need to thoroughly smear the oil from your scalp to the ends of your hair tips. This should be done regularly for about 3 days to 1 week to effectively get rid of bugs. You can also use apple cedar oil by adding a small amount to your shampoo during your regular shampooing sessions.
Bottom line
Again, can bed bugs get in your hair? Yes, they can, and can get very frustrating especially if the infestation becomes extreme. The bites and the resulting pains, itches, and inflammations can keep you restless and often times sleepless throughout the night. Even though the bugs are least likely to lay eggs and nest in your hair, imagining even a single bug for a single minute in your hair is tormenting enough.
Thankfully, with a few control measures such as washing your hair with hot water, alcohol and smearing it with apple cedar vinegar can bring the much-needed relief. It’s important to note however that if you spot the bugs in your hair, clothes or beddings, chances are you have an infestation in your home. So in addition to treating your hair, you should take a step further and get rid of the bugs from your entire home.
Reference: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/top-10-myths-about-bed-bugs/
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