Bedtime Stories News

Bedtime Stories Project Finalists Revealed

Bedtime Stories Project Concludes

Bedtime Stories Deadline Reminder

Search SleepBetter

Looking for something specific? Type your search term(s) into the box below!

Zzzz SCORE™

What's your Personal Sleep Style?

Take the Zzzz Score™ test for sleep advice and product recommendations customized to your personal sleep style!

button-get-started

Sleep Better Articles

Bedbugs on the Rise

Warning: This is kind of gross, but it’s important info!

The title of this article may sound like a cheesy B-grade movie from 50 years ago, but it’s actually a warning of a growing trend.  Earlier this month, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) alerted the world to the findings of its new study, which indicated a 57% rise in bedbug-related calls to exterminators in the last five years.  Since then, the media has been all over the story.  USA Today reported this past weekend that office bedbug infestations are also on the rise across the United States.

The bedbug, scientific name Cimex lectularius, is an apple seed-sized insect that feeds on the blood of humans and other mammals.  Not to be confused with dust mites, bedbugs live just about anywhere, but are generally found more often in northern climate.  Its cousin, Cimex hemipterus, is found in warmer climates.

It should be pretty easy to tell if you have a bedbug infestation.  They usually leave rows of red welts on your skin where they’ve bitten.  You may also see blood on your mattress or pillow.  This blood can be directly from your skin as the result of a bite, or it could be (getting grosser here .. sorry) from you rolling on top of a bedbug and squashing it.  If you suspect you have bedbugs, and you have these two signs, chances are your suspicion is correct.  You can also check in folds and seams of mattresses for signs of the bugs.

Read More »


More Sleep Better Articles

The Sleep Doctor

dr-

breus

Michael J. Breus, PH.D

Author of GOOD NIGHT

Dr. Michael J. Breus, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He was one of the youngest people to have passed the Board at age 31 and, with a specialty in Sleep Disorders and Neuropsychological... continue »

Recent Sleep Expert Articles

Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter 

icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Sleep Poll

badge-carpenter