How can I prevent bedbugs?

Prevent bedbugs from traveling with you by checking under mattress seams, under sheets, and by looking for dark, little specs. Watch this video to learn more from Dr. Randy P. Martin about preventing bedbugs.

Transcript

00:00

It's going to feel weird. You go in there, and it's not necessarily a dirty place because bedbugs will go to the cleanest places

00:07

if somebody brings them in. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:15

I travel a lot. And I recently checked into hotel room, and I was checking for bedbugs. So this is how you do it.

00:21

You want to look at the mattress seams, on the sheets, pull back, actually look under the sheets if you want to.

00:28

And what are you looking for? You're looking for dark little specks, which are actually the bedbugs' excrement, or the bedbug doodoo.

00:36

Took a long time for me to learn how to say that in medical school. So those are the little dark droppings that you see. The next thing you may see--

00:43

and these could be on the outsides of the sheets, pull them back or look at them, get all the covers back and look. It could be little exoskeletons, their little bodies

00:53

because they molt about five times a month. They molt very frequently. And the final thing-- this is the grossest thing--

01:00

is look for little teeny specks of dried blood on the sheets because actually bedbugs only feed

01:07

on us for about five minutes. But if you roll over, you might crush them. So when I go into a hotel room or other places now,

01:13

I'm looking for those dark specks. I'm looking for little skeletons of them. Then I'm closely looking at the sheets.

01:20

It's going to feel weird. You go in there, and it's not necessarily a dirty place, because bedbugs will go to the cleanest places

01:27

if somebody brings them in. So how do you prevent getting a bedbug infestation when you're in a hotel?

01:33

You want to do those things I just mentioned. You also do not want to put your luggage on the floor or put your luggage on the bed.

01:40

Put it on a luggage rack because on the floor in the bed they can jump into your luggage and come home with you. And when you get home, wash your clothes in hot water.

01:49

And certainly, if you think you've been infected, you can check with a dermatologist because there are now good treatments for the itching

01:57

rash of bedbugs. [AUDIO LOGO]