You just came back from a trip and haven't had time to unpack.
Thanks to your busy schedule you've forgotten all about your dirty laundry in your suitcase.
One morning a few days later, you find your face and neck suddenly covered with ugly red bumps.
You're now left to wonder where the rashes came from.
If you haven't suspected it already, you may have brought home bed bugs from your trip.
They've managed to get into your dirty laundry and traveled to your home.
In fact, this is one of the ways they use to infest other places.
Here are some of the signs and symptoms that you have a bed bug problem in your room.
You had stayed for a period of time in an infested place or slept in a bed infested with these unwanted bugs.
If the accommodation you had chosen appeared not to have been well-maintained and had a musty odor, it may have been heavily infested with bed bugs.
You won't be able to smell them yet in your room because if there are only a few of the insects it will be difficult to detect their odor.
You can't feel the bite of the bed bug but you will definitely feel their itch.
You will start feeling the itch an hour or so after you've been bitten.
At about the same time you feel the itch or maybe a few days later you will notice the red bumps on your skin.
These bugs like to bite the hands, arms, neck and face - those parts of your body that is normally exposed when you sleep.
They are normally active at night.
If you do get to see them, take note that the adults are reddish-brown in color, have an oval shape and no wings.
Their babies are called nymphs and are translucent.
They start to gain color as they grow.
They undergo a process called molting where they shed their old skin.
So if you happen to see these around your room it's a sign that you may have an infestation.
Bed bugs are tough and can survive for five months to a year without food.
However, extreme temperatures can kill them.
Scientific studies have also shown that carbon dioxide can kill these pests.
Bed bugs are difficult to exterminate on your own.
If you do suspect you have problems with these insects, its best to call in a pest control specialist to get rid of them.