Intense heat is one way of getting rid of bed bugs, they cannot survive in places where the temperature is above 45 degrees Celsius, hence why many steam clean their bed and carpets or hire an exterminator to do the job.
Changing the bed sheets regularly helps destroy these nasty critters too, but remember no matter how clean your furniture is bed bugs will still hide inside it, so make sure to deodorise the mattress as well, curtains should be replaced and washed and sofa pillows checked and steam cleansed.
If you're having trouble in finding the minuscule sized insects remember that they often live in tiny cracks and crevices in your walls, floors your carpets, sofa's and head boards in addition to spending most of their time in your mattress.
Things to look for in finding bed bugs are the bugs themselves and dark brown spots that cover the mattress, these dark brown spots are the bed bugs excrement and will often lead you to where they live, finding the bed bugs is not easy so don't feel discouraged if it takes you a while to find trails or their nesting place.
Once you have found the tiny pests you'll want to know how to kill bed bugs, insecticide dust and odourless spray work, another inexpensive method of killing them is by purchasing a plastic cover to put over your mattress, this will keep the bugs inside and eventually they will die of starvation.
However if you're still waking up with sores and itching a lot you might have a serious infestation and getting rid of bed bugs may not be as easy as you think, it may be best to start replacing your furniture.
This will ensure the nasty bothers are no longer in your room and are unlikely to spread to the rest of your house.