What to do if you find a tick on yourself
The Upper Midwest is shaping up to be another year of high tick activity. Both Wisconsin and Minnesota remain among the nation’s hotspots for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, with Wisconsin’s surveillance program reporting high deer tick activity and an increase in tick-bite-related emergency department visits.
Because deer ticks can spread Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and several other illnesses, bite prevention is especially important during the hot summer months.
“When it comes to tick bites and Lyme disease, one of the most important things you can do is prevent a tick bite,” says Dr. Saira Ajmal, an infectious disease doctor at Advocate Christ Medical Center. “One of the ways you can do that is to avoid being in tick-infested areas.”
How to prevent a tick bite
If that is not possible and you are going to be visiting a wooded area or walking in places with tall grass, Dr. Ajmal says there are certain precautions you can take:
- Wear light-colored, protective clothing. Dr. Ajmal suggests tucking trouser cuffs into your socks. Tape the area where the pants and socks meet so the ticks can’t crawl underneath.
- Apply insect repellant. Dr. Ajmal recommends using a product with 30% to 50% DEET.
- Treat your clothes with permethrin. Permethrin is an insecticide that kills insects that touch it.
- When walking, walk in the center of the trail. This helps you avoid weeds brushing up against you.
- Once you’re back indoors, check yourself and the people you are with for ticks. If you’re outside for an extended period, stop to do this every two to three hours.
“If you do find a tick, the most important thing is to remove it promptly,” Dr. Ajmal says.
How to remove a tick
All you need to remove a tick is a pair of tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible, pull straight up and then thoroughly clean the area with alcohol or soap and water. Watch for a development of a rash for up to 30 days after finding a tick.
Initially, you may notice an allergic reaction to the saliva from a tick, which would be a small area of redness. This reaction is different from the erythema migrans (EM) rash you get from Lyme disease. An EM rash happens three to 30 days after a bite and looks like a bullseye — red on the outside, white on the inside — and it will get bigger.
“Signs and symptoms can vary from one person to another and what influences that is how long a person has been infected by the time they develop symptoms,” Dr Ajmal says.
If you experience any rash or illness with a fever, call your physician and tell them you were bitten by a tick.
Related Posts
Comments
5 Comments
About the Author
Brittany Lewis is a media relations coordinator at Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. She previously worked as a reporter at TV stations around the Midwest, including Milwaukee. She studied at DePaul University where she majored in Journalism and Public Relations. Brittany enjoys traveling, hanging out by Lake Michigan, trying new restaurants and spending time with friends and family.
I recently purchased and used a Tick Twister (also called Tick Tornado) on an embedded tick and it worked great! Highly recommend for anyone who is outdoors camping, hiking, etc and deals with ticks. Here is a link to the one I purchased on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X7072HY
I also have a Tick Stick from Amazon! Works amazing!! Used on myself, 7yr old, Father in law, dog, and 2.5 year old so far this year. Gets the head out without worrying about breaking it off. In regards to wearing light colored clothes, I really thought ticks are attracted to white/light colors, hence them using white sheets over fields when doing studies to see home many are in an area. I was told dark clothes are better than white to keep them away.
Found a tic on my dog, I poured a bit of alcohol on the tic, tic backed right out, get the forceps and pulled it off. Dog is good, no rash or problems.
If these devices like the Tick Stick and Tick Twister guarantee that they will remove the tick head intact you can use them, but you shouldn’t use a tweezers. If the head gets pulled off and remains, it could cause an infection. If the tick is still alive, light a match and blow it out, then quickly push against the backside to get it to back out, then you can brush it away. Covering it with something like Vaseline will also smother it, and it will back out.
When you don’t have the tick stick you can use a plastic fork to remove ticks Cut all but two of the ends that are close together on the fork and that should do the trick. A plastic spoon will work as well, Cut a V in the end so you can just scoop the tick off by pinching it in the v you cut in the spoon. The V should be tight so the tick gets easily caught in it. Works spectacular…