Whats The Best Way To Prevent A Tick Bite
Ticks cant fly or jump. But they live in shrubs and bushes and can grab onto you when you pass by. To avoid getting bitten:
- Wear pants and socks in areas with lots of trees and when you touch fallen leaves.
- Wear a tick repellent on your skin and clothing that has DEET, lemon oil, or eucalyptus.
- For even more protection, use the chemical permethrin on clothing and camping gear.
- Shower within 2 hours after coming inside. Look for ticks on your skin, and wash ticks out of your hair.
- Put your clothing and any exposed gear into a hot dryer to kill whatever pests might be on them.
How do you know if youve been bitten?
Since ticks are so small, youve got to have pretty good eyes to see them.
If you have a small, red bump on your skin that looks like a mosquito bite, it could be a tick bite. If it goes away in a few days, itâs not a problem. Remember, a tick bite doesnât necessarily mean you have Lyme disease.
If you notice a rash in the shape of a bulls-eye, you might have a tick bite. Talk to your doctor about treatment.
If you have an allergic reaction to ticks, youll notice a bite right away.
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Who Gets Lyme Disease
Anyone bitten by an infected deer tick can get Lyme disease. Most U.S. cases of Lyme disease happen in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But Lyme disease is found in other parts of the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia too.
The Chance Of Getting Lyme Disease
Not all ticks in England carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
But it’s still important to be aware of ticks and to safely remove them as soon as possible, just in case.
Ticks that may cause Lyme disease are found all over the UK, but high-risk places include grassy and wooded areas in southern and northern England and the Scottish Highlands.
Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures that live in woods, areas with long grass, and sometimes in urban parks and gardens. They’re found all over the UK.
Ticks do not jump or fly. They attach to the skin of animals or humans that brush past them.
Once a tick bites into the skin, it feeds on blood for a few days before dropping off.
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What Do I Do If I Find A Tick On My Skin
Dont panic. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skins surface as possible. Pull up with steady, even pressure. Be careful not to squeeze or twist the tick body. Sometimes parts of the tick remain in the skin. You can leave them alone or carefully remove them the same way you would a splinter. Do not use heat , petroleum jelly, or other methods to try to make the tick back out on its own. These methods are not effective.
Wash the area where the tick was attached thoroughly with soap and water. Keep an eye on the area for a few weeks and note any changes. Call your doctor if you develop a rash around the area where the tick was attached. Be sure to tell your doctor that you were bitten by a tick and when it happened.
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How Is Lyme Disease Diagnosed
Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose because symptoms are not consistent and may mimic other conditions. The primary symptom is a rash, but it may not be present in up to 20% of cases.
Diagnosis for Lyme disease must be made by a healthcare provider experienced in recognizing Lyme disease. Diagnosis is usually based on symptoms and a history of a tick bite. Testing is generally done to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other conditions. This may need blood and other lab tests.
Research is underway to develop and improve methods for diagnosing Lyme disease.
The symptoms of Lyme disease may look like other medical conditions or problems. Always talk with your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.
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Stage : Small Oval Rashes Or A Reddish Lump
When a tick that causes Lyme disease bites you, it infects you with bacteria. Without treatment, the bacteria can spread to other areas of your body. Stage 2 begins when the bacteria spread to other parts of your body.
During this stage, you may see small, oval rashes on your skin. Some people develop a bluish-red lump.
Where you see these signs: Because the infection has spread, small rashes can appear anywhere on your skin, except for your palms and soles. Most rashes appear on the arms, legs, and face.
Some people develop a lump, which your doctor may refer to as borrelial lymphocytoma. In children, this lump tends to appear on an earlobe. Adults often see a raised growth form around a nipple.
Borrelial lymphocytoma on a childs ear
This can appear in stage 2 of Lyme disease.
What you may see on your skin: The rashes that appear during stage 2 differ from the rash that can appear in stage 1. In stage 2, the rashes stay the same size rather than grow larger.
When the rashes, lump, and symptoms begin: About 30 to 45 days after the tick bites you, you may notice rashes or a lump. These can also take longer to appear, sometimes six months or more.
Some people develop symptoms, which make them feel ill, including:
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Fever
I Just Found A Tick Attached To Me What Should I Do
Dont panic. First, remove the tick with a pair of tweezers. Grasp the tick close to the skin and pull directly upwards until the tick comes free.
Try to remove the tick whole. If you do, it is likely the tick will still be alive and moving.
Place the tick in a plastic bag or other sealed container. Try to identify what kind of tick it is that bit you. An online tick identification chart, like the one from the University of Rhode Islands TickEncounter Resource Center may be helpful. If you are not sure what type of tick bit you, it is best to bring it to your doctor or someone else who can identify ticks.
Its important to remember that Lyme disease is not the only infection spread by deer ticks, and deer ticks are not the only ticks that can spread infections. After any tick bite, you should monitor your health. If you develop a high fever or chills, you should seek medical attention, and be sure to mention to the doctor that you have recently had a tick bite.
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Identification Of The Wood Tick
Wood ticks are highly colorful and pretty easy to recognize. They have grayish patterns on their bodies and males will have a mottled grey coloration along their backs. American dog ticks are often mistaken for Deer ticks, which carry Lyme disease. The American dog tick does not carry Lyme disease.
The American dog tick also has a wide, oval body with a flattened top. Females are generally larger than males, measuring about 5 mm long when not engorged , and 15 mm long and 10 mm wide when engorged. Males measure just 3.6 mm long when not engorged.
Deer ticks are much smaller than Wood ticks and can be distinguished by theiryou guessed itblack legs.
Signs Of Lyme Disease That Appear On Your Skin
Signs of Lyme disease
If you see a rash or another sign of Lyme disease on your skin, see your primary doctor right away. When caught early and treated, Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics and most people recover fully.
Lyme disease is caused by a bite from a black-legged tick. If you are bitten by this tick and develop Lyme disease, you may see a bulls-eye rash. Its a common sign of Lyme disease, but its not the only sign.
Lyme disease occurs in stages. Heres what you may see on your skin during each stage.
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Home care for dogs with Lyme disease is relatively straightforward.
Doxycycline is usually given by mouth twice daily for at least 30 days.
Improvement in the dog’s symptoms should be noted within 24-48 hours.
In the past, it may have been difficult for dogs to survive Lyme disease due to the inability to diagnose the disease.
Now, there are numerous tests for vets to use to determine whether or not your pooch has Lyme disease.
These symptoms are caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium in the bite of an infected tick.
There are three “states” of Lyme disease in dogs: acute, subacute, and chronic.
Symptoms generally do not appear until after a two- to five-month incubation period, and can take even longer.
In rare cases, kidney damage can escalate to Lyme nephritis, which is usually fatal.
Antibiotics generally provide relief from Lyme disease, but relapses can occur.
Spot-on tick-control products can kill or repel ticks that carry Lyme disease, as can some tick collars.
There is a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs, but it’s not always part of a dog’s routine vaccination protocol.
What Are The Symptoms Of Lyme Disease
The list of possible symptoms is long, and symptoms can affect every part of the body. The following are the most common symptoms of Lyme disease. But symptoms are slightly different for each person.
The primary symptom is a red rash that:
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Can appear several days after infection, or not at all
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Can last up to several weeks
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Can be very small or grow very large , and may resemble a “bulls-eye”
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Can mimic such skin problems as hives, eczema, sunburn, poison ivy, and flea bites
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Can itch or feel hot, or may not be felt at all
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Can disappear and return several weeks later
Several days or weeks after a bite from an infected tick, you may have flu-like symptoms such as the following:
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Headache
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Swollen glands
Weeks to months after the bite, the following symptoms may develop:
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Neurological symptoms, including inflammation of the nervous system and weakness and paralysis of the facial muscles
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Heart problems, including inflammation of the heart and problems with heart rate
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Eye problems, including inflammation
Months to a few years after a bite, the following symptoms may include:
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Inflammation of the joints
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Neurological symptoms including numbness in the extremities, tingling and pain, and difficulties with speech, memory, and concentration
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Brown Dog Ticks And Pet Diseases
This type of dog tick is found nearly everywhere in the United States and it likes dogs of every variety, but rarely bites people. Adult brown dog ticks are about the size and color of the deer tick. The bites of brown dog ticks can be extremely dangerous to your pet: They can cause diseases like ehrlichiosis, babesiosis , and bartonellosis. Symptoms of a tickborne disease in your dog may include fever, depression, weight loss, and lameness, according to the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation. Talk to your vet about the warning signs of tickborne infections.
Brown dog ticks can live in your house and in your dogs kennel. If your dog has been outside in a kennel or the backyard, check often and thoroughly for ticks. Brown dog ticks hide, so make sure to look under rugs, behind draperies, under radiators, and in cracks if you think you have an infestation. The best way to get rid of them is to hire an exterminator. Remove them in the same way you would from a person: Use fine-tipped tweezers and grab the tick as close to its mouth as you can. Be sure to dispose of the tick, and wash the bite and your hands well.
Can Other Bugs Give Me Lyme
Researchers have found spirochetes in mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects. But it has not been proven that they can transmit the infection.
A tick is uniquely suited to carry and spread Lyme disease. Spirochetes have co-evolved with ticks over millions of years. Tick saliva contains immune suppressors that help disseminate the bacteria throughout the hosts body. And, because ticks feed on many different animals, they can spread the disease widely.
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Keep A Lookout For Symptoms From Tick Bite This Summer
Have you checked yourself or your child for tick bites lately?
If you havent already heard, this summer is a particularly booming year for tick populations across the country and in the state of Ohio. A black-legged tick , the kind that sometimes carries Lyme disease, was spotted just to the east of us in Vermilionearlier this summer. And Ohio is on the list of 24 states that contains counties with newly documented populations of deer ticks.
Tick bites are common. Some people are unaware of a tick bite at first. Be sure to check yourself and your children often, especially throughout the summer months when tick populations grow. Ticks are especially attracted to warm, moist areas of the skin like armpits, groins, or hair. Once they bite you, a tick may stick around drawing your blood for up to 10 days. The sooner you spot and remove a tick, the better.
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Treatment For Lyme Disease
Treatment for Lyme disease is usually done with a 2-3 week course of antibiotics and is generally very effective, especially when treatment is done early in the course of the illness. If you think you have symptoms caused by a deer tick bite you can get care quickly and virtually by contacting your doctor or through Everyday Online.
A short, one-day antibiotic treatment might be called for to prevent Lyme disease after a deer tick bite if several criteria are met:
- The tick is identified as a blacklegged tick
- The tick was attached for at least 36 hours. If the tick you pulled off is engorged or puffed up with blood, then it was probably on this length of time.
- The treatment is started less than 72 hours after finding the attached tick.
- The treatment is only for adults and children 8 years or older.
Find more information about Lyme disease and other illnesses caused by deer ticks by visiting the Minnesota Department of Health website or the CDC website.
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What Types Of Ticks Transmit Lyme Disease
In the northeast, Mid-Atlantic and north-central states, deer ticks or black-legged ticks are the only ticks known to transmit Lyme disease. On the Pacific coast, the ticks that transmit Lyme disease are the western black-legged tick . Dog ticks and other kinds of ticks are not known to cause Lyme disease.
The most visible sign of Lyme disease is the characteristic rash called erythema migrans or ‘bull’s eye.’ This rash usually develops within one month of the tick bite. It typically occurs at the site of the bite, starting as a red area and then expanding in size over days and weeks.
Stage : Late Disseminated Lyme Disease
Late disseminated Lyme disease occurs when the infection hasnt been treated in stages 1 and 2. Stage 3 can occur months or years after the tick bite.
This stage is characterized by:
- arthritis of one or more large joints
- brain disorders, such as encephalopathy, which can cause short-term memory loss, difficulty concentrating, mental fogginess, problems with following conversations and sleep disturbance
- numbness in the arms, legs, hands, or feet
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How Long The Tick Is Attached
In general, it takes about 36 to 48 hours for Lyme bacteria to enter the bloodstream after a tick bite. So if you remove the tick within a day and a half, your risk of getting Lyme disease is substantially lowered. Using tweezers is thought to be the best approach for tick removal: carefully grab the tick near its head or mouth and do not squeeze or crush it, but instead pull gently and slowly in an upward direction.
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Symptoms: As The Infection Spreads
If the disease goes untreated in its early stages, over several weeks or months it can spread to other areas of the body like your:
- Joints
- Heart
- Nervous system
You could also have more rashes and periods of pain and weakness in your arms or legs. Other symptoms include:
- Facial muscle paralysis
- Headache
- Inflamed brain and spinal cord
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Lifecycle Of The Wood Tick
Wood ticks are a three-host species of tick that goes through four distinct lifecycles: eggs, larvae, nymph, and adult.
After hatching from its egg, a tick must feed on the blood of a host at every life stage in order to survive. The newly hatched tick is called a larva, or seed tick. Tick larvae have just six legs and are about 1/8 inch in size.
Since ticks cant jump, the larva must stand on blades of grass or perch on vegetation until a warm blooded mammal walks by, at which point it latches on. This behavior is called questing, and looks like the tick is trying to stand up to grab the sky. Once the larva has fed on its initial host, it will drop to the ground and molt into an eight-legged nymph.
Nymphs then lie in wait until a second warm-blooded host wanders by, like a raccoon, possum, or other large animal. The nymph will then feed for a few days until it becomes engorged with blood. It again drops to the ground and molts into an adult tick.
Adult ticks will hunt for a third and final host, preferring large animals like deer or dogs, where they will be able to feed, breed, drop off, and lay eggs. Once the female has laid a few thousand eggs she dies. Depending on the species of tick, the entire lifecycle can last anywhere from three months to eighteen months. In northeastern states the average wood tick life cycle is two years.