Tick bites!

[Rich_]

Anyone have any experience of ticks.

Went walking yesterday and found one embedded in my flesh today, don't know if it had attached its self then or been in my jacket and attached today. It didn't look particularly engorged as it's body was still quite flat.

My main concern was lyme disease which these beasts can carry. I had it removed by a nurse at the local surgery (who splattered it with the tweezers, I could have done that myself). She thinks she got the head out after a bit of digging. I did ask her about the risk of lyme disease but she said it was minimal. Do any of you think differently?

[paulthomas]

I read up as much as I could about ticks earlier in the year as one place I go is frequented by deer, mainly Red Deer, and so it's quite possible that there are deer ticks around there. From what I read, the tick usually has to be attached for something like 36 hours before it starts to feed and there's a risk of Lymes Disease being passed on. I think you'd be better off seeking qualified help though.

[eeyore]

if you start coming down with flu like symptoms in the next 48 hours or so see the doctor and demand some antibiotics...

[Rich_]

I'was hoping it hadn't been on too long. I took one off a dog once which was quite black and bulbous and looked full of blood (not the dog) mine was quite small and flat. Apparently it can take several weeks for symptoms to develop.

[nightshade]

As you are genuinely worried I think you should voice your concerns to your GP in person
I cannot stand the things I would be happier with leeches!

[DL]

As has already said if you develop flu like symptoms in the near future then make a point of seeking medical help. Apart from that I would not worry about, it I know a number of people who have been getting ticked on a regular basis for many years only one of whom has ever developed mild symptoms of Lymes disease.

I had seven ticks attached to me last week and five the week before.

It is best to try and avoid getting them in the first place, ie tuck trousers legs into socks etc and carry tick tweezers if you are going anywhere that they are common.

The length of time they have been attached should not matter to much what you need to try to avoid is them re-gurgitating any infected blood from another animal. This is why you should never try to burn them off, smother them with a cream or any of the other supposed great ways of removing them.

Use the tweezers and grab them as close to your skin as possible, gentle but firm and twist slowly. This is the best way to make shure you dont leave the infected mouthparts in your skin and that they spit out.

[lynne108]

Ticks - yuck! There's a particular place I go to on the Somerset Levels where I always end up with them crawling over my clothes trying to get access! They are odd though because they are really tiny (about 2mm at most), and never seem to swell even when I have missed one and it's been sucking my blood for a day or so
The first time it happened I rushed to the doctor's & she recommended heating up the end of a needle in a flame & placing it against the tick, then grasping it as near to the skin as poss with tweezers & pulling, & this technique has never failed me. With the Lyme's disease she just told me to watch out for flu like symtoms, and, touch wood, I have remained hale & hearty!

[nightshade]

I make a point of wearing gaiters if I walk through pasture and bracken I have had ticks on me after camping in a field where there had been sheep,a jack russel was covered with them so he was taken out to sea and made to swim back to the beach which got rid of the majority.You must be very careful about removing ticks the mouth parts must come away or they will cause a nasty infection of the wound
There must be a safe approved method of removal (I put Vick on mine which worked but I was told I was lucky!)

[Oy]

I got one in my inner thigh on a trip to Wales recently.

I just grabbed in with tweezers, as close to my leg as I could (a little too close as I got some leg too) and yanked the evil bloodsucking beast out!

Read my account - with photos - here.

[Rich_]

I have been bitten and stung by many things over the years, and never bothered too much but it's the first time I have been knowingly hit by a tick, it was other peoples reactions to this and the mention of lyme disease that made me want to find out a bit more.
I called at a doctors to ask him what the chances of picking this illness up were as I believed it was probably quite miniscule. He has actually given me a weeks worth of penicillin as a precaution! Told him I wasn't too keen on pills if the chances of picking it up were so low, but he seemed to think it was a good idea.

[darwin]

In Scotland last year, the dogs kept getting ticks on them all the time. Every night we searched and removed as many as we could but there was always some got through.

Vets recommendation is smother the tick in Vaseline, then it cant breath and it dies in a few hours-removal is easier then.

On the second last day, we bought some Bob Martin Spot On from Tescos for about £6, applied to the dogs and the next day I walked the Badenoch Way through heather and all and not one tick on either of them. Best £6 I have ever spent but I wish I had had been told earlier in the week though!

[eeyore]

The trouble with burning them, zapping them with mozzie rep, smothering them with cream etc is that the shock makes them regurgitate into your bloodstream which is precisely whay you dont want.

yanking them off works but it hurts because their proboscis is corkscrew shaped so you are also yanging out a little tube of flesh, it also risks leaving the probosics behind which will then become infected like a splinter,

it is best to hold them firmly behind the mouthparts with tweezers and unscrew them in an anti clockwise direction (left hand down), holding the mouth parts fimly also stops them spitting infected blood back into you.

[ianj]

Nasty little b**gers. Had a large one on my cat a couple of years ago - pulled it off and it tried to bury itself under my fingernail. Advice from a vet recently was to use cat flea powder on it and it just drops off. Also vets now sell a tool which you insert between the tick and the skin and just unscrew it!

[Wild-Woman]

Ewww! I feel sick.
Question-when I'm out on reserves etc-I quite often where long shorts,nettles etc don't bother me-am I playing Russian roulette with these ticks? Are they everywhere there's long grass? julie

[DL]

Deer and sheep seem to be the main culprits in the initial spread of ticks. Once in an area they can then jump onto anything else. I have found them on a number of cliff faces where I presume that birds have brought them in.

I still find that anywhere popular with deer is where you are most likely to get them in high numbers, particularly in heather or at woodland edges where deer go to sunbathe

[Airehead]

I have been picking them up every time I visit my retreat in Scotland for years. The rest of the family usually avoids it, but they don't wander about in the marshy ground and bracken as much as I do. I shall try the flea powder mentioned above next time. What baffles me is how they get onto my belly when I think my clothes are all well tucked in.

Someone mentioned Wales. Years ago my brother came home from a holiday in Wales and after a few days found the tail end of a beetle emerging (dead) from his leg. He had it surgically removed. Never found out what it was, but not long after, a friends dog had the same experience. They had also been to Wales.

[catalaze]

Don't ordinary insect repellents work to keep them off in the first place? I've never had a tick on me (touch wood etc) but then I always wear insect repellent as I'm a magnet for everything that bites. Particularly those dry grass Harvest Mites, Trombicula autumnalis.

I've removed ticks from animals by anaesthetising them (the ticks, not the ready-meals) to make them relax their hold, then pulling them gently away with tweezers, head and all. It is difficult to get chloroform but meths applied on a cotton wool pad works. Don't smoke at the same time though, as wholesale cremation is inadvisable.

Maybe alcohol works, too - now there's a subject worthy of experimentation ...

As for dogs and cats, as suggested above, the decent spot-on flea treatments (which have so transformed pet ownership) also proof against ticks.

And I do hope you don't have Lyme Disease. Let us all know if anything develops!

[Tinkerbell]

I got zapped by a tick last year whilst up in Perthshire - I assume. I had been itching for a couple of days and it wasn't till I got home that I had a look in a magnifying glass and sight this quite horrible insect, with a red area around it, sticking out of the flesh near my collar bone. My husband took as much out as poss with tweezers, but some remained. Other folk told me to check for Lyme Disease, but our nurse said chances of catching it were slim. The itching went on for at least 2 weeks; eventually the rest of the insect found its way out of my flesh and the itching stopped.

Not nice, but no other effects.

Tink

[Chalk Downlanders]

Originally Posted by catalaze

Maybe alcohol works, too - now there's a subject worthy of experimentation ...

I always keep a bottle of Cuticura Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in the car. I always wash my hands and any cuts and grazes with it when I'm out with the camera. That's high in alcohol, maybe that will work.

It's less than a quid in Tesco's etc so well worth taking with you

[nightshade]

I usually have that sort of thing (different brand) in the car, what a good idea Sticky,
mind you if you read where the ticks are picked up from; Sheep, Deer, Long Grass, Brackens
you can take the precaution of making sure everything is tucked in wear leggings and check your clothing as you remove it in case anything is hanging on

[Mr Mag00]

I get ticks every year, and so far seems to be fine *achooo*
The best removal method is the tweezers as previously mentioned. They always head for warm parts!!!! so always check thoroughly but they can appear a few days later, from where i have no idea. If you do feel flu like symptoms you must, i stress must inform the GP of what you think you have as many are completely unaware of the disease and will tell you to rest and take vitamin C. I know of 2 people this has happened to, you are also looking for a large welt to develop around the bite 4-5 cm in diameter.

Most cases i have heard about stem from the New Forest and Exmoor i believe, but the disease is thought to be spreading. However it is still quite rare!

[Rich_]

I have to say that I have spent a lot of time over the years in places likely to have these creatures. the area I live has many deer and I have always gone fishing and walking, and this is the first time I have knowingly picked up a tick. A friend who lives locally is always taking them off his dog.

I'd say that all though the risk of infection is real, the risk of catching anything is quite low, and I wouldn't let it spoil my enjoyment of the outdoors.

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by Rich_

I called at a doctors to ask him what the chances of picking this illness up were as I believed it was probably quite miniscule. He has actually given me a weeks worth of penicillin as a precaution!

Even if you have picked up lyme disease, penicillin is not the drug of choice!

The commonest sign of Lyme disease is the red spreading rash around the tick bite.

But Lyme disease in UK is uncommon - Thetford forest and New Forest have I think the highest incidence.

The tick infect you by biting - it does not need to suck blood to infect you.

Many people with Lyme disease do not remember being bitten by a tick.

Blood tests are unreliable - you should be treated on the symptoms even if blood tests are negative, and they usually are soon after the bite.

Being bitten by a tick is not in itself a reason for treatment.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Hobjob

Even if you have picked up lyme disease, penicillin is not the drug of choice!

Why not ? Lymes disease is cured by antibiotics and that is what penicilin is afterall, as far as I know there arent any resistant strains around yet. It is unlikely that the doctor will prescribe stronger synthetics such as keflex unless you have already tried penecillin as they try to keep the big gun antibiotic on close hold to prevent bugs building up resistance to them,

Originally Posted by hobjob

The tick infect you by biting - it does not need to suck blood to infect you.

you are partially correct here, the disease is transmited by the tick regurgitating infected blood from its stomach contents into you (nice), however the bite itself is not infectious so if you remove the tick quickly you lessen your chances of exposure.

Originally Posted by hobjob

Blood tests are unreliable - you should be treated on the symptoms even if blood tests are negative, and they usually are soon after the bite.

very true , however doctors see loads of hypochondriacs on a regular basis demanding antibiotics for a range of ailments, so getting them to prescribe without a blood test is likely to be challenging (although this depends very much on your relationship with your doctor)

[Kev Lewis]

I have a small bottle of chloroform which I use on ticks that my dog picks up and occasionally on myself. A dab wit a cotton bud dipped in chloroform seems to work very well as they just fall out