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Avoiding Disease: Tick Bite Treatment

November 9th, 2009 Posted in Spiders & Other Arachnids

Vampires may be in right now, but ticks never are. Sure, they vant to suck your blood just like Edward Cullen, but they are no where near as cute and can carry dangerous diseases.

So what happens if you get bit by a tick? This article will explain:

• Identifying the perpetrator
• Removing the tick
• Treating the bite

Identifying the perpetrator

The name “tick” encompasses 2 families of arthropods; the Ixodidae family, or hard ticks, and the Argasidae family, or soft ticks.

Hard ticks can stay on the skin for hours or even days. They transmit diseases after they become engorged with blood. Not so pleasant. Soft ticks stay on the skin for a much shorter time, only up to a couple of hours, but they can transmit disease almost instantly.

The type of ticks to worry about are the ones that carry diseases.

Hard ticks, and the diseases they carry, include:

Deer (Blacklegged) Tick

Deer ticks are flat and oval shaped. They’re about 1/8″ long and mainly feed on white tailed deer, earning them their name. But deer ticks are known to feed on humans as well. They live in tall grass and shrubs.

When they do feed on humans, they can transmit Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which causes nausea, lack of appetite, muscle pain, and fever in its victims.

American Dog Tick

This is a small, reddish brown tick that mostly feeds on dogs, as its name suggests. They do occasionally feed on humans, however. These ticks are particularly dangerous because they can go through an entire life cycle indoors, meaning the population can grow rapidly.

American dog ticks carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Lone Star Tick

Another of the disease-spreading hard ticks, the Lone Star tick is 1/8″ long and looks a lot like the deer tick, except the females have a white spot on their backs. You probably won’t feel a Lone Star tick bite you, so they can be dangerous because they can stay on your skin unnoticed.

Lone Star ticks spread Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever; tularemia, which causes swollen lymph nodes, abdominal pain, diarrhea and pneumonia symptoms; and ehrlichiosis.

Wood Ticks

Wood ticks are the most common ticks in North America. They live in tall grasses and heavy wooded areas and lie in wait to attach to an unsuspecting host. They are gray and sneaky! Pets are often the victim of wood ticks.

Wood ticks carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and tularemia.

Soft ticks, and the diseases they carry, include:

Relapsing Fever Tick

These ticks mainly feed on small rodents but will feed on humans also. They carry disease their whole life and even transmit it to their offspring.

Relapsing fever ticks spread relapsing fever (go figure), which can be very serious. The symptoms include recurring fever, coma, bleeding, facial droop, muscle and joint aches, nausea, and vomiting.

Common Fowl Tick

This tick feeds on poultry, as its name suggests. They are often found in chicken coops and barns. These ticks also feed on humans and can only be controlled with pesticides.

Common Fowl Ticks spread relapsing fever.

Removing the tick

The first step in treating a tick bite is removing the tick. More likely than not, if the tick has attached itself to you, you will notice while it is still feeding on your skin. I know, gross. If the tick is on your pet, you may not notice right away. So if you walk in the woods or in tall grass, make sure to check your dog for ticks.

You can’t just rip a tick off of your skin. Ticks have mouthparts that sink into your skin and simply ripping a tick off can leave the mouthparts under your skin. This definitely creates more of an opportunity for infection.

Outside agents like petroleum jelly or rubbing alcohol aren’t effective in removing ticks, and neither is burning it off with a match. These outside agents can cause more damage by making the tick regurgitate onto your skin, causing more of a chance for infection.

To remove a tick:

• Find a pair of curved tweezers
• Grab the tick close to skin’s surface
• Pull up firmly, enough to lift your skin
• Hold this position for 2-3 minutes and the tick should release

When removing a tick, DO NOT:

• grab by its midsection (can cause regurgitation)
• twist the tick, because the moutparts could become stuck in your skin
• Squeeze or crush the body, as this can release bacteria

Treating the bite

Tick bites can range from mild to severe. First, it’s important to recognize the symptoms.

Initially, the bite site (hey, that rhymes!) may become red and inflamed and have a burning sensation. With soft ticks, there may be intense localized pain around the bite.

You may not feel the bite or ever see the tick, but a tick bite can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, numbness, confusion, rash, shortness of breath, weakness, nausea, and vomiting.

Medical attention isn’t always needed. The bite will heal on its own, unless a disease has been transmitted or an infection has occurred.

Seek medical attention if the person who was bitten:

• is lethargic, confused, weak, feverish, numb, or complains of headache or rash
• can’t remove the tick from their skin or if mouthparts remain in the skin
• symptoms’ persist
• has a compromised immune system (HIV positive, people receiving chemotherapy treatment)
• is pregnant

To avoid tick bites, wear long sleeves and pants and closed toed shoes when going into tall grass or wooded areas. Spraying yourself with a bug spray is always a good option. EcoSMART Insect Repellent is completely natural, made from plant oils. It will repel ticks without harming children, pets, or the environment!