Found a tick on your body? Don’t panic.

It’s important to remove a tick from your body quickly – but do not panic.

Living in Central Massachusetts, you have likely found a tick on your body at one time or another. A typical scenario when someone finds a tick on their body is to freak out. Don’t freak – but DO act fast.

Have you ever found a tick on your body?

Tick Bite Treatment Protocol

Remove The Tick: If the tick is attached to your skin, remove it immediately. Wearing gloves, grasp the tick with clean tweezers as close to the skin as possible to remove the head and mouthparts. If some mouthparts remain, do not try to remove them, as your body will expel them naturally. Pull the tick straight out gently and steadily. Do not twist it. Do not try to remove a tick with a hot match or petroleum jelly or peppermint oil. This could cause the tick to regurgitate infected fluids into the wound. Save the tick in a container of alcohol to show the doctor.

Also read: Are fleas or ticks more dangerous?

Cleanse and Protect the Area: Wash your hands and clean the bite area with warm water and gentle soap. Next, apply alcohol to the bite wound to prevent infection.

See a Health Care Provider: See your medical internist or health care provider immediately if the tick has burrowed into your skin or if the head, mouthparts, or other tick remains cannot be removed.

Also see a doctor if you have found a tick on you body and…

black-legged tick — Black-legged ticks are vectors of Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness

You think it might be a deer tick, which is especially prevalent in the Northeast United States. According to The Centers for Disease Control, these disease-carrying parasites can be found in both inland and coastal areas, including off-shore islands, such as Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts; Block Island in Rhode Island; and Shelter Island, Fire Island, and eastern Long Island in neighboring New York state. Your doctor may prescribe a single dose of an antibiotic to help prevent Lyme disease.

You develop flu-like symptoms including fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and muscle aches, or a rash within one month after the bite. Take the tick to the health care provider’s office or the hospital if possible.

The bite area develops a lesion within 30 days. A sign of Lyme disease infection is a “bullseye” rash in which the center becomes clearer as the redness moves outward in a circular pattern.

There are signs of infection such as redness, warmth, or inflammation.

Follow Up To Ensure Your Well Being: Your health care provider may prescribe antibiotics if you have symptoms of Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or another tick-borne disease.

Year-Round Tick Control Is Your Best Bet For Total Protection From Tick Bites

tick control tubes Enlist help from a reputable tick control company, you’ll have access to year-round protection for ticks. And, if you’re not aware, ticks are definitely a year-round problem in our area. The brown dog tick is able to complete its entire life cycle indoors. f this tick gets into your home during the summer or fall, you could have a full-blown infestation in the winter. It’s good to know that expert help is just a call away. Ticks can also enter your home during the colder months of the year by hitching a ride on rodents. Mice and rats carry ticks and spread them to unexpected locations. Tick treatments will reduce ticks around your perimeter and reduce the exposure of mice and rats to ticks on your property and, through the winter, the addition of rodent control can keep rodents out.

What happens if you get bitten by a tick?

Do all tick bites cause infection? Have you ever wondered what happens if you get bitten by a tick?

Not all ticks carry infectious diseases. Most tick bites are harmless. Depending on where you live, more than 50% of ticks can carry harmful diseases. Lyme disease is the most prevalent tick-borne illness. The lesser-known Powassan virus is one potentially fatal tick-borne disease. No matter where you live, some form of tick control could be a matter of life and death. Let’s assume for the purpose of this article, that your tick bite is from a non-infectious tick.

What happens if you get bitten by tick? — What happens if you get bitten by a non-infectious tick?

What happens if you get bitten by a tick that is not a disease carrier?

remove tick with tweezer — Remove the tick with tweezers.

If a non-infected tick latches onto your skin, the most damage it can cause is irritation or infection of the bite site. This often happens if you attempt to get the tick out, but the head or mouth parts remain in your skin. What can you do to remove a tick head or its mouth parts? According to one source, you can attempt removal the same way you would if you had a splinter.

Wash thoroughly with soap and warm water.
Apply rubbing alcohol to the bite area.
Use a sterile needle to gently lift the skin above the lodged tick parts.
Gently remove the tick parts from your skin.

If you cannot get the tick parts out of your skin, they might work themselves out over the next few days. Keep an eye on your tick bite. If you notice pain, redness, or swelling, it could be infected. At that time, seek medical attention to treat the infection and have the tick parts removed.

It is very important to remember the proper methods of tick removal when removing any tick. Often, petroleum jelly or a match is recommended by the masses. Do not use either of those methods for removing a tick. Spend two minutes watching this video to see how to properly remove a tick.

Tick control is an essential element in remaining virtually tick-free.

Dave Macchia mosquito conrol and tick control enthusiast — Dave Macchia
Central Mass enthusiast for effective season-long mosquito and tick protection

All Central Mass residents are aware of the threat of ticks. With rising tick populations, homeowners are wising up to proper tick protection. Hiring a reputable tick control company is essential in the fight against tick bites. These companies offer barrier tick control, as well as protection in the fall and winter with tick tubes.

What to Do if You Find a Tick on You

So, you found a tick. It’s embedded in your flesh. What do you do now?

This is an all-too-common scenario in Central Massachusetts. Growing tick populations see us trying to avoid ticks every trip outdoors, even in our own backyards. The good news is, there are many ways to protect ourselves from ticks. Personal tick repellent and protective clothing are recommended when hiking, camping, or going to the beach. Professional at-home tick control will keep you safer at home. Even so, our efforts can never achieve 100% protection against ticks. Here is what to do if you find a tick on you or a family member.

What if you find a tick on you? — What to do if you find a tick on you.

Remove the tick.

Contrary to popular belief, heating the tick or slathering it in peppermint oil are not proper methods of tick removal. All that is required for tick removal is a pair of tweezers. According to the CDC, fine-tipped tweezers should be used to grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible. Pull up with even pressure, and do not twist the tweezers. Choose your method of disposal, but do not crush the tick with your fingers. Wrap it tightly in tape, soak it in alcohol, or flush it. Be sure to clean the bite area thoroughly with alcohol and follow up with warm soap and water.

Should you keep the tick to have it tested?

While you can save the tick to have it tested for disease, the CDC also does not recommend it as a standard practice. Stating that lab tests are often erroneous, and might not be helpful in determining your risk for disease, they recommend disposal instead.

What should you do after the tick is removed and disposed of?

watch for Lyme symptoms after tick bite — Not all cases of Lyme disease have a bull’s eye rash.

Watch for symptoms of illness for the next 30 days. For Lyme disease, this could be the telltale bull’s eye rash, but many cases of Lyme do not present with the rash. You should also watch for other symptoms, such as extreme fatigue, body aches, fever, and joint pain. Seek medical help at the first sign of any symptom you believe might be related to your tick bite.

You must be bitten by a tick to become infected with Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses. If you find a tick crawling on your skin, you are not susceptible to infection. If you do find a tick embedded in your skin, know that most times, unless a tick has been attached for at least 36 hours, you likely will not get Lyme disease. Be vigilant anyway.

Do you need an antibiotic after a tick bite?

The CDC also does not recommend antibiotic treatment for everyone after a tick bite. Speak with your physician. Your doctor might recommend a dose of doxycycline as a preventive measure.

Also read: Is DEET better than picaridin for hiking?

Even though we are coming to the end of high “tick season” there are steps you can take to make your yard safer all year long and next spring. Call your Central Mass tick control professional to ask about tick tubes for ultimate tick protection for your family.

Should you remove a tick with peppermint oil? Do NOT remove a tick with peppermint oil!

Why would we ask this question?

Some fake news is worth reporting and re-reporting. A couple of years ago, a tick removal video spread like wildfire across social media, and for good reason! Essential oils are commonly used for ailments, such as migraines and sleeplessness, and even play a role in all-natural mosquito protection. However, using peppermint oil to remove a tick from your skin is a BIG no-no! This video showed how easily it was to get the tick to back off by applying peppermint oil, but this should not be repeated. This is a situation, where the poster’s heart was probably in the right place, but did not realize the harm this viral video could do.

This tick removal video is dangerous business, but why?

First of all, it is believed that this tick was not actually attached, and could be a male tick. Male ticks do not attach themselves to hosts. Their main goal in life is to find a female to mate with. Female ticks attach to hosts, and spread tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, with their saliva. Had this been a female tick, which was attached for her blood meal, applying peppermint oil could have created a situation where she produced and injected more saliva to the person. Very dangerous business!

How should a tick be removed properly?

Removing ticks is a fairly unscientific process, but should be followed carefully for proper removal, as to not leave the head or other mouth parts in your skin.

Use pointed-tip tweezers, so you can position the tool at the proper 90-degree angle in which the tick should be removed. Get a firm hold of the tick, very close to the skin. Use a steady, fluid motion for removal – DO NOT pull quickly or jerk, as doing so could likely leave behind tick parts under your skin.

Central Mass ticks – what do you do after tick removal?

Blood tests might reveal tick-borne illness following tick removal.

With the prevalence of Lyme disease in Central Mass, it is essential that once you properly remove a tick, that you put the tick in a sealed container, such as a plastic bag or old prescription bottle. Save the tick and observe yourself for signs of infection for at least 30 days. Sealing and saving the tick will allow for further disease testing to be done if you show signs of tick-borne illness. If you feel ill for any reason, please see a doctor, and let them know that you recently removed a tick from your skin.

Central Mass tick control is essential for your family.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast — Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

I urge all Central Mass residents to be vigilant in their tick protection methods. Please consider protecting your home and family from the threat of tick-borne diseases by preventing ticks from reaching them. Call on a professional tick protection company, who will use a barrier protection spray for your property. These EPA-registered tick control sprays are administered every three weeks or so. They will knock down ticks on contact, and continue eliminating them with a special time-released tick protection formula.

Tag: tick removal