Tick Removal And Prevention
It can be a very frightening moment when you discover a tick feeding on you. Don't panic. Tick removal and prevention is much easier than you think.
One important thing to remember is that ticks tend to only spread diseases when they are almost finished feeding. Removing a tick early can help to prevent most types of diseases. The important thing is to properly remove the tick to ensure no help reduce the chance of tick borne illnesses. If you properly remove the tick, you can avoid any of the potential risks associated with removing them.
When ticks bite, their head and mouth parts go under the skin. It is important to remove everything, as any parts left in the skin can lead to infection. Proper removal is key to getting everything. Here's how to properly remove a tick.
- Using tweezers, grab the tick as close to the skin as possible. Do not squeeze to hard.
- Apply gentle pressure, and try to pull the tick straight out. Twisting and applying too much pressure is ill-advised, since this can cause the various parts of the ticks mouth to detach.
- Hopefully, the tick with slide right out with gentle pressure. Make sure you do not touch the ticks body, since this can cause fluids to flow back into the body.
- Keep the tick in an air tight bag or vial in case symptoms of illness develop.
This simple procedure will remove the majority of ticks. While there are several rumored techniques for removing ticks, do not attempt these, and here's why.
- Using A Burnt Match- The extreme heat will detach the tick, but before it does, it will push fluid back into the body, increasing the chance of infection from disease.
- Use Petroleum Jelly- This will only make the tick slippery and will irritate it, causing it to push fluid back in.
- Smother The Tick With Soap or Nail Polish- This will only irritate the tick, increasing the chance for disease transmission.
- Just Let It Fall Off- This increases the chance of disease transmission greatly. Leaving it be will only make things worse.
Trying any other technique could be dangerous for your health. If you are having difficulty removing a tick, or if you tear off parts of the mouth and head, you should seek medical assistance in attempting to remove them.
Preventing them from biting you is also important. For many people who spend time in the tick's natural habitat, certain things can be done to help prevent bites.
- Light colored clothing will help you to spot ticks before they can attach.
- Reducing the amount of exposed skin, with long sleeves or long pants, can keep them off of your skin.
- Wear a hat. Ticks can fall from trees, and this will keep them off your head.
- Insect repellent can deter them from biting you. Make sure you spray it on your cloths and not on your skin. Exposure to the chemicals in insect repellent can be dangerous to your health when absorbed through the skin.
Removal From Pets
Removing ticks from pets is very important. While people's concern tend to be more towards tick on people, our little furry friends get ticks more often than we do. Diseases from ticks can also affect pets, so early detection and removal is just as important. When you discover a tick on your pet, use the same steps as you would when removing a tick from a person. You must keep your pet still during this process, since one jerk can rip the ticks head off.
There are also several medications on the market that help to repel ticks from pets. Using these will reduce the number of bites they sustain, in turn reducing their chance of infection. Compared to the veterinary cost of treating an animal with a tick borne illness, the cost of the medicine is substantially less. If you are concerned and your animal is getting bitten frequently, keeping them inside can help to stop the bites.
