Ticks

[CraigC]

Hello. I'm relatively new to playing out in the woods & fields. I played yesterday and during the round, found two ticks on me and flicked them off. Thought nothing of it. Then this morning I realized I had a tick on the back of my shoulder. I flicked it off before I realized what it was. It's been a while now and my shoulder seems fine, no bumps or marks anything.

Couple of questions:
- Since there's no marks, can I assume I don't have a "tick bite"?
- Do I have anything to be worried about from a "disease" perspective?
- How do I avoid getting ticks on me in the future? (I wore jeans & a t-shirt yesterday) Does bug spray repell them?


Thanks.

 

[the invisible tree]

You were lucky to be able to flick them off. The few times that I've gotten one on me it was a chore to remove it.

 

[garublador1]

When ticks bite, they latch on and you can't just "flick" them off. You'll know if they do that.

 

[AciDBatH666]

Yeah, they'll grab on like a mofo.
From what I remember, you're supposed to get some tweezers and pull them off, making sure that you get them at the head. Might wanna do a search on it tho. Thats what my cousins who camp and hunt a lot told me ages ago.

 

[garublador1]

You can smother them with anti-bacterial soap or rubbing alcohol or something to help out, too. They come off easier when they can't breathe and there's less chance of getting little bits of them stuck in you.

 

[CraigC]

Thanks for the quick responses. But in the future, if they do latch on...how do you know if you need to worry about a disease (Lyme disease, etc) or if it was just an innocent tick bite?

 

[garublador1]

There's a lot of information out there about Lyme disease, but from what I remember, you get a rash and feel kind of sick. I think insect repellant works to keep them away.

 

[Jaysus]

Thanks for the quick responses. But in the future, if they do latch on...how do you know if you need to worry about a disease (Lyme disease, etc) or if it was just an innocent tick bite?

a red ring around the bite is a proverbial "red flag"... joint pain in the area is also a red flag.

Watch out for deer tick though - they are the ones you really need to worry about.

 

[jhastie]

only deer ticks carry lime disease, and those things are tiny. its not something you just see.
thats why you should always check you body after being in the outdoors. you will be able to feel them and then it will look like a spec of dirt. a magnifying glass comes in handy to get em off, just make sure you grab as close to the skin as you can. also be careful not to squeeze the blood back into you. it = higher chance of getting a disease.
also i think deer ticks need to be on you for 24 hours before you'll get lime disease. so, just save the tick and get it checked

oh and some precautions are light colored clothing, tuck you pants into you socks.

its really not worth it. besides antibiotics cure it.

 

[Blake_T1]

dear miss hoover, you have lyme disease. my cat's breath smells like catfood.


the lyme disease carrying ticks, deer ticks, are tiny. wood ticks are larger and relatively harmless as long as they attach somewhere other than your wang or jewels. even then it wouldn't be that harmful, just rather uncomfortable.

basically, if you can clearly see it without having to scour too much, it's 99% likely it's a wood tick. if you can barely see it, even when you are searching your entire body for ticks, that is more likely a deer tick.

it's good to be safe, but don't be overly paranoid... that's just your local network news trying to get you to buy stuff and lock yourself indoors. insect repellent is usually enough. be careful if they have too much deet though, as that can contribute to heat stroke/exhaustion and flat out isn't good for you.

there's a ton of ways to remove ticks safely, but a lot of it depends upon how long they have been attached (which can be determined by their relative size)

basically you can pull them out with a tweezer or your fingers.
you can light a match, extinguish it and immediately press the match head to it (it will die and fall off).
you can flex your muscle repeatedly for a very long period of time and make them blow up (this can take like 2 hours vs. the 30 seconds it takes to pop a mosquito).

the most f'd up way i've ever seen a tick removed was this kid i knew growing up used to pour turpentine on himself where the tick was and watch it writhe and die. i don't recommend that, but it was effective.

 

[AciDBatH666]

I remember my cousin used to take a lighter, let it burn for while, but tilted it sideways so it would heat up the metal. Then he'd basically burn the f outta the tick and try to avoid burning himself in the process

 

[kvanorsdel]

After removing the tick from your body whether or not it has bitten you you should burn it with a flame until it pops. this is the only way to appease the tick gods and keep future tick infestations to a minimum :twisted:

 

[Dogma1]

A lot of the traditional "kill them then remove them" methods cause ticks to regurgitate toxins (including Lymes toxins) into your body as they die. If you have a tick that has attached to you, here is how to remove it:

Prompt removal of ticks decreases the chances of getting Lyme disease. The proper and easiest method is to grasp the tick with fine tweezers, as near the skin as you can, and gently pull it straight out. Be careful not to squeeze the tick when removing it which could result in more bacteria being injected. Do not try to remove the tick with your fingers or attempt to remove with lighted cigarettes, matches, nail polish, or vaseline.

Once removed save the tick for identification. Accurate identification becomes very important if you or your animals develop disease symptoms.

Source: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/jake/mosaic/lyme.html , although this info is common knowledge in First Aid and Wilderness First Responder courses.

 

[JR]

A lot of the traditional "kill them then remove them" methods cause ticks to regurgitate toxins (including Lymes toxins) into your body as they die. If you have a tick that has attached to you, here is how to remove it:

Prompt removal of ticks decreases the chances of getting Lyme disease. The proper and easiest method is to grasp the tick with fine tweezers, as near the skin as you can, and gently pull it straight out. Be careful not to squeeze the tick when removing it which could result in more bacteria being injected. Do not try to remove the tick with your fingers or attempt to remove with lighted cigarettes, matches, nail polish, or vaseline.

Once removed save the tick for identification. Accurate identification becomes very important if you or your animals develop disease symptoms.

Source: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/jake/mosaic/lyme.html , although this info is common knowledge in First Aid and Wilderness First Responder courses.

Before this post a lot in this thread has been old wives tales.

We have different ticks and fewer diseases in them in Finland. And yet they _kill_ dozens of people out of 5 million yearly. Percentage in the US is higher I believe. Not all of Finland has ticks. There are large variations in the US as well. Colder areas shouldn't have as many ticks as hotter areas. Ticks are a real threat, Don't kid yourself. It is not just death that sucks about ticks. They can also cause brain damage and other as bad results. IIRC not getting a boner for an example.

I won't get into the argument about being like a cockroach that has brains in their butt though. They can live without the head for a month before dying of thirst. Some would argue that men think with their lower organs meaning no thinking with no boner. Or does your thinking come from straight out of the bum like cockroaches? If you ignore tick dangers it is a telltale sign of you symphatizing with insects so much that I know that you're mentally on par with the cockroaches. Which might be good for you after nuclear war because rats and cockraoches have the best chance of conquering the world if any larger life forms than bacteria survive. Yay survivalists! -NOT! If you identify with cockroaches and survivalists go ahead and roll naked in bushes. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? For reasonable people read the non humorous part below.

The widely publicized and doctor endorsed way of removing ticks in Finland is to get a tick tweezer that every pharmacy carries for only a couple of bucks worth. They are much smaller in the operating end than regular tweezer. Under no circumstances soak, sink, burn squueze the tick. Unless you are using a tick tweezer. This is simple. Imagine doing a heimlich maneuver on the tick. The diseases that the tick carries are very easily transmitted to you if you squash the intestines and the stomach contents of the tick. The contents take the path of least resistance which is through the only opening they can go through at such pressures quickly. That is the mouth into your body. A great way to ensure infections.

The proper way to remove ticks with a tick tweezer is to grab the tick from the head that is as close to the skin as possible and pull the tick out by _rotating_ about a full turn while pulling out to make the tick relinguish the grip of its jaws without breaking the jaws and leaving the jaws and saliva into your body to infect you. The reason to grab the tick by the head only is that you're again performing the heimlich maneuvers insect version on the bug if you squeeze from the body and the body is much weaker than the head. Often times the body is ripped from the head if the tick is pulled from the body. Leaving the infectious materials in your body.

This info is from Finnish tick information pages made by doctors and disseminated by government officials. From my memory and translation so vital info may be missing and tick and disease information is different from the US and lacking severely in the various species of ticks and the diseases and symptoms they cause. Identification of meing bitten is accurate as far as I know in this thread so far.

 

[88 rex]

There is generally a 24 hour window before you can "catch" anything from tick bites. Also, it's recommended that you keep the tick in a jar to take to your Dr. just in case you do come down with anything.

I personally don't keep them, and if I did, I'd probably have a room full of jars. By now I can pretty much tell you what's a bad tick and what's a really bad tick. I have yet to see a deer tick at Bellevue and b/w my dog, my wife and me, we've seen A LOT of ticks this year alone.

<------This is Will btw.

 

[CraigC]

Thanks everyone...and thanks Will. Got nervous after waking up the next morning and seeing it on my shoulder still! Feel better after reading everyone's responses.

 

[coogs]

Some would argue that men think with their lower organs meaning no thinking with no boner. Or does your thinking come from straight out of the bum like cockroaches? If you ignore tick dangers it is a telltale sign of you symphatizing with insects so much that I know that you're mentally on par with the cockroaches. Which might be good for you after nuclear war because rats and cockraoches have the best chance of conquering the world if any larger life forms than bacteria survive. Yay survivalists! -NOT! If you identify with cockroaches and survivalists go ahead and roll naked in bushes. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? For reasonable people read the non humorous part below.

That is the biggest WTF? paragraph I've read all week.

 

[Jaysus]

Lately I have had some success staying tick-free with Deep Woods OFF. Have I been getting lucky, or is that a good product to aid with repelling ticks?



ETA: I just did a quick search and it looks like I have been using a good product: http://www.offprotects.com/insect-bites/

OFF! Deep Woods® repellents provide long-lasting repellency for hiking and camping, especially in heavily wooded areas. They repel disease carrying ticks, mosquitoes, black flies, sand flies, chiggers, fleas, gnats, and no-see-ums. Without the constant bother of insects, outdoor excursions become more enjoyable.

What other products are you folks using with success?

 

[some call me...tim?]

the lyme disease carrying ticks, deer ticks, are tiny. wood ticks are larger and relatively harmless as long as they attach somewhere other than your wang or jewels. even then it wouldn't be that harmful, just rather uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, I can attest to this. Won't get into the gory details, but I'll say the removal involved tweezers, a couple shots of whiskey, and a belt between the teeth. You think it's hardcore to extract a bullet out of your own shoulder with a piece of glass and stitch up the wound with dental floss? It ain't nothin' compared to a strategically invasive tick. :?

Seriously though, I grew up in the southeast where ticks (as well as billions of other unpleasant insects) are apparently a lot more prevalent than in other parts of the country. I've had I don't know how many tick bites over the years and have never had any aftereffects, besides embarrassing stories. One other thing people use to pull them off is nail polish. Just put a dab on the tick and the fumes make it suffocate--sometimes it helps them to let go a bit. Most of the time though I just pull them out with tweezers with a smooth, quick tug (no off-axis torque), and they come away clean.

 

[Jaysus]

Unfortunately, I can attest to this. Won't get into the gory details, but I'll say the removal involved tweezers, a couple shots of whiskey, and a belt between the teeth. You think it's hardcore to extract a bullet out of your own shoulder with a piece of glass and stitch up the wound with dental floss? It ain't nothin' compared to a strategically invasive tick. :?

simply reading that was painful....