What to do if you find a tick on you

IIf it seems like you’re suddenly seeing ticks everywhere, it’s not in your head. The U.S. tick population has exploded in recent years, largely driven by climate change, which means spotting one of these blood-sucking pests is, unfortunately, a routine event for people in many parts of the country.

Ticks are best known for spreading Lyme disease, an illness that can cause flu-like symptoms, body aches, fatigue, and more. By some estimates, nearly half a million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Lyme every year, with the black-legged ticks that spread the disease particularly prevalent in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest and Pacific Coast. Lyme is not the only known tick-associated disease. The creatures’ bites can spread a number of rarer diseases, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and alpha-gal syndrome. Disease-transmitting varieties are found across the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite the prevalence of ticks, many people don’t know exactly what to do if they find one on their body. Here’s a step-by-step guide to tick prevention, removal, and follow-up care, according to experts.

How to prevent a tick bite

Prevention is always the best medicine. Therefore, it’s critical to use repellent—products containing DEET are more effective—and dress strategically when in tick-heavy environments, such as forests, fields, parks and even some residential yards, says Stephen Rich, executive director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, a consortium of experts specializing in tick- and mosquito-borne diseases.

Wearing light-colored clothing during outdoor activities can make it easier to spot dark ticks if they land on you, says Rich. And while it’s “not a fashion statement,” tucking your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks makes it harder for ticks to get onto bare skin, he adds.

see more information: Long Dismissed, Chronic Lyme Is Finally Having Its Time

Wearing long sleeves and pants will also minimize the amount of skin exposed to ticks, says Yetrib Hathout, director of the Tick-Borne Disease Center at Binghamton University in New York. Choosing breathable or sweat-wicking fabrics can make this advice more tolerable on a hot day.

You can even treat your clothes (or buy pre-treated clothes) with permethrin, which repels ticks and insects. And if you’re really worried about ticks in your yard, you can treat your land with pesticides that attack ticks—but, Rich notes, researchers are still studying the effectiveness of this approach.

Check yourself

Hathout says it’s good practice to check your body for ticks after any outdoor activity during tick season, which generally runs from spring to fall and peaks in the summer months. Be thorough, as ticks are attracted to crevices such as armpits, the back of the knees, and the groin. Remember to check your scalp too.

If you find a tick on yourself, don’t panic. The vast majority of tick bites do not cause illness, for several reasons.

First, not all types of ticks transmit disease to humans — and even if you’re bitten by one that can, there’s a good chance it’s not actively infected. For example, blacklegged ticks are found in the southeastern US but rarely cause Lyme there. According to the CDC. Even in the Northeast, where Lyme is much more common, about 25% to 50% of blacklegged ticks are actually infected, depending on the time of year and stage of their life cycle, Rich says.

Even if you are unfortunate enough to be bitten by an infected tick, the CDC says it usually takes at least a day for it to transmit the disease. (Rich says the average is about 48 hours.) That gives you plenty of time to take action if you find one.

All said, some estimates suggest The risk of getting Lyme from a blacklegged tick bite is only about 1% to 3%, although this risk increases the longer it is at the site.

Remove it

If you find a tick crawling on your body but not yet attached, dispose of it by drowning it in rubbing alcohol or flushing it down the toilet, says Hathout. Don’t crushhe says, in case the tick carries bacteria or other pathogens.

If the tick is already embedded in your skin, remove it as quickly as possible. The Internet is full of quirky tick removal tactics, but Rich says there’s no need to complicate things. Just take a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, “get close to the skin and remove the tick,” says Rich. “There’s no fancy work to it.”

Try pulling straight up, rather than crushing or twisting the tick, to minimize the chances of separating the tick’s body from the mouthparts embedded in the skin, Hathout says. Don’t worry too much if this happens, as any leftovers should come out on their own.

After removing the tick, clean the bite site with soap and water or isopropyl alcohol to minimize the chances of infecting the area.

Get rid of the tick – or not

After removing the tick, the CDC says It’s okay to flush the toilet. But some experts, including Rich, recommend putting it in a plastic bag and storing it, just in case.

Why? If you later develop symptoms consistent with Lyme or another tick-borne illness, you can test the tick to see if it carries relevant pathogens, which can speed up your diagnosis and treatment process. “This tick is basically like the DNA of the woolly mammoth,” says Rich. “You can come back at any time and test him,” even if he’s dead. (When Rich gets bitten by a tick, he says, he brings it in for testing right away.)

The CDC, however, does not recommend that consumers use commercial tick tests services, as results may be inaccurate or difficult to interpret. Hathout says he generally agrees with this advice unless a doctor specifically recommends otherwise. “Sending a tick to a laboratory [often] will cause more concern – or a false negative,” he says. Even if a tick tests positive for Lyme bacteria or other pathogens, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been infected.

When to see a doctor

If you’re sure a tick has been on your body for less than a day — and is therefore unlikely to transmit disease — all you need to do is remove it, clean the bite site, and move on, says Hathout.

Over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for symptoms like a rash (a bull’s-eye rash is a classic sign of Lyme disease), fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, fever, or chills, says Dr. . David Banach, infectious disease physician at UConn Health. If a healthcare professional determines that these symptoms are related to tick exposure, they will likely prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection.

see more information: We used to have a Lyme disease vaccine. We’re ready to bring one back?

Things get a little more complicated if you’re not sure how long the tick has been attached. Sometimes a tick will become visibly full of blood, which suggests it has remained there long enough to transmit disease. But it’s not always easy to look at a tick and gauge how long it’s been on you, says Banach — especially because they can be as small as a poppy seed. If you think a tick may have been attached for a day or more, consider seeing a doctor to see if you should be treated, he says.

Some studies suggest to preventively take an antibiotic after a tick bite reduces the risk of developing Lyme diseaseIt is the CDC says It is appropriate to prescribe antibiotics as a precaution in certain cases. Your doctor can help you decide whether this tactic is right for you, depending on factors such as the prevalence of disease-carrying ticks in your area, the circumstances of your bite, and your personal health profile.

While ticks can be scary, Hathout says they shouldn’t get in the way of outdoor fun during the summer. “I don’t think we should be very, very worried,” he says. Ticks pose health risks, but with some prevention and preparation, these risks are manageable.