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| Blaise Vitale, MD Burnett Medical Center |
Ticks have already started to show up in Burnett County. They are especially easy to find on warm spring days in brushy areas. While ticks can certainly cause some diseases, proper care can allow you to enjoy the great outdoors.
Prevention is the best medicine.
1. Know which insect repellents are effective against ticks.
Insect repellents containing DEET are largely ineffective against deer ticks (although they work great against mosquitoes). The best repellents contain permethrin. These can be found at local hardware stores, pharmacies, and Wal-Marts, and should be applied to clothing rather than directly on the skin.
2. If you have pets, know which treatments protect them.
Be aware that flea and tick collars are ineffective against ticks. However, there are several brands of tick treatments which are applied to the skin and will kill ticks on your pets for about a month. These are available through your veterinarian.
3. Cover your skin when working or playing in grassy or wooded areas.
To limit contact to your skin, wear a hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants with the legs tucked into your socks. Also keep in mind that it is easier to spot ticks on light-colored clothes.
If bitten, proper care is key.
4. If you are bit by a tick, there are many ways to remove them.
Wood Ticks (also called Dog Ticks in parts of the country) can simply be removed by pulling them off with your fingers. Deer Ticks (also called Bear Ticks in parts of the country), however, have hard mouth parts with structures like porcupine quills which keep them embedded and difficult to remove. The best option calls for using tweezers. I have the best luck with two pairs of tweezers—I use the first pair to gently lift up the tick and then use the second pair to grab as close as possible to the mouth. Once you have the tick grasped, gently twist it out until they release (usually several turns).
5. If you’ve been bit, know what care is appropriate.
While most Deer Ticks in this area are infected with the bacterium which causes Lyme disease, they tend to spread the bacterium inefficiently (only about 3% of people who are bitten by infected Deer Ticks will develop Lyme disease).
If bitten by a tick, I generally suggest that people watch for symptoms. Simple achiness should first be treated at home with over the counter analgesics such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen before seeking medical attention. However, if you develop a rash, fevers, or more severe muscle achiness, you should probably seek medical attention. For instance, if you become sick with a fever above 101 degrees during the summer months without a definite source of infection (e.g. an ear ache), you may have developed a tick-borne disease. Early diagnosis and treatment will allow you to recover more quickly. If you have had symptoms for over six weeks, and if you have never had Lyme disease, the blood test for Lyme is highly accurate.
6. If you have an allergy to tick bites, know the benefit and proper care.
After being bitten several times by Deer Ticks, many people develop an allergy to the saliva of the tick. This causes significant itching and a small red rash so that these people can usually tell when a Deer Tick has bitten them. Since they will likely remove the tick less than 24 hours after a bite, this allergy can actually decrease the odds of transmission of Lyme disease. However, this itching can sometimes last for several weeks. If you know you are allergic, after cleaning the wound carefully, application of over-the-counter Hydrocortisone will decrease the amount of itching within a few days.
The staff of Burnett Medical Center are happy to assist you with these or any other medical concerns.
Now that you know proper prevention and care for tick bites, get out there and enjoy the great outdoors!
Information in this article is not meant to replace the advice of your personal healthcare provider.
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