Ticks that attach themselves to your body typically create no immediate pain, but they can cause an array of illnesses, especially if they're not extracted in time.
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Maladies associated with tick bites include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Bourbon virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These illnesses can cause a host of unpleasant symptoms. For example, Lyme disease is associated with a rash, muscle and joint aches and arthritis with severe joint pain, according to the CDC.
However, extracting a tick quickly greatly reduces the odds of becoming ill. "The longer a tick is attached, the higher the chance that it will transmit (enough) germs to make you sick," says Dr. Aileen M. Marty, director of the health travel medicine program at Florida International University in Miami. She's also a professor of infectious diseases at the Department of Medicine at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at FIU. For example, research suggests that the risk of Lyme disease transmission increases significantly after 24 hours of attachment. The same holds true for other tick-borne illnesses, she says.
Tick Removal Methods
There are three good ways to extract a tick, according to Dr. Dean S. Jacobs, a board-certified pediatrician at MemorialCare Medical Group in Santa Ana, California:
- Using a cotton ball.
- Removing it with tweezers.
- Scraping it off with the edge of a credit card.
1. Using a cotton ball. Cover the tick for at least 30 seconds with a ball of cotton that's been soaked in liquid soap, Jacobs says. "Sometimes the tick will just stick to the cotton ball when you lift it away," he says.
2. Removing it with tweezers. If the cotton ball and liquid soap method fails, hold clean, sterilized fine-tipped tweezers parallel to the skin, Jacobs says. Use the tweezers to grab the tick by its head as close to the skin as possible. "Be careful not to grasp or squeeze the tick's body," he says. "Pull the tick straight upward away from the skin without twisting or smashing it, until the tick releases its grasp."
3. Scraping it off with a credit card. If the tick isn't swollen and it's tiny, you can probably scrape it off with the edge of a credit card, Jacobs says. If part of the tick breaks off in the skin, clean the area with rubbing alcohol and remove any large pieces with sterilized tweezers.
If You Can't Readily Reach the Tick
If the tick is on a part of your body that you can't reach easily – like your back – you'll need a friend to remove it for you, says Mike Merchant, a professor and entomologist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Dallas. "We recommend using tweezers, because it's the simplest and best way to grasp close enough to the mouth parts and pull out a tick without breaking off the head," he says.
Proper Tick Disposal
It's important to properly dispose of an extracted tick. "You want to make sure you get rid of it, so it doesn't bite a pet or a family member," says Lauren Bryan, an epidemiologist and infection preventionist at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
The best ways to get rid of a tick are:
- Flushing it down the toilet.
- Wrapping it in tape and throwing it away.
- Placing it securely in a plastic bag and tossing it into the trash.
