Dear Marsha,
I had read your post “Pet Peeve” about the home remedies for fleas, and I was wondering if you could tell me the proper way of removing a tick. We are having a really bad time with ticks this year. I don’t even own a pet. I run daily in the park, and come home to find at least one or two ticks on me per day.
Sincerely,
Tick”ed” Off
Dear Tick”ed” Off,
I understand your tick frustration. I am a pet owner, and must agree that it seems each year the tick infestation is getting worse and worse.
All of my life I had always been told to pull out an embedded tick, you should either smother it with pertroleum jelly or burn a match and hold it to the tick until the tick backs out on its own.
I have now discovered that this is not a good way for removing ticks as either of those ways can cause the tick to “throw up” inside your skin, releasing its bile into your blood stream. This is now known as a fast way of catching Lime Disease or any other disease the tick may be carrying.
The NEW and IMPROVED way of removing ticks is to
1. Make sure you have a good pair of tweezers. The ones with pointed tips work well. The curved tipped tweezers are frowned upon. You need to make certain your tweezers are able to make a strong grasp.
2. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Be sure not to squeeze too hard as you may accidently seperate the body, leaving the head under the skin.
3. Lightly pull upwards until the skin is slightly raised.
4. Hold the tick in this position until it comes out on its own. It may take several minutes, and you may have to let go a couple of times to reposition, but sooner or later, it will come out.
I have tried this method myself many times and found it to be very effective.
There is much debate as to whether you should try twisting the tick as you are grasping and pulling. Some say there are dangers of this too causing the body to separate, leaving the head under the skin. I am not a risk taker on issues like this. That is the reason I do not suggest trying this method.
If you do find that you have left part of the head still in your skin, then please seek medical attention.
If possible, I would also suggest wearing some sort of Tick repellent when going outdoors if you know there is a possibilty of ticks being present.
Always,
Marsha
Image of Tick taken from – www.cdc.gov
