Tick Bites

[cristina1]

I told Devon he needed a bath this morning because he didn't have one yesterday. I helped him scrub up, and at one point he grimmaced and said that I hurt his pimply thing. When I pulled him out of the bath, I inspected his "pimply thing" a little closer. It was a big purple lump with a red ring around it and it just looked funny. I got the flashlight to see it a little better (a shadow kept getting in the way under the normal light and I noticed little legs sticking out.

I didn't know a whole lot about ticks except that they can cause disease and they can burrow all the way under the skin, which is very painful to remove. I got the tweezers out and tried to yank it, but I didn't get anywhere and the tick just got agitated.

I took Devon to the doctor and the tick was removed. I'm glad I didn't attempt further because it came out in pieces. Nasty!

He seems fine now, I just need to check him out to be sure that it doesn't get infected and he doesn't develop a fever or rash.

I'll say it again - Nasty!

[theworm[$]]

Yuck!
Sorry!
Glad you found it and that removal wasn't too traumatic!

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

When we first met, Hubby and I went hiking in tall grass (he's not an outdoorsman and I was new to Long Island, so we didn't know about deer ticks and Lyme and all that). We both picked up ticks, found them and removed them within the first 48 hours, freaked about Lyme disease, and got thoroughly skeeved by the whole thing.

[cristina1]

trust me, I understand the skeeved part.

Devon has now dubbed the spot where the tick was burrowing "Tick's Tacky hideaway." At least he has a sense of humor about it. I'm just still suffering from the heebie jeebies.

[emeleel]

Don't try to pull them off with tweezers - often, the pincers and the head will get left behind and then it's really awful to deal with.

You can suffocate them with nail polish, or a big glob of vaseline. You can also burn them with a blown-out match head. (Light the match, blow it out, immediately stick it to the tick.) The heat method makes them back out of their hold.

Or you can skip the skeeviness and go to the doctor.

I had a few ticks as a child in the country. The two most memorable were the one behind my ear, and the one on top of my head!

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

emeleel said

I had a few ticks as a child in the country. The two most memorable were the one behind my ear, and the one on top of my head!

Oh boy, can Hubby top that.

[emeleel]

Um, let me guess...... ACK!

[cristina1]

MJ, I just spit coke reading your post. Devon's big relief was that he didn't have the tick on his penis.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Not there, but very close. (I am so lucky Hubby doesn't visit EA, he'd kill me if he knew I've told this story)

[jgibson2[$]]

emeleel said

Don't try to pull them off with tweezers - often, the pincers and the head will get left behind and then it's really awful to deal with.

You can suffocate them with nail polish, or a big glob of vaseline. You can also burn them with a blown-out match head. (Light the match, blow it out, immediately stick it to the tick.) The heat method makes them back out of their hold.

Actually all of the above methods are very dangerous. Any chemicals or heat applied to a tick can make it regurgitate contaminated (think Lyme, etc) material into the wound. Squeezing the tick's body is also a bad thing.

I'll use tweezers if they're they only thing available, but I much prefer a small curved clamp. I can grip the tick near it's head and ease it out. I never leave mouth parts, but then I have way more experience with ticks of all sizes than I care to think about.

They do sell tools designed for removing ticks and studies have shown that the average inexperienced person does better with one of the specially designed tick removal tools than with tweezers. Small curved clamps weren't on the test list, but IMHO you'd need practice for them to be better than the specially designed tick removal tools.

I haven't tried any of these, but they all look really simple to use and I think I'll be hunting them down to see if my husband and the other non-EMT males in my house can use them more easily than the clamps I and my middle son use to remove ticks. Everyone else just waits for us, I think

Anyway, check these out:

Ticked Off



Tick Pliers



Pro Tick Remedy

[cristina1]

The Ticked Off thing is what the doctor used. Most of the tick came out, but there was still part still inside and they got normal tweezers for those. I am learning more about ticks than I ever cared to know.

[pippadaisy[$]]

[jgibson2[$]]

cristina1 said

The Ticked Off thing is what the doctor used. Most of the tick came out, but there was still part still inside and they got normal tweezers for those. I am learning more about ticks than I ever cared to know.

The study said that some of those gadgets are better for adults and others are better for nymphs, but all of them do a better job of removing the whole tick than when you start with tweezers. I guess I'll stick with my curved clamps, because those are what I'm used to using.

[theworm[$]]

MJ - did he have a bug up his butt?

[hadassahchana[$]]

Delia, you just scared my princess Poe!

Tina, I'm glad Devon's ok. I also had ticks as a child, and my dad swore by pouring whiskey over the tick. I hate ticks. Ick!

[theworm[$]]

Sorry Poe.

[thinkerlady[$]]

Tina,
Did the doc suspect Lyme at all? My son got bit a few years back, near his groin, and had a big purple circle etc. I took him to the doctor, and she diagnosed it Lyme right away--big round and purple, with rings. It was ugly.

[cristina1]

They gave me a list and said if he develops any of the symptoms to come in right away. He was honest and said he was far from a tick expert. He did say that he believes it is a wood tick not a deer tick. I guess deer ticks are the ones who carry Lyme disease? Anyway, he told me what to look for and to call if we find it.

Editing to add: The purple went away once the tick was removed. I guess it was the tick that caused it. Right now he has a red spot with a blackish hole in the middle. It looks similar to a bee sting.

[thinkerlady[$]]

Just be really careful. There are lots of ticks where you live. Plenty could be infected. I think the deer tick is the most commone carrier, but I think others can also carry the disease.

My doctor told us that Lyme is comes in stages, and if it is treated in the first stage it is 100% treatable. Teddy took a very expensive antibiotic for 30 days. He is fine, but scared the eyeballs out of me.

I remember doing hours of internet research on the topic, but I don't remember anything except what our Doctor said. Strange.

[jenninca]

Ewwwwwwwww