My Dear Sister Jo !
Please be very careful when it comes to ticks, when they bite and you pick them off your skin they leave they head and you can only get it out with tweezers ! Here is some important information.
If you have found a tick on your skin, you will need to remove it as
soon as possible. Check your whole body and clothing. Do not stop when
you find one tick. There may be more. Make sure the lighting is good so
that you will not miss seeing the ticks. Get someone to help with young
children and hard-to-see areas.
If you cannot reach the tick or see it clearly to remove it
yourself, get someone else to remove the tick for you, or get your
family doctor to remove it.
When to get a doctor to remove the tick
You should go to your doctor to get the tick removed if it has
buried itself deep into your skin. This happens if the tick has been on
you for several hours, or even a day or two. When a tick has burrowed
deep into your skin, it is very hard to remove the tick without leaving
some mouth parts behind, which can cause an infection.
Removing a tick
If you can remove the tick yourself, follow these instructions.
- Use tweezers to gently get a hold of the tick as close to its mouth as possible.
The body of the tick will be above your skin. Don't touch the tick with your
hands. Wear latex gloves if possible.
- Steadily lift the tick straight off the skin. Do not squeeze the tick because
this can force its stomach contents into the wound and increase the chance
of an infection. Do not jerk, unscrew or twist the tick because this may separate
the head from the body. It is very important to make sure that all of the
tick, including the mouth parts that are buried in your skin, are removed.
- Once the tick has been removed, clean the bite area with soap and water.
You may also put a small amount of antibiotic ointment on the area. Wash your
hands with soap and water.
You can not remove a tick by covering it with grease or gasoline,
or by holding a match or cigarette against the tick. This does not work! This
only increases the chance of you getting an infection.
What to do with the tick once it is removed
- Put the live tick in a small container with a tight fitting
lid, and with a cotton ball dampened with water to keep it alive. Do not
use rubbing alcohol or any other liquid. Only live ticks can be tested
for infection. Put the container in the fridge. It can remain there for
up to 8 days, until you speak with your doctor or public health unit to
see if the tick should be submitted for testing.
- Contact
your doctor or local health authority for more information. Your doctor
or health unit may do an assessment and send the tick to the BC Centre
for Disease Control for testing, if required.
To protect yourself and your family against tick and insect bites:
- Walk on cleared trails wherever possible when walking in tall grass or woods.
- Wear light coloured clothing, tuck your top into your pants, and tuck your pants into your boots or socks.
- Use an insect repellent containing DEET on your clothes and on all uncovered skin. Reapply as directed on the container.
- Check clothing and scalp (covered or not) when leaving an area
where ticks may live. Check in folds of skin. Have someone help you
check young children and hard-to-see areas.
- Regularly check household pets, which go into tall grass and wooded areas.
Several diseases can be passed to humans from tick bites. The most well-known is Lyme disease.
Borrelia burgdorferi, the organism that causes Lyme disease has been
found in ticks collected from many areas of British Columbia, and dozens of
Lyme Disease cases have been identified in the past 15 years. Many people with
Lyme Disease have not travelled outside of the province, and it is likely they
contracted the disease in B.C.
Not all ticks carry this bacterium, and there is only a very small
chance of them giving it to you. However, because the resulting disease
can be serious, it is worth taking steps to avoid being bitten.
Other diseases passed on by ticks include relapsing fever,
tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), Q fever and
anaplasmosis formerly known as Ehrlichiosis. All of these diseases are
rare in British Columbia.
Certain ticks may release a toxin that can cause temporary
paralysis. This is the reason it is important to remove the whole tick
as soon as possible.
If you have the following symptoms within days or weeks after being
bitten by a tick, report them to your family doctor immediately. Tell
your doctor when and where a tick bit you.
- General symptoms of fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, fatigue or weakness of the muscles of the face.
- Skin rash, especially one that looks like a bull's eye. It may or may not be where the bite was.
- In some cases paralysis may occur. The paralysis usually starts in
the feet and legs and works its way up to the upper body, arms and
head. This paralysis usually starts within a few hours to a day or two
of the bite.