How do I remove a tick?                   http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk

Can I avoid ticks?

It is very difficult to avoid ticks totally because they can be found in urban parks and gardens, as well as typical countryside locations. It is possible for you or your pets to bring ticks into your home. The best strategy is ‘awareness’. Check yourself for ticks whenever you have visited a place where they may have been present. Do this both immediately and for up to three days after any outdoor visit. This may allow you to see any adult tick that has attached. Once it has started to feed, its blood-engorged body will make it very visible. If you find a tick, remove it as soon as possible.

Ticks can locate their prey by detecting host body heat, carbon dioxide and ammonia. They may crawl towards a stationary host or stretch out their front legs, equipped with tiny ‘grappling hooks’ in order to attach to a passing host. So anything you can do to thwart these tactics may help you to avoid tick bites. There are many suggestions about how to stop ticks reaching your skin but there has been little measurement of their effectiveness. Awareness still remains the best strategy.

• You should make it more difficult for a tick to reach your skin by wearing shoes rather than sandals and tuck long trousers into socks.
• Ticks can be more easily seen on white or light-coloured clothing.
• Avoid a tick's favourite places by walking in the middle of paths and check yourself after sitting on logs or leaning against tree trunks.
• Use a light coloured blanket for picnic, it is then easier to check for ticks.
• Check your pets for ticks when they come into the house and especially keep them off bedding and soft furnishings. Consider using anti-tick pesticides for pets, consult your veterinary surgeon for advice.
• Consider spraying your clothing with an effective anti-tick pesticide. There are a variety in outdoor shops and chemists. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully.

How do I remove a tick?

Your main aims are to remove all parts of the tick’s body and to prevent it releasing additional saliva or regurgitating its stomach contents into your bite wound.

DO use a proprietary tick removal tool* and follow the instructions provided. The two types of removal tool available are illustrated below. These tools will grip the head of the tick.

* Alternative Methods : With pointed tweezers grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible without squeezing the tick’s body, pull the tick out without twisting – there may be considerable resistance.

Illustrations are for general guidance and do not represent any particular species.

If no tools are available, rather than delay use a cotton thread - Tie a single loop of cotton around the tick’s mouthparts, as close to the skin as possible, then pull gently upwards and outwards.

DO commence by cleansing the tweezers with antiseptic. After tick removal, cleanse the bite site and the tweezers with antiseptic.

DO wash hands thoroughly afterwards.

DO save the tick in a container in case you develop symptoms later (label with date and location). The Health Protection Agency are currently running a scheme to investigate ticks, details available at www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/information/tick.htm or from the HPA at www.hpa.org.uk.

DO NOT squeeze or twist the body of the tick, as this may cause the head and body to separate, leaving the head embedded in your skin.

DO NOT use your fingernails to remove a tick. Infection can enter via any breaks in your skin, e.g. Close to the fingernail.

DO NOT crush the tick’s body, as this may cause it to regurgitate its infected stomach contents into the bite wound.

DO NOT try to burn the tick off, apply petroleum jelly, nail polish or any other chemical. Any of these methods can cause discomfort to the tick, resulting in regurgitation, or saliva release.

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