Tick Facts

Staying away from ticks

These tips will help you stay away from ticks:

• When walking in areas with ticks, tuck your pants into your boots or socks, and tuck your shirt into your pants. Wear long-sleeve shirts and a hat for added protection.

• Wear light-colored clothing so you can easily see any ticks that get on you.

• Use a tick repellent on pants, socks, and shoes.

• Try not to brush against plants along trails.

• Check your clothing and pets for ticks before you go indoors. Remove them so that you don't bring ticks into your home.

• Shower soon after coming indoors. Check yourself and your children at the end of each day after walking or playing in tick-infested areas. Don't forget to check in and around hair and ears, under the arms, inside the belly button, around the waist, between legs, and on the backs of knees. Check carefully. Ticks that transmit disease can be very small. Some can be as small as a pinhead.

• Tick-proof your yard:

  • Mow grass often.

  • Clear tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edge of lawns.

  • Remove leaf litter.

  • Put a barrier of wood chips or gravel between your lawn and any wooded areas near your lawn.

Removing ticks

Removing ticks right away will reduce the chance of disease. Here are some tips for removing ticks:

• If possible, have someone else remove the tick from you.

• Protect your hands by using a tissue or rubber glove.

• Ticks have hook-like barbs on their mouth, which they use to attach themselves. Use tweezers or small needle-nose pliers instead of your fingers when removing a tick. Grasp the head of the tick as close to the skin as you can. Be careful not to squeeze the body. This would inject more fluid from the tick into your skin.

• Pull gently and slowly away from the skin until the mouth parts let go. If the tick doesn't let go, stop pulling. While holding the head with tweezers, slowly turn it 90 degrees. Then, gently pull away from the skin again. This movement may make the tick easier to remove.

• Once you have removed the tick, look closely at the bite area. If you think there are still parts of the tick in your skin that you can't remove, contact your health care provider.

• To dispose of a tick, put it in a sealed bag or container or flush it down the toilet.

• Wash your hands and the bite site with soap and water.

Don't:

• Crush or squeeze the tick with the tweezers.

• Jerk the tick.

• Burn the tick.

• Try to suffocate the tick with petroleum jelly or nail polish.

Identifying ticks

Most tick bites are harmless. But some ticks carry more serious diseases, such as Lyme disease, babesiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. These can spread to people. Lyme disease is the biggest concern. It's carried by only 1 type of tick, the deer tick. Many public health departments can look at a tick and know if it's the type that causes Lyme disease. If this service is available in your area, save the tick and bring it in. Put the tick in a plastic bag that seals at the top, or in a jar. If you can't identify the tick and you were bitten in a part of the country where there's a risk of Lyme disease, contact your health care provider.