Ticks have the potential to carry dangerous diseases, and it can feel like they’re everywhere during the summer. That’s why conducting regular tick checks and knowing how to safely remove ticks can help keep people and pets safe.
In the northeast, ticks are most prevalent from early spring to late fall. Different kinds of ticks can carry different tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme, babesiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. In Connecticut, Lyme is the most common and is typically spread through the bite of an infected deer tick.
Tick removal at home
The best way to remove ticks is to use clean tweezers to grab the tick as closest to the skin as possible and then pull backwards with direct and even pressure. Then, clean the area with soap and water.
Do not try to use other methods such as matches, nail polish remover or petroleum jelly to remove ticks.
Not all tick bites result in illness, but symptoms associated with tick-borne illnesses can appear days or weeks later.
Tick bite symptoms
Common symptoms associated with tick-borne illnesses can include:
- Unexplained fever
- Chills
- Body aches
- Joint pain and joint swelling
- Bullseye rash
“The bullseye rash that’s associated with Lyme doesn’t have to be where the tick bit you. It can happen anywhere on the body,” said Lisa Shakun, PA-C, Medical Director of Yale New Haven Health Urgent Care.
In May, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station also reported evidence of the invasive Asian longhorned tick carrying a bacterium that can cause human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME). Symptoms include sudden fever, headache, muscle aches and chills, but can also progress to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion and even lead to life-threatening symptoms such as kidney failure.
Should I go to the doctor for a tick bite?
Urgent care is a great place to go for symptoms related to a suspected tick bite. Shakun says a provider can examine the infected area and determine whether the patient should receive a prophylactic dose of the antibiotic doxycycline, for Lyme.
Usually, patients do not require blood work to confirm Lyme because it can result in a false negative. Therefore, the standard course of action is to start antibiotic treatment if someone has symptoms such as the classic bullseye rash.
“If you’re feeling well, there’s no further treatment or work up needed,” Shakun says. “But if you’re not improving then you would need a workup to determine if there are any other secondary tickborne illnesses or if there is another medical condition going on.”
How to prevent tick bites
The best way to prevent tick bites is to practice proper prevention measures when outside such as:
- Wearing long pants
- Tucking pants into socks
- Wearing products with DEET
- Treating clothing with permethrin
After spending time in endemic areas, always do a tick check. To do this:
- Look at your full body in a mirror
- Look behind ears, in the scalp, in creases of elbows, knees and armpits
- Enlist a partner to look in hard to check areas
- Don’t forget to check pets
