summer tick remedy

psy-ops

psy-ops

Joined
Sep 27, 1999
Messages
3,164
since I have been down here in Mississippi, I have had 4 tick stuck in me in the past month. not too mention ones on me not dug in.

I have tried a bunch of things to unstick'em and tiger balm works the best. they literally come right out.


what does everyone else use?
 
I was on a field research team in California's grasslands several years ago, and ticks/lyme disease was always on our minds. We usually caught the nasty little bastards before they dug in though.

However, if they did manage to latch on, the best way to get them out AND minimize the chance of catching lyme disease was to dig into the point of contact with a set of small tweezer, and pull out the buggers by gripping onto the head and pull with a slight twisting motion. Make sure not to crush the head or else you chanced infection.

Some people coax ticks out by using strong smelling chemicals like alcohol or tiger balm. Some even try to burn them off with cigarettes. However, the problem with the chemicals is that sometimes it causes the tick to literally vomit into the wound, possibly spreading lyme disease.

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, lyme disease is a much bigger problem east of the Rockies. One of the theories why California had a relatively low number of cases was because of an intermediary host animal for the ticks. One type of California fence lizard favored by ticks had blood apparently very hostile for lyme disease and thus by the time the ticks jumped from lizard to human, the lyme disease bug was incapacitated.
 
Doggyknife is correct in every way. Using anything other than something to pull the head out will cause the tick to regurgitate poison into the wound. Take it from me. I live in Columbia County, NY. If I’m not mistaken, Columbia County is the current lime disease capital of the United States. We’ve got deer ticks coming out of our poop shooters here. I got my lime prevention information from the Columbia County Health Department; specifically from Marcia Fabiano, who heads up our efforts to prevent the spread of lime disease. She’s a smart cookie.

I’ll also mention that there is a shot to prevent lime disease. It takes years of shots I believe, and shots are rather expensive, but they are effective.

Oh yah. If you ever have a leech on you, they can also regurgitate poison if the head is not pulled off directly.
 
Saw a tick remover at Mountain Co-op this week, sort of a plastic tweezer device that (in theory) removes the tick without causing it to regurgitate, and incorporates a little cup to hold it once you've removed it. There's also a 20X magnifying glass for identification.
 
would it be incorrect to use a knife point and dig out carefully?

2 or 3 tick regurgitations in me in 1 month is enough :barf: :barf:

I guess I should thank everyone who corrected me!


At least there are worse bug diseases in other countries so I shouldn't whine that much! :rolleyes:

Thanks guys

chris
 
Yes, it would be incorrect. A knife could cut off the mouth parts, leaving them lodged in your skin. The mouth parts contain a certain amount of the tick's poisons. When a person brings a tick into the health department, which has been pulled off, they first examine the tick to see if the mouth parts are still intact.

Keep a pair of tweezers on you. Or if you're a fisherman, keep a pair of hemostats.
 
Chris, in the UK there is not so much of a tick problem, but both of my dogs seem too atract them like flys to cow ****. I got hold of a tick remover from a large chain pet store (pet smart), which is a pair of spring loaded tweezers that not only grip well but dont let go, so as suggested above you can twist and pull at the same time.
my dogs have no complaints but I have not had the chance to try it on myself yet as the tick spray I use seems to work OK.
Nick.
 
FWIW,when I was a kid picking blackberries in the 'tick patch' Grandpa always shook some gardener's powdered 'flowers of sulfur' on our pants legs and shoetops/socks. Wouldn't surprise me to find out today that this causes nuclear winter or something, but it dangsure kept the ticks off us. I'm just saying.

One more tidbit. If you get chigger bit, paint the 'bite' with clear finger nail polish or vitamin E oil after you take a hot bath and give the bite an alcohol rub or iodine paintjob.
 
Pull them out with tweezers. Do NOT use heat or chemicals as this causes them to regurgitate more.
If you develope a rash see a physician.
Sorry to report Lyme vaccine is no longer available. The company said there wasn't enough profit.
 
Originally posted by Doctom
Sorry to report Lyme vaccine is no longer available. The company said there wasn't enough profit.
Click to expand...

I believe it was also only about 50% effective.
 
Flowers of sulfur is just sulfur powder and is not particularly harmful, as long as the smell doesn't bother you. It will acidify the soil a bit as it oxidizes. If it works, try it. I have had a friend suggest wearing dog flea collars on your pants cuffs. I haven't tried it, but he says it works. My wife and I have one of those plastic tick removal tweezer like devices, but normally get by with the tweezers on our Vic classics since we always have them.
 
I live in Califonia and over the last month I have had at least two dozen ticks on me, but only two or three have dug in. Last week I walked twenty feet off a golf cart path into some knee high weeds. I walked straight back, and had seven ticks on me. thats how bad they are out here right now. Last year I pulled nine of them off me after going off trail for about twenty ninutes. I always catch them pretty quick. I just grab the body with my thumb and forefinger and pull them straight out. Is this method wrong. Thanks, Jeff
 
sevenedges...

If they are just on your clothes or haven't dug in, picking them off with your fingers and flicking should be fine. Just don't give them time to latch on to your finger tips should you feel like fondling them :D. If I catch a tick on my clothes, it usually pisses me off enough that I take the time to smear the little blood suckers against a rock or something.

If one does manage to latch on to your skin, don't panic. It usually takes many hours for lyme disease to transfer from tick to host. Get yourself a pair of small tweezers, dig into the site of contact, grip the head softly (this is most important), and with a slight twisting motion, pull the tick out via its head. Pulling via the body only chances the tick will get stressed and vomit into the wound or you might end up leaving the head in the wound and chancing infection. Might also want to hold on to the tick for lyme disease testing.

I think another reason why the lyme disease vaccine was pulled was because too many people were reporting nasty side effects like arthritis and heart problems.
 
This spring seems to be the worst I've seen in S. Oregon for ticks. I've heard of folks incorporating brewers yeast into their diets to ward off both ticks and fleas. I'm not talking about using it to cook with. You want to eat it fresh, like putting a small amount into a drink.

I dunno what it might do to you, but I know several folks that do it. Does anyone know of any possible negative side affects of eating brewers yeast?

cv
 
It makes your blood 'unattractive' to ticks, fleas, IRS agents, divorce lawyers and other blood sucking parasites. I used to put brewers yeast into all the pets food, and took it myself, filled gelatin capsules with it because frankly it tastes like...brewers yeast.
 
Ticks, gotta love em! I remember heading out into the Lake George area here in CO and picking up a couple last summer. I thought I had cleaned up pretty good, but as we sat down to eat at a little restaurant in town, one of the little buggers fell from somewhere and onto the table. We were all wondering if it came of us, when one of my buddies reccommended I kill it. The poor waitress that had come to take our order, nearly barfed as I picked up a spoon and proceded to FORCE the little bastard in two (tough little critters), and handed it to her asking for a clean one. As to getting rid of 'em... dunno. NW
 
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