Ticks!

[somberbear]

i have tried a lot of the old methods of tick removal ... right now i just picked up a tick key.... nice and small and fits on a key ring.... while talking with a doc friend .... you dont wanna squeese or burn the tick this will cause it to vomit , and if its got a gut of bacteria and then welcome to lyme country.... so im going to start checking out some of the tick tools out there....

I used tweesers and they work fairly well ... the match works ... but knowing about the whole tick puke thing now im probably not going to be using those now....

 

[wintermute]

Speaking to an ER doc that was dealing with the remnants of a deer tick that was in my side a few weeks ago, he said that the best thing to do is grab the tick as close to the skin as possible with a pair of tweezers and pull at a constant, non-jerking rate away from your body. If the head isn't buried, great. If not, there's nothing else you could've done about it. The least trauma to the tick will cause it to secrete the least amount of cement into the wound. Matches aren't good, nor is yanking, or vaseline (it's not going to suffocate the tick). Even if you don't get the head out, assuming the tick is undiseased. as long as you keep up with your antiseptic applications and keep the wound area clean, your body will heal over eventually break down the tick head. The "cement" will last longer and may cause constant irritation, warranting a possible dermatologist appointment.

Dog ticks do not carry Lyme disease, only Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. If you find a deer tick in you, make sure the health care professional puts you on a rigorous antibiotic (tetracycline) schedule PRONTO!!!!!! A prophylactic dose of antibiotics started w/in 72 hours of being bitten almost guaranties knocking out any Lyme disease that you may have contracted. Tests for Lyme titers might not give a positive reading until 1-2 months after being bitten, so being tested for the disease immediately is likely to give a false negative (bad). Also, it is impossible to test a tick corpse for Lyme disease.

Sorry for the public service announcement, but I was lucky with a deer tick bite and don't want anyone to suffer due to common misunderstandings of the disease.

 

[OwenM]

Soldering iron and tweezers.
I was warned by a park ranger last week that people were getting swarmed by tiny ticks that looked like a cloud moving on their skin "like something out of Aliens...oh, and the snakes are real bad this year, too". What a fountain of joy she was.
I had three under the strap of one of my sandals, a couple more on my leg with two "normal-sized" ones, plus the larger one in the pic, which was in between.
Had left these sitting on a sheet of toilet paper in the bathroom for some unknown reason
The "knife" is a Vnox Classic.

 

[jarost]

Funny, when I was in Boy Scouts (in the 70's), the advice at that time was to use a hot match (my Scoutmaster usually used one of his Camel filterless cigarettes) and to definitely NOT--under ANY circumstances--pull on it with tweezers.

Now, people are saying the exact opposite. I caught a lot of flak for using "outdated and potentially dangerous" tick removal methods when I was the Chaplain/EMT for my son's Scout Troop.

I've used both methods, and in the literal hundreds of times I have seen or used the heat-source method, not a single person has ever become infected from tick vomit.

 

[lagarto]

I work in the woods year round and almost never have a day when I don't have at least one tick at the end of the day. I've tried a few gadgets, but personally I find that simple tweezers or curved forceps work the best. You do need to be sure you get the head of that bugger though. However, then you can enjoy roasting the little bastard with a cigarette lighter. ( Well, at least I do). If you're really worried about it, I've heard that there is now a Lyme Disease vaccine for humans, which might be worth looking into.

Lagarto.

 

[OwenM]

What I hate is how you can feel them crawling on your long after they're gone. I know it's all in my mind, but I put on the same sandals to do some yard work in, and swear it feels like there's a deer tick colony crawling over my toes.

 

[tarditi]

This topic is near and dear to my heart..

WHATEVER YOU DO..

DO NOT TRY AND LIGHT A MATCH OR USE VASELINE TO REMOVE A TICK!!!

As a defense mechanism the Tick will spit their juices into you and you can contract lyme diesase or worse yet Ehrlichiosis..

I know because I almost died from Ehrlichiosis.. This is a NASTY thing to contract and left untreated you will die.. I tried the OLD BURN THE TICK OUT.. and 3 miserable days later I was in the hospital.. Google Ehrlichiosis and you will see for yourself..

Tick twister is a great tool and I carry one in may pack and have one at home..

Fair enough - I guess I've been getting lucky.
There are still a LOT of reputable sites that recommend covering with vaseline to remove a tick.

 

[the lone gunman]

I know people in my area of Central Pa that wont even go in the woods because of the little bastards. I just spray myself down good each morning and go for it. They are really bad this year. Earlier in spring my dog got a mess of those ones that swell up like a gray Pea. I think thats what is going to wipe people off the face of the Earth..BUGS. Anyhow ,I just use tweezers to get them off.