Tick removal

[Wayne Smith]

I think I remember reading advice here at some time concerning using petroleum jelly to remove ticks. I just got this advice from the Virginia Department of Medicine.

"Tick removal using nail polish, petroleum jelly, alcohol or a hot match is not safe. These methods could cause the tick to regurgitate an infectious agent into the site of the bite."

"Grasp the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and gently, but firmly, pull it straight out. Avoid any twisting or jerking motion that may break off the mough parts in the skin. Mough parts left in the wound may cause irritation or infection similar to a reaction from a splinter.
If tweezers are not available, be careful not to squeeze or rupture the ticks swollen abdomen while removing it. This may cause an infectious agent to contaminate the bite site and cause disease.
After the tick has been removed, wash hands with soap and water. Apply a tipical antiseptic to the bite site.
You can dispose of the tidk by drowning it in alcohol or flushing it down a drain or toilet. However, it may be useful to save the tick in alcohol for several weeks and have it identified by an expert in case you become ill. Knowing what kind of tick bit you might help your doctor diagnose the illness."

I think the whole thing can be found at:
www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/DEE/Vectorborne/index.htm

Click on downloadable materials and then on the 8.5x11 brocure.

[white eagle]

I just pull the little buggers off
grab,pull,flush....

[Trey45]

Wayne, as you might be aware, the gulf coast tick is now in your area. The gulf coast tick has raised lyme disease occurances everywhere it has shown up. Be extra careful out there at C2, back a few years ago when I was shooting there, even with 100% deet bug spray on, I'd still find a few ticks on me from time to time, especially if I walked down the 200 yard path.

[Wayne Smith]

Yes, I am aware. That brochure is actually last years product. It is one of the nicer ones I've seen. Especially about the larval stage of the blacklegged tick being no bigger than the head of a pin and with no local irritation but still possibly passing on Lyme disease. We were living in New Hampshire when Lyme Disease was discovered or first described in Lyme, Mass. Being Licensed by the Department of Medicine I get their medical alert e-mails and this was the latest. Since I remember reading what turns out to be bad advice I thought I'd pass on this.

[freeokw]

With my medical training and personal experience the best solution to tick removal I've found is called the "Tick Key"
Its simplicity, effectiveness and safety is unsurpassed. There's no chance of innoculating pathogens into the wound by squeezing the thorax of the tick and no danger of leaving behind the parasite's mouthparts.
I have no connection to the product other than as a consumer. They last forever, but I always keep a bunch on hand for visitors to my Northern Minnesota cabin.
Google "Tick Key" to find it. It's also sold by RedRockStore.com and Duluth Pack...again, no connection other than as a satisfied customer.
Semper Fi,
Keith

[Bad Water Bill]

It looks interesting but when I tried to get a u tube to see how it works most said system error. One did show something but no sound. :killingpc

Thanks for informing us anyway.

[shooterg]

Y'all making me itch just reading this .....

[CWME]

If you have dogs or cats that go outside make sure you are inspecting them when they come back in the house. My dog Gunner picks them up on a regular basis. I use a flea comb to brush him down on the porch. Works pretty good but I still missed a few last year that go him.

[bbqncigars]

I actually had Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick fever one year when I lived in Glenwood Springs. It was the exact opposite of fun. My roommates took me to the hospital when I passed on free Lowenbrau. Ticks are nothing to take lightly.

[sliphammer]

Our springers bring ticks in and the best defense is Frontline. Kills the buggers once they've bored in. A little mosquito repellant keeps them off before they bore in too. Before we used the chemicals I would get them off by rubbing my finger around the tick in a circle applying a slight pressure. After a few circles rub on the tick as well and he will back out in less than a minute. Initially, I thought this was BS but it works.

[Big Ryan]

I have always used a cigar to get them off, that or a red hot paper clip. They hate heat. Usualy within just a few seconds they back there way out of your skin, you cant burn them too fast or it will kill um and then your stuck with a dead tick burried in your skin. This time of yr in FL they are all over my ranch. The cows and dogs get sprayed heavy with tick spray.

[lgvenable]

In East Texas those little suckers liked all the warm moist spots, and we'd suffocate the with clear fingernail polish. in a few hours they come right off dead as dead can be; so no chuckin' up in the wounds as it were.

[pmer]

And once you get the nasty little tick out tape him to a bottle rocket and send him out with a BANG!

[Ohio Rusty]

I use a plastic spoon for tick removal. I cut a long thin 'V' in the end of the spoon. The tick is slipped into the narrow V, then jammed into the thinnest part of the 'V". Holding the 'V' together, the tick is stuck in the slit and the spoon lifts the tick out of the skin and keeps the tick held fast until he is introduced to the charcoal grill lighter ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Dan Cash]

I just pull the little buggers off
grab,pull,flush....

Me top. Diesel or kerosene on pant cuffs, boot tops and belt line of trousers really reduces tick attack and virtually ends chigger chewing.

[bhn22]

Y'all making me itch just reading this .....

Yeah, my skins crawling too...

[JIMinPHX]

We were living in New Hampshire when Lyme Disease was discovered or first described in Lyme, Mass. Being Licensed by the Department of Medicine I get their medical alert e-mails and this was the latest. Since I remember reading what turns out to be bad advice I thought I'd pass on this.

Lyme, Mass???? I thought that stuff started in Lyme, Connecticut.

[mold maker]

I lost a really good friend, to tick fever, in the late 60's, before much was known about it.

[Three44s]

We waterboard ticks around here!


Three 44s

[Wayne Smith]

Lyme, Mass???? I thought that stuff started in Lyme, Connecticut.

Hey, if it's south of the NH border we consider it tax-a-chutches! Yeah, I believe you are right. One brain fart.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

No ticks out here . . . just scorpions!

My sister got Lyme's disease back ten years ago, or so . . . not much fun! (She lives in the Philly area . . .)

[mtnman31]

Drink a bottle of gin, the tick will get drunk and no longer be able to stay attached to your skin. Theoretically, this method should work.

[JIMinPHX]

No ticks out here . . . just scorpions!


Really? We've got both here in the Phoenix area. The rabbits that I used to hunt, up near Badger Springs, were loaded with them.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Really? We've got both here in the Phoenix area. The rabbits that I used to hunt, up near Badger Springs, were loaded with them.

I haven't seen any . . . but, flea's yes! Also some grubs under the skin . . .

[JIMinPHX]

I haven't seen any . . . but, flea's yes! Also some grubs under the skin . . .

Fleas up in the north east corner of the state have been testing positive for plague lately, in areas where the p-dogs have been dieing off. Parts of New Mexico have a history of plague in the rodent & flea populations too.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I'm in the SE, 50 mi from Mexico, and 50 mi from NM . . . but I'll keep my eyes open for the little buggers!