Had to have a deer tick removed today!

[Latitude]

Getting dressed for my ride today, I noticed a red mark and protrusion on my side. On closer examination, I was pretty sure it was a tick. Went to emerge, as Lyme Disease is a threat here. Had it removed, on antibiotics, no ride today. Watch out Northeast friends. There was no pain to draw attention to the gross little bugger, which I would have expected on an ankle.

 

[fooferdoggie]

it caught you on a e bike? you need to move faster (G)

 

[Gordon71]

Getting dressed for my ride today, I noticed a red mark and protrusion on my side. On closer examination, I was pretty sure it was a tick. Went to emerge, as Lyme Disease is a threat here. Had it removed, on antibiotics, no ride today. Watch out Northeast friends. There was no pain to draw attention to the gross little bugger, which I would have expected on an ankle.

Yeah I took one out of friends lower leg a few months ago. At first it just looked like a tiny black dot until I got it out and then realized what it was. I've not had one yet. I'm pretty careful in the field in front of my house as there are deer that hang out there every day. These two guys were showing off for the girls. Quite entertaining.

 

[J.R.]

I got lyme about 22 years ago. Be careful out there, it's a painful disease. From Sept 1 to the first freeze is the most communicable stage of the deer tick's life. They do not come off trees, they climb to the tips of grass and look to hitch a ride on something living. Just walking in the grass at any height you can get a tick. The higher the grass, the easier to catch a tick. I had 7 on my leg when I got lyme. Noticed in the shower. They are tiny! About the size of a large freckle when they latch on and then grow as they feed. Most are typically found below the waist. Belt lines and under socks are typical. There is no cure for lyme, just treatment.

 

[Latitude]

I’m thinking I likely picked it up in the woods around my home... we live in the forest and I am outside on the terrace in my housecoat on warm evenings. Lots of deer and other wildlife here. But there are tall grasses on some trails on my rides too. Will have to be vigilant.

 

[ruffruff]

Dealing with it myself! Got the tick in June and went through the two weeks of antibiotics. About a month later I have rashes all over and my inflammation numbers are off the charts!

 

[BrianK]

I’m in an area heavily infested with ticks. I had an imbedded tick earlier this summer and went through a 3 week course of antibiotics.

After researching the issue, I found permethrin is the single best tick repellant/killer. I invested in socks, pants, and t-shirts permanently treated with permethrin from Insect Shield.

Yes, it’s very effective and worth the investment. That treatment only lasts through about a half dozen wash cycles or 4-6 weeks.

Insect Repellent Clothing | Built-in Bug Protection | Insect Shield

Insect Shield's EPA-registered insect & mosquito repellent technology provides effective, invisible & odorless protection against mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges. Our insect repellent clothing is available for men, women, children & pets, and we can treat your own clothes...

www.insectshield.com

I also got some concentrated permethrin spray to make the proper mixture to treat my own clothes, socks, shoes and boots.

Amazon.com

 

[J.R.]

I’m in an area heavily infested with ticks. I had an imbedded tick earlier this summer and went through a 3 week course of antibiotics.

After researching the issue, I found permethrin is the single best tick repellant/killer. I invested in socks, pants, and t-shirts permanently treated with permethrin from Insect Shield.

Yes, it’s very effective and worth the investment. That treatment only lasts through about a half dozen wash cycles or 4-6 weeks.

Insect Repellent Clothing | Built-in Bug Protection | Insect Shield

Insect Shield's EPA-registered insect & mosquito repellent technology provides effective, invisible & odorless protection against mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges. Our insect repellent clothing is available for men, women, children & pets, and we can treat your own clothes...

www.insectshield.com

I also got some concentrated permethrin spray to make the proper mixture to treat my own clothes, socks, shoes and boots.

Amazon.com

I also use permethrin on clothing and shoes. For others not familiar with it, it can't be used on your skin or hair.

 

[stanmiller]

I got a tick embedded a year ago. We had visited a friend's farm with chickens and such.

The next day... I was wearing jeans in Target and had a stitch on the calf. Figured it was zit. Got home. Looked closer and wife saw the critter. She removed and photo'd as "Stan's tick" and put in our annual.

Consulted primary doctor and he shared odds 1 and 10 yields Lime disease. Whoah! Gave script for antibiotics, but advised to only to take with symptoms. No symptoms. Was fine.

 

[BrianK]

I also use permethrin on clothing and shoes. For others not familiar with it, it can't be used on your skin or hair.

It can’t be used on skin primarily because the oils in the skin break down the permethrin so it’s inactive in 15-20 minutes. It’s actually a low grade “toxin” for humans even though it’s a highly effective pesticide against ticks.

Permethrin General Fact Sheet

npic.orst.edu

It’s far better to treat clothing the night before wearing as it saturates the cloth and dries then stays effective for weeks. UV light does degrade permethrin.

Interesting data about the Insect Shield clothing:

In 2002, all cadet uniforms at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, were treated with Insect Shield. Lyme disease cases there were rising annually, but after Insect Shield-treated uniforms were introduced, cases dropped to zero, Robertson said.

Insect Shield clothing started as a West Point tick deterrent

It’s the little things that can get you.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[bikeman242]

Checking myself for ticks now in my hotel room after having run the Pine Creek Gorge in PA. @6zfshdb

 

[pmcdonald]

Our family stayed in rural Vermont last year, a few valleys over from the town of Lyme, NH (not sure if it was THE town or just one of many). Beautiful, beautiful spot but the stories of Lyme disease and prevelance in the area were enough to make you fear going out and enjoying those beautiful woods (it didn't, for the record).

Our rituals involved soaking the clothes in a permethrin solution, wearing long clothing (it was October in VT so that wasn't an issue), avoiding long grass, shredding clothes and shoes at the door as we came in from the outdoors, going straight in the shower, and doing thorough nightly tick checks. We didn't get any. Scary stuff though in that part of the world. A version of it is here in Australia.

 

[BrianK]

shredding clothes and shoes at the door

That could get to be expensive ;-)

 

[AHicks]

I HATE bugs....

 

[indianajo]

I had three ticks bite me this summer despite applying 40% DEET 4x a day. I burn them off with a soldering iron, since I don't smoke. Master Sergeants burn them off with a cigarette, I heard 2 of them talk about it. You've got to make them let go or the jaw bleeds on & on without a body. A tick head can last for a year, but a burn spot heals up in 6 weeks or less.
I had a fever 130 days this summer; don't know if it was covid19 which killed my sense of smell May 16-18, or lyme disease as a follow on. Had a course of antibiotics in June, no help. One day of fever right after another. I walk around my 23 acre summer property in warm weather spraying weeds & trash trees with herbicide. Ticks do drop down off trees and tractor fenders, too, besides jumping up from the grass. They start climbing up the back of my neck usually, looking for the hair. I feel many of them & knock them off. There is no getting rid of them besides paving every square foot. The deer live out there in my woods & fields.

 

[BrianK]

DEET is not very effective at repelling ticks. Permethrin is much better, no comparison really.

I wouldn’t recommend burning ticks at all.

Should I burn a tick off? 5 common myths about ticks

If you've been told ticks jump off of trees and onto your body, and that the best way to remove a tick is burning it off, it's time to read up.

www.usatoday.com

There’s a quite effective, simple and reusable tick remover called a “Tick Tornado.” I got mine at Walmart. They include two sizes, one for smaller ticks, one for larger They are well worth the couple dollar investment.

Amazon.com : ZenPet Tick Tornado - Tick Remover for Dogs & Cats & People - Value Pack - Easy and Fast Tick Removal Tool (1 Pack) : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : ZenPet Tick Tornado - Tick Remover for Dogs & Cats & People - Value Pack - Easy and Fast Tick Removal Tool (1 Pack) : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

 

[indianajo]

People that have never seen a tick on a high tractor fender or a tree leaf looking for a ride don't have eyes.

 

[pmcdonald]

I carry a tube of this in my medi kit when doing long hikes: https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/86445/medi-freeze-tick-off-spray-38ml. Freezes them right off

@indianajo - that sounds horrible! How are you holding up now?

 

[Coolbob]

I live in North Mississippi in a heavily wooded neighborhood. I probably see a dozen deer a month within 30-ft of the house and untold others are in the yard that I don't see. I spend over $200 annually on Liquid Fence to keep the deer from eating our shrubs down to the ground. I also remove about 40 or 50 deer ticks a year. I've walked out on our patio, watered my bonsai plants and walked back in the house and found a tick crawling up my leg. The deer were here first, so I don't blame them for wanting to eat the tasty, well fertilized shrubs in my yard and I'm not going to poison my yard and soil with insecticide to try to get rid of the ticks. We just pluck them off and go on about our business. So far the only side effect is a red itchy bump where I removed the tick.

 

[pmcdonald]

I live in North Mississippi in a heavily wooded neighborhood. I probably see a dozen deer a month within 30-ft of the house and untold others are in the yard that I don't see. I spend over $200 annually on Liquid Fence to keep the deer from eating our shrubs down to the ground. I also remove about 40 or 50 deer ticks a year. I've walked out on our patio, watered my bonsai plants and walked back in the house and found a tick crawling up my leg. The deer were here first, so I don't blame them for wanting to eat the tasty, well fertilized shrubs in my yard and I'm not going to poison my yard and soil with insecticide to try to get rid of the ticks. We just pluck them off and go on about our business. So far the only side effect is a red itchy bump where I removed the tick.

Looks like you're fortunate Lyme hasn't spread that far south in any significant numbers yet:

Lyme Disease Maps: Historical Data | Lyme Disease | CDC

Information on Lyme disease. Provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

www.cdc.gov

Ticks here in Australia carry all sorts of goodies. Fun fact: ticks have resulted in more deaths here than our more famous arachnids (namely the Funnel Web and Redback spiders). Some perspective, you're still far more likely to die from riding a horse or bike here.

Frontiers | Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia

There are 17 human-biting ticks known in Australia. The bites of Ixodes holocyclus, Ornithodoros capensis, and Ornithodoros gurneyi can cause paralysis, infl...

www.frontiersin.org