OK, I have a tick in my leg - what next

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OK, I have a tick in my leg - what next

45 posts & 28 voices | Started 8 months ago by higgo | Latest reply from Mr Woppit

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higgo - Member

Been out running (in the woods, in Sweden). Came back to hotel, showered, been for a bite to eat and a beer (or two). I'm back in my room and on taking my sock off I appear to have a tick attached to my ankle.

It seems quite flat so it's not yet had a good feed off me but when I tried to brush it off it wriggled a bit so it's obviously alive.

I know I can complicate things if I don't get it out properly but I don't have any sort of tick remover. In fact I don't have much 'domestic' stuff either, just the kind of stuff you get in hotel rooms.

So.....
~ how do I get it out?
~ what do I need to do about 'Lymes Disease'? (do nothing unless I feel fluish in the next few days?)

TIA.

Posted 8 months ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

Go to Swedish A&E. And please report back and let us know how much better it is than say, Wakefield A&E.

Pics please.

Posted 8 months ago #
don simon - Member

The last one I had was squeezed off like a zit. Getting behind it to squeeze it out of the flesh. That was over 5 months ago. If something was going to happen, it would have.

Posted 8 months ago #
StirlingCrispin - Member

A small pair of tweezers, take hold of the mouth part and rotate anti-clockwise.

Or fashion something like this out of a business card.
http://www.panosun.org/tickcard/

Ideally you'd place the tick in a plastic bag in the freezer should you start to suspect symptoms, but...

PS: You're going to die!

Posted 8 months ago #
TheBrick - Member

Twist it off to remove, don't just pull, if you have tweezers they can be helpful to grab the head.

Posted 8 months ago #
TheBrick - Member

SNAP (nearly)

Posted 8 months ago #
allthegear - Member

can I have your bike??

Rachel

Posted 8 months ago #
Kryton57 - Member

Don't leave the head in. Cover it liberally with Vaseline and it suffocates and falls off in a few hours.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

i would cut a slot in a credit card slide it under and lift it out you can end up squeezing it a bit much with tweezers.
dont cover it in vaseline it makes it puke its guts into you.

Posted 8 months ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

Start reading random posts from STW to it. You'll bore it to death.

Posted 8 months ago #
jonba - Member

Amputation is the only safe option!

More seriously definately don't smother it in vaseline and there's no need to twist, anticlockwise or clockwise. Just pull it out making sure you remove the head and not just the body.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Prevention.aspx

Posted 8 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

don't do the Vaseline thing - It can increase your chances of infection as it pukes the blood back into you. You need to get it out - twist and pull but don't squeeze it. tweezers used carefully can work - swiss army knife ones are good.

I bet the hotel has a tick remover tho

As for lyme symptoms - a bullseye rash and flu symptoms are what to watch out for.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

or in fact nothing at all and you just get sicker and sicker.

Posted 8 months ago #
PeterStarkiss - Member

The way we get them out on animals is dab a splash of Dettol on the tick and then pull the whole thing out. The Dettol makes it recoil and allows you to pull the head and body out in one swift action.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

no dont put anything on it.

Posted 8 months ago #
corroded - Member

I had one a few weeks ago. Good news is that seems like you've caught it early. I had no tick remover to hand so used tweezers (without squeezing too hard). I left a little bit of the mouth in but there was no bullseye inflammation. However, no one really knows how many people positive for Lymes actually get a rash.
Anyway, I digress. If I was you I would use my two thumbnails to get as close as possible to the mouth and prise it off. Don't burn or smother it.

Posted 8 months ago #
Kryton57 - Member

No Vaseline? Our Cat was ok after such treatment...

Posted 8 months ago #
crikey - Member

You'll be OK for fancy dress parties for the rest of your life.

Posted 8 months ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

"A small pair of tweezers, take hold of the mouth part and rotate anti-clockwise"

Yes, I generally use the little tweezers on my Swiss Army knife. Just be careful to:

a) gently pinch the head/thorax, not the abdomen - more tricky if small
b) very gently half-a-twist and lift it until it lets go

Look out for the possible ring-rash at the site or just feeling weird.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

thats a cat though, chuck the bloody thing out of the window and it still lands on its feet..

Posted 8 months ago #
Neil F - Member

I took my son to A&E last year with a tick in his lower back. The doc simply pulled it out, but left the head in, and told us to watch him for any symptoms for the next 48 hours. Nothing happened he was fine.

Posted 8 months ago #
druidh - Member

All these "I did that and it was fine" tales are very well, but it's a percentage game.

FWIW, I had to dig one out of my hand the other day as I just couldn't get the tick tool to work where it was. I dug a decent amount of flesh out with it

Posted 8 months ago #
Surrounded By Zulus - Member

Every time your leg swears at you, you need to punch it.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

poor service and advice nellf i would be fairly narked about that. symptoms can take months to show.
48 hour is just a number he made up if you get a proper good reaction with a rash and everything it can take two weeks.

Posted 8 months ago #
andy7t2 - Member

higgo are you still with us

higgo

HIGGO

Posted 8 months ago #
higgo - Member

I went down to reception and the lovely Elvy was on (I stay here quite a bit so know most of the staff). I asked her if they had any tweezers and explained I'd got a tick. She got some tweezers out of some sort of 'drawer full of useful stuff' behind the desk and asked me if I'd done it before. I told her I hadn't so she offered to do it for me as she'd done it a few times. She went in from the side with the tweezers and with a bit of twist but mostly pull got the blighter out. Looks like it's all gone.

Posted 8 months ago #
corroded - Member

Yes that 48 hrs stuff is nonsense. It can take several days for a rash to appear, IF it ever does, and weeks or months for other symptoms such as headaches, joint pain etc. As it is, I've had a daily headache for the last five days (very unusual) so am getting a bit paranoid. Lyme disease appears not to be something to take chances over.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

nice one.

Posted 8 months ago #
corroded - Member

You should also try and find out if Lyme is present in the area. But sounds like you did a good job.

Posted 8 months ago #
rondo101 - Member

I read something somewhere about wrapping a thread around the head to pull it out in the absence of a tick hook. Under no circumstances should you, squeeze it, put anything on it, burn it, freeze it or do anything to cause it distress or it'll vomit the contents of it's stomach into your bloodstream.

I've got an appointment at the docs tomorrow for a Lyme test. Didn't realise I'd got one on me & knocked it off whilst drying myself off after a shower. Smallish rash came up about 2 weeks later & now (another 1.5 weeks) got aching joints & feeling fatigued. Might just be a bit run down, but best to make sure.

Posted 8 months ago #
nonk - Member

rondo that test is a bit rubbish to be honest i would just try and get on the antibiotics if i was you, doxy is the one you want

Posted 8 months ago #
pedlad - Member

So the lovely Swedish elvy gave it a tug for you then.....at least you can die happy

Posted 8 months ago #
mrbelowski - Member

"Oh, er, and I got one on my dingaling too, can you get it out for me? Pleeeaaaasssseee"

Posted 8 months ago #
higgo - Member

I can certainly go to sleep - it's nearly midnight here - wondering whether she left her other hand on my calf half a second longer than she needed to.

Posted 8 months ago #
slowoldgit - Member

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2009/06/lyme-disease-everything-you-wanted-to-know-and-stuff-you-wish-you-didnt/

And you can get tick hooks from your local vet.

Posted 8 months ago #