[Closed] Ticks - how do I deal with the little buggers?

I got Lyme a couple of years back. Possibly from poor removal where the tick regurgitated, or from one I didn't notice. There was no rash that I perceived. Sometimes Lyme can be dormant for many years, before becoming activated by trauma or a supressed immune system. Mine manifested itself several years after the bite.

Trust me when I say that Lyme is very, very nasty and is not necessarily curable. I have been lucky to keep my job, but I certainly wasn't able to get much riding in for a couple of years as the Lyme arthritis saw to that.

The easiest cure is by prevention. Remove the tick quickly and correctly. Avoid hanging around in long grass or cover up. Check yourself for ticks after every ride.

If you develop ME type symptoms, even years after being bitten, there is a distinct possibility that it could be Lyme.

Additionally, the NHS is a dinosaur in terms of knowledge of Lyme, so do not expect them to offer you appropriate treatment.

Phototim - Member

I'm pretty sure if there was a way to remove a tick badly, I did it yesterday. If I was him I would have definitely Sh*t myself and vomited before having my arse pulled off. Perhaps I should cut my leg off with a junior hack saw.

😆 😆 😆 😆

Tick remover purchased, a pair of tweezers with hooks on the end. Also got some extra strong jungle formula to keep them off me. Fingers crossed I haven't caught anything 🙁

Pulled this monster off my dog after a holiday in NW Scotland...

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That was the day after I pulled all these off;

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The big one popped like a grape when I stood on it and spread a surprising amount of goo around... Nasty !

Ticks are pretty serious with Deer Ticks, the tiny black ones usually being the worse (the bigger pink-ish ones are usually sheep ticks -but there are lots of different ones!). We have Lyme D in lots round here but even those without the big LD can make you sick for a day or two.

We remove 2-5 off us most weekends and upto ten a week off the dogs. We have tried all the methods and by far the easiest is the Tom O Tick twister, and they are cheap -ought to be one in every first aid kit/home. They come out by twisting anti-clockwise, not sure why (believe its their build?) but we have tried every way and I promise most success comes from this, straight pulls often leave the head or mouth parts in.

They come off veg/wood etc so if you don't brush against any thing they will struggle to get to you. If in a known tick area best to keep legs covered, only few times will have you doing this promise! And check at the end of the day, some are tiny but can be felt as they are hard though smaller than a pin head. They are climbing to where its warm so check all the way up, (don't usually attach for an hour or two) . I have found them there a day or two later!!

If you get any rings, lumps or flu like symptoms see the Doc but they often don't know much about them so check the net. Good luck keep them off or pull them off safely (carefully) ...... Happy Trails

flipiddy - Member

I got Lyme a couple of years back.

Same here, really knocks u for six, knackered all the time, memory loss, weird things happening physically: numbness, arthritis syptoms, bubbling feeling of the blood.
Nhs gave me 2 weeks antibiotics, helped for a bit. Now they more or less don't want to know.
There is a docu-film called [url= http://underourskin.com/ ]under our skin[/url] which gives a good account about how bad this disease is, and how health workers are split over the long term treatment/severity of the disease.

Same here, really knocks u for six, knackered all the time, memory loss, weird things happening physically: numbness, arthritis syptoms, bubbling feeling of the blood.
Nhs gave me 2 weeks antibiotics, helped for a bit. Now they more or less don't want to know.
There is a docu-film called under our skin which gives a good account about how bad this disease is, and how health workers are split over the long term treatment/severity of the disease.

Sucks mate. Are you getting any treatment? Feel free to drop me an email if you want (in profile)

"Checking myself for ticks..."

Surely, if one of these little bar stewards sunk it's rotatory fangs in, you'd know about it?

Mr Woppit - Member
"Checking myself for ticks..."

Surely, if one of these little bar stewards sunk it's rotatory fangs in, you'd know about it?

You'd be surprised, not always painful and as already said they've a tendency to crawl to place you might not immediately notice them! 😯

I picked one up at the Bristol Bike fest this year. They're def about up there.