[Closed] Talk to me about Ticks.

If you are in any doubt, go see your GP and get a blood test.

hey teadrinker, no need to be unduly worried but you're right to ask. A very good chance it could be harmless but 5-10% of them carry Lymes disease. Lot's of good advice on other threads on here.

You don't mention how you removed it. A bit late now but just in case anyone else finds this, PLEASE make sure you remove them properly, DO NOT squeeze them or burn them off

More details here:

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/

i have one of [url= http://www.tickremoval.co.uk/tick_card.html ]these[/url] in my trail pack...

Yup carry a tick card too, and weirdly had my first tick this weekend too, although luckily noticed and flicked the little (and they are darn small) blighter off before it had got its hooks in.

I got one, my first one ever on Sunday. I only had wide tweezers so tried those and stupidly broke the head off. Managed to leave head and think I got it all out. Going to get a proper bit of kit as it was a faff trying to do it properly but not!

Whenever someone says the name 'Imogen', I can't stop myself saying 'Imogen all the pepple?' straight away.

It's quite annoying.

I always use a wee dab of surgical spirit (or whisky). It stuns them into releasing their bite, meaning you can cleanly remove the whole tick. Tweezers usually work fine, although there are some good products now appearing on the market. If you're worried about Lymes, draw an ink line round the area of redness. If it starts to get significantly bigger, seek medical advice. Bites tend to itch with me for well over a week.

I read a wee while ago that drowning ticks with surgical spirits, TCP, Vaseline or whatever, is more likely to stress it - thus causing it to vomit its contents back into your bloodstream and more likely to infect. Advised removal method was with a tick twister and a quick action.

househusband - Member
I read a wee while ago that drowning ticks with surgical spirits, TCP, Vaseline or whatever, is more likely to stress it - thus causing it to vomit its contents back into your bloodstream and more likely to infect. Advised removal method was with a tick twister and a quick action.

If you're worried about Lymes, draw an ink line round the area of redness. If it starts to get significantly bigger, seek medical advice.

i had lymes and spent 2 weeks in cardiac intensive care,
one of the nurses was the most beautiful girl ive ever seen in my life

These are what you need.....

[url= http://bada-uk.org/products/tickremover.php ]Tick remover...[/url]

They work great.

Took my first ever tick out of my dogs head this wkd, rubbed a small amount of vodka on it and waited a min then very quickly out with tweezers . All good now but they are horrible things !!

Go to GP. Two of my 10 outdoor instructor staff have had Lymes now, we are all bitten a few times a year. 🙁

What they said. Wife has Lymes which she got in either Glen Tanner in Deeside or Uganda. Either way, she has been very ill for about 3 years now. It's not much fun for her at all.

🙁

thebikechain - Glen Tanar is definitely in Deeside.
HTH.

she has been very ill for about 3 years now. It's not much fun for her at all.

I'm sorry to hear that 🙁

I've lost count of how many I've had, but it's loads. Also plenty of practice on the cats, who used to get them on their heads almost constantly. Found one on my lad's tummy after a camping weekend when he was under 2. They can be hard to spot when they've just got on, it's well worth checking carefully -- getting them off before they get into their feeding stride makes it a lot less likely that you'll pick up something nasty from them.

She is getting there now thanks Ernie. Finally found a good doctor up in Forres who has helped heaps!

She is getting there now thanks Ernie. Finally found a good doctor up in Forres who has helped heaps!

That's good news, as alot of docs disregard it as a serious illness. Nice to know there are docs willing to look beyond the 10-day course of anti-biotics.

My daughter and mother in law have both had Lymes disease. It's a nightmare, although its easy to treat once they identify it.

Are you sure it's easy to treat, john?

suspected Lyme's a couple of yrs ago and 4 weeks of very strong antibiotics. Now always spray on Autan, or Smidge - prevention is a lot better than cure. A detailed post shower inspection and removal with tick twister is ideal

Easy to treat is not something we would say here.

I think it's only "easy to treat" if diagnosed early.

Just found this, from the LDA site...

http://www.isrn.com/journals/immunology/2012/719821/

I don't claim to understand it, but I think it demonstrates that someone infected with LD could show a pos result one week, and a neg the next.

I hope someone who understands this stuff can comment.

my GP was quite well informed as a seasoned hill walker. Blood test was negative, but I had the telltale rash and a fever. He reckoned the blood test is only 50% chance of being right, so went for the full course of antibiotics anyway - seemed to work, if it was actually Lymme's

Do the Tick repellants work well at all?

Do the Tick repellants work well at all?

I have never encountered one of the little buggers.

Where are they prevalent? what vegetation/conditions/climates etc?

organic355 - Member
I have never [i][b]knowingly[/b] [/i]encountered one of the little buggers.

You'll find them in heather, grass & bracken. They usually attach themselves to sheep and/or deer, so anywhere you have that combination.

The numbers do seem to be on the increase, although I also wonder if we are hearing so much more about them just because more people are (a) out and about in the outdoors and (b) posting on the internet.

Are there any reliable statistics on the rates/risk of infection?

I've been bitten more times than I remember but often get them off inside 24hours as I check myself in the shower after rides. Used to be really bad on the Quantocks maybe one a month through summer. More recently I've picked them up walking in the lakes and Scotland. I carry a tick remover in my first aid kit along with some good tweezers which make them pretty simple to remove.

useful wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick

Ticks are bad

but Keds are SO itchy!

Said it before, will say it again - the key to reducing both is 'personal grooming' with the clippers 😐

Are there any reliable statistics on the rates/risk of infection?

Apparently not. I read somewhere (sorry, hopeless citation 😉 ) that they had to have been feeding for 36 hours before they could pass Lymes on, so there's a bit of a window. Sooner the better clearly, though.

Personally I wouldn't rely on that 36 hour guarantee. If the tick injects anticoagulant and anaesthetic, who's to say there aren't a few bacteria already in the saliva.

@ organic - fields and woods, including juveniles in leaf litter, suburban parks, moorland, back gardens. The tics get a lift with whatever host they are attached to, then fall off, grow a bit bigger and bite again. The host might be blackbird or pheasant, small rodent, bigger mammal, whatever passed by. And the tick might find itself in a suburban back garden.

Do the Tick repellants work well at all?

Well I can tell you frontline works on my Dog he must get 4 or 5 a walk, on Sunday I picked 11 off him, mainly nypmhs that have yet to bite but a few had started feeding (and then they die).

Not sure if you would want to frontline yourself though

sorry to hear about that thebikechain fingers are crossed here for you.

I took my tick out with tweezers in the end, and left nothing in there. Although on Monday a spotty red rash appeared in the afternoon. Went to the walk in centre in the evening and they sent me to A&E, now on a course of penicillin as I had a bit of infection but thankfully not lymes. The little blighters seems to get everywhere, I had a t-shirt and a fleece on and found it bang in the middle of my stomach.

It's nice that people have got involved in this thread - think it's one of the things we should be wary of when out and about.