Botched tick removal

Found one on my 2 year old daughter. Got it out with tweezers but there’s a tiny tiny red speck left, which could be a trace of mouth parts. Doesn’t look like a head.

Any of you lot done successful removals with tweezers? Blemish free?

look at the tick under a magnifying glass and see if you can see all the mouth parts. (I assume it is now a bit squashed though?)

Piece of cotton wrapped round the buggers gob is the preferred method, in’t it?

tiny red speck – perhaps where it was sucking blood from ?

(I once beheaded a tick that was in my side – didn’t see it at all. Went to A&E and they cut it out. Would’ve done it myself if I wasn’t working at a hospital. Bit of a scar though 😉 )

Any of you lot done successful removals with tweezers? Blemish free?

Yes, in the middle of last night, a slight itchy leg woke me up. A quick feel and found something small and hard stuck at the itch site – a tiny nymph. Gently tweezer twisted it out using the dinky tweezers from my Swiss army knife. It must have been crawling around on me since Sunday afternoon. Apart from a small red bump, it looks clear.

Use a magnifier to see if there is something left in. Get a nurse to look at it. Watch for a rash at the site too. Hope it’s OK.

GP or drop in centre.

There is often a wee hole that looks dark left once you have got the tick out. depends on how long it was attached and how much inflamation is present around it. The head is usually dark borwn in colour.

When I get clients that have botched getting them out I usually dig/flick it out with a needle or small blade.

Holding a 2 year old to do this may be as tricky as a bouncy labrador though so if not sure seek qualified medical advice

We use tick twisters now, nice and cheap and do the job on us and the mutt. You still have to crush the little sods once they’re out though.

I hope LilGrips will be Ok.

For future tick encounters.

http://www.ticktwister.co.uk/

Tick Twister in action. On the other hand, came across this billed as the latest method for tick removal. Don’t think that would go down well with a child though.

Tick twister’s been on the shopping list for ages.. must get one…

I remove allot of ticks from myself always by hand with fingernails and I have never had a problem with infection even if sometimes the mouth parts are left in. If it was my daughter I think I might go to the doctors to be sure. 🙂

You can usually feel if you’ve left “a bit” in – just run your finger over the red lump and you’ll feel anything hard sticking out.

+1 for cotton – was sat in Edinburgh pub in the spring – gf in short skirt, when friend said spotted tick on her leg (had been out in Angus Glens that weekend) – much debate about cotton, tweezers, fags etc – settled on using a length of hair (long & straight not short & curly) worked a treat!

gf in short skirt, when friend said spotted tick on her leg (had been out in Angus Glens that weekend

Does said friend often spend time looking at your gf’s legs?

You should be able to remove with tweezers but if not put vaseline on it as it smothers them so they are unable to breath. If its not all removed it might re-grow 🙂

don’t put vaseline on it – they spit/puke before they let go & increase infection risk

cotton lasso ftw

put vaseline on it as it smothers them

Its amazing how urban myths take hold and endure. Check it out

Learn how to do it right[/url]

With all the threads about ticks and Lyme Disease on here in the last couple of months I just don’t understand why anybody would not invest £4 in a tick hook that weighs nothing, takes up no room in your kit and will last a lifetime

I just don’t understand why anybody would not invest £4 in a tick hook that weighs nothing, takes up no room in your kit and will last a lifetime

Because I forget…

Cotton – good idea, didn’t think of that.

Why the sudden increase in ticks? When I were a lad, romping and a stomping in the countryside, I never heard of ticks, but now I can’t get through a day without a reference to the damned things. I even had to extact on a couple of weeks ago. Where have they all come from?

Why the sudden increase in ticks?

One of the many little things caused by climate change.

One of the many little things caused by climate change.

Oh right! thanks.
Does anyone know if there is some type of fly spray aerosol available thet I can carry in the Camelback?

Sheep not being dipped any more is responsible for the increase too.
I found one on my daughters stomach a few weeks ago after a weekend in Ambleside, I had tick tweezers and they worked a treat. Gave her the fear at the time a bit, probably caused by the terror on my face… I work in the outdoors industry and there is a lot of news about the horrors that can occur there! I also traumatised her by checking the bite site about every 5 minutes for about 4 weeks…
I know a few first hand stories of people getting sick from ticks and I dont mean a little sick, I mean proper 5 years off work, never quite the same again sick…
Get tick tweezers, always take them, use reppellants, dont wear shorts in long grass, use gaiters or tuck socks in, wear light clothing when hill walking (then you can see the little f*ckers before they sink their teeth in)if you do get a bite, remove it carefully and keep an eye on the bite site, if it looks weird get to the docs! Bulls eye rash is the one to watch out for, search online for more details…and horror stories!
Stay safe out there folks! 🙂

Where do you get tick tweezers from?

I’ve got these ones and they seemed to work fine: http://amzn.to/mCzhRF
Loads on eBay cheaper, but those ones seem pretty good.

I’ve got these ones and they seemed to work fine: http://amzn.to/mCzhRF

Yup those are the ones. £2.95 so you can’t go wrong. Most walking shops and chemists in country areas should stock them as well

We’ve found that Avon Skin So Soft seems to act as a good repellant – cheap and safe

Prevention is better than cure, so +1 for Avon Skin so Soft

thebunk – Member
Where do you get tick tweezers from?

Most vets too now.

Hair / cotton is ok if you’ve nothing else but tweezers are better and the removers even best as the best way to ensure you remove the mouth parts is to ‘twist and pull’..

Just to re-iterate (You can’t say it too many times) 🙂

DO NOT SMOTHER THEM,

DO NOT BURN THEM OFF

– THEY WILL DISGORGE THEIR STOMACH CONTENTS INTO YOU AND IF THEY ARE CARRYING LYMES DISEASE PASS THAT ON TOO

I’ll tell you what, when you’re hooning down the trail towards that 30 foot gap jump, you’re miles safer to go for it than to get off and mince down through the long grass/heather and risk getting bitten by a tick.

We had tweezers, but nothing like fine enough to grab the end without crushing at least the head.

Update, anyway – bite site is clean with no redness or swelling of any kind. Fingers crossed.

I might try taking a photo of the beastie with my macro lens then blowing it up, to see if I can see which bits of its mouth/head are missing.

I might try taking a photo of the beastie with my macro lens then blowing it up,

Bit harsh, no?

(or the only way to be sure)

Nuke it from orbit.. that’ll teach the little f*kker to bite my daughter 🙁

If I manage to get pics I’ll post them up 🙂

Picked up my first tick in a couple of years on Sunday. Found it this morning and, because I was in a rush and couldn’t find my tick hook, bodged its removal with tweezers. So, still got a bit of its mouth in there. Guess I keep an eye on the site for a while.

On the one hand, it had less than 12 hours dining on me. On the other, I live in an area known to have Lyme disease. And I gather not all positive bites have the bullseye marking, nor are antibiotics always effective.

There was the tiniest of red marks on my daughter, not even a hair’s width red line. I thought this might still be the proboscis thing but it was gone after a day or so. She seems fine and blemish free so far…

I had my first a couple of weeks ago, a bloke pulled it out and said I only had to worry if it discolouredc in a few days, and even then you could get it sorted by a doc.

Is that bollox?

There’s still a wee mark…

How wee?