With the weather getting warmer and summer break starting for students everywhere, you’ll probably be seeing people spending more time outdoors. While hikes and trails are fun, ticks can be a concern for everyone.
Ticks are small and hard to notice, but they can cause issues like Alpha-Gal and Lyme disease. The best method to avoid these problems is to reduce your chances of encountering ticks in the first place. The U.S. Forest Service has given a checklist of things to be aware of when outdoors:
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- Avoid areas with high grass and leaf litter and walk in the center of trails when hiking.
- Use repellent that contains 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin for protection that lasts several hours.
- Use products that contain permethrin to treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents or look for clothing pre-treated with permethrin.
- Treat dogs for ticks. Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and to some tickborne diseases. They may also bring ticks into your home. Tick collars, sprays, shampoos, or monthly “top spot” medications help protect against ticks.
After your time outdoors, they recommend the following:
- Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors to wash off and more easily find crawling ticks before they bite you.
- Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon returning from tick-infested areas. Parents should help children check thoroughly for ticks. Remove any ticks right away.
- Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed.
If you find a tick on you, the CDC recommends the following:
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible using clean, fine-tipped tweezers. If fine-tipped tweezers are not available, use regular tweezers or your fingers to grasp the tick. Grasp the tick close to the skin’s surface to avoid squeezing the tick’s body.
- Pull the tick away from the skin with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick. This can cause the tick’s mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, your body will naturally push the mouthparts out over time as your skin heals. You can also remove the mouthparts with tweezers. If you cannot remove the mouthparts easily with tweezers, leave them alone.
- Dispose of the live tick by taking one of these steps: place it in a sealed container; wrap it tightly in tape; flush it down the toilet; or put it in alcohol. Do not crush the tick with your fingers.
- After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with soap and water, rubbing alcohol, or hand sanitizer.
- If you find a tick attached to you, there may be other ticks on your body. Do a careful tick check to look for other ticks and promptly remove them.