Freezing ticks

[theavalonfox]

I read this Australian article and watched the video on freezing ticks with wart remover spray and waiting 10 minutes.  They say this is the best way so you don't squeeze the ticks body and it releases more saliva in you.  I would really like to hear from folks who actually do this.  ty ty

[+Touchstone]

The wart remover OTC products are ether based, so technically, I wouldn't call that "freezing".  More like anesthetizing.  CDC (here in the U.S.) still recommends the tried and true pulling ticks out very close to the head, where the object is to remove it as soon as possible, so that the exposure time is minimized.  I'm thinking that the "freezing" home remedy merely prolongs the time that the tick is attached.

 

For true "freezing" methods, I found mention of using liquid nitrogen, which most people don't typically have just lying around.   You'd have to go to a Dermatologist or someplace similar, which no doubt runs into the $$$.   Those drastic measures are typically reserved for situations where the ticks are attached near the eye etc.

[+cerberus1]

The "best way" is still a pair of fine-tipped tweezers against the skin, as close to the ticks head as possible,  and slowly lift it off.

Sometimes a piece of mandible is left.  Remove it if possible, but it will usually be pushed out while healing.

Agree with Touchtone, agitating the @^&$ thing could probably do more harm. 

[+hal-an-tow]

I once used a tick freezing spray (specifically  sold for use on dogs and cats) on my cat , I told the story here , so I'll not repeat it.

It worked ...

[+colleda]

The ticks I seem to get are microscopic, hard enough to see let alone get hold of with tweezers.

 

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, colleda said:

The ticks I seem to get are microscopic, hard enough to see let alone get hold of with tweezers.

 

 

Those are the larval stage of our ticks. The nymphs are about 1mm long and the adults about 4mm. I picked up a larval one last weekend when setting my new multi (GC8BXVN), prompting me to add the ticks attribute. I often get the nymph-sized ones in late spring or early summer but I don't think I've ever had an adult one.

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, colleda said:

The ticks I seem to get are microscopic, hard enough to see let alone get hold of with tweezers.

 

 

I got those once on the skin web between a thumb and forefinger of my right hand.  About a dozen of them in one little group.  They stung like crazy!  If they hadn't stung, I wouldn't have noticed them, they were almost too small to see.  I managed to scrape them off with a fingernail one at a time.  Their grip was unbelievable.  Next time, I might consider Tick Release.  I highly doubt I'd reach for the liquid nitrogen.

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by kunarion

[+colleda]

The ones I got I ended up scraping out with fingernails. In my case they didn't sting at all. Found later that night when they started to itch.  Picked them up in long grass doing a now archived series in Umina Beach which is near barefootjeff's stomping ground.

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, colleda said:

The ticks I seem to get are microscopic, hard enough to see let alone get hold of with tweezers.

 

We were caching in Tennessee, too hot for long pants, and when we got back, thought our legs/ankles were filthy.

A couple moved. 

The other 2/3rd's Grandfather said they were "seed ticks", and handed us a plastic card that looked like a credit card doubled.

They scraped right off.    Weird...

I don't think I've ever seen one on us that was smaller than a pin head before that.   

 

[+briansnat]

Not really a getting started issue. Moving to the general forum

[+humboldt flier]

Hanging out at Boy Scout Camp ... Camp Noyo along the Noyo River in Mendocino County, California and had a couple attach very near "The Boys" ... a VERY TRUSTED FRIEND did the tweezer game after I refused the "freezing option".  

 

I know I am a wimp. but hey >>>> freezing the nether region near "the boys" left me feeling rather timid.

[+CrunchyBill]

OK.  I didn't expect to wind up utterly skeeved out reading through forum posts, but, there you go.

 

Preserving the tick(s) after removal is a good idea in the event follow-up medical care is sought.  On the one hand, positive identification of the insect can be useful for determining the likelihood that the insect could have served as a vector for an infection of some sort.  As usual, carrying an extra ziplock around is a good idea . . .

 

[+thebruce0]

I'd never had a tick until earlier this year when I went to Texas for Geowoodstock. After that trip they keep finding me, even around home. grr

 

And yes, other non-recommended methods can work - it's not that they don't work, it's that the safest and most recommended manner to remove them is with tweezers carefully pulling out at the head.