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Proper Tick Removal - Its that season again


SkydiverBC

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Every year I hear people talk about the best way to remove a tick. I am sure these people are trying to be very helpfull, but there is much "false information" that gets passed around and perpetuates the problem. So this year I am being proactive and posting the "preferred" method of removing a tick.

 

This method prevents the tick from vomiting its stomach contents into your blood stream before you can remove it. For obvious reasons, if the tick had a disease, vomiting would be bad.

 

Tools Needed:

a drinking straw

a 12" piece of good thread

 

1. Gently slide the straw under the tick until it comes to a stop against the ticks head and with the ticks body inside the straw.

 

2. Tie an overhand knot around the straw with the thread. (An overhand knot is how most people start tying their shoe laces - right over left)

 

3. Slowly slide the thread down the straw until it comes off at the bottom - next to the ticks head.

 

4. Tighten the knot keeping the straw in place to force the thread in front of the ticks head. Only move to the next step if the thread is between the skin and the ticks head.

 

5. Apply steady pressure to the thread pulling at a right angle to the skin. Do not yank or tug on the thread!

 

6. The skin should be lifted by the steady pull of the thread on the tick. If the skin is still level, apply more pressure.

 

7. Most ticks will release in less than 30 seconds, but some of the tougher ticks can hold on for up to 5 minutes.

 

8. When the tick releases, you can place it in a film canister and take it to your health unit for testing if you are concerned.

 

Match sticks, vaseline, tweezers, etc. can all cause the tick to vomit before removal. Place a short piece of straw and a piece of thread in your first aid kit and have fun! icon_smile.gif

 

I want to die like my grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

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This subject has been here before so here are some informative links:

http://www.lyme.org/ticks/removal.html

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/tick_removal.html

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog/remove.htm

 

And last year on the Forums I found another good helpful piece of advice. Put some Hydrogen Peroxide on the little buggers, they go into reverse real quick. Believe me it works.

 

Tahosa - Dweller of the Mountain Tops.

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"Keep the tick alive for a month in case symptoms of a tick-borne disease develop. Place it in a labeled (date, patient), sealed bag or vial with a lightly moistened paper towel then store at refrigerator temperature"

 

Man that sucker (literally) was just drinking my blood and now I have to keep him in my fridge?

 

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore

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quote:
Originally posted by SkydiverBC:

 

Tools Needed:

a drinking straw

a 12" piece of good thread


 

Well, when I woke my wife tonight after I found a tick in my back, she couldn't find a straw or thread. We used dental floss, and it eventually worked quite well.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

DustyJacket

...If life was fair, a banana split would cure cancer.

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quote:
Originally posted by Faderaven:

"Keep the tick alive for a month in case symptoms of a tick-borne disease develop. Place it in a labeled (date, patient), sealed bag or vial with a lightly moistened paper towel then store at refrigerator temperature"

 

Man that sucker (literally) was just drinking my blood and now I have to keep him in my fridge?


 

Nah, don't bother. The percentage of ticks actually carrying diseases is in the minority so the one you remove is not likely to be carrying. If you remove it, the 36 hour window of opportunity for infection hopefully hasn't been reached even if it's a carrier.

 

Nowadays, they don't even bother to run a lyme disease test. The doc most up-to-date on Lyme here in CT ('cause his son died from it early on) told me, the test is not accurate enough, we want to start you on antibiotics rather than waiting for any test results, you have the symptoms and everything else is ruled out...

 

I can't imagine anyone's going to test the tick--even if it's positive that doesn't mean you were infected.

 

Now on this concept of ticks regurgitating anything--that sounds like a myth to me. Many mammals don't have the ability to vomit! I can't imagine critters that don't even have brains can.

 

I do know some insects (not ticks which are different arthropods) have separate organs that inject saliva from their piercing/sucking beaks...

 

It sounds more like those claiming "vomit" really mean "don't squeeze" as that action could inject the body fluids of the tick through it's orifice into your bloodstream.

 

I'm glad we've moved past fire however, I can remember as a kid feeling like my ear was being burned as the tick was encouraged to leave w/a match. Perfectly successful however, despite those articles claims to the contrary. (Probably due to such recent contact--the head wasn't that immersed in my skin...)

 

I've never had the patience for other "passive" methods, tweezers seem to work nicely for me (I haven't the guts of dog owners that simply rip them off w/fingernails...) The only problem I see with the thread method is it requires two hands--not useful for self-removal from some areas.

 

Sorry for rambling, but the concept of a critter without a circulatory system "vomiting" is rather unreasonable.

 

Randy

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quote:
Originally posted by RJFerret:

Nah, don't bother. The percentage of ticks actually carrying diseases is in the minority so the one you remove is not likely to be carrying. If you remove it, the 36 hour window of opportunity for infection hopefully hasn't been reached even if it's a carrier.

 

Nowadays, they don't even bother to run a lyme disease test. The doc most up-to-date on Lyme here in CT ('cause his son died from it early on) told me, the test is not accurate enough, we want to start you on antibiotics rather than waiting for any test results, you have the symptoms and everything else is ruled out...

 

I can't imagine anyone's going to test the tick--even if it's positive that doesn't mean you were infected.

 

Now on this concept of ticks regurgitating anything--that sounds like a myth to me. Many mammals don't have the ability to vomit! I can't imagine critters that don't even have brains can.

 

I do know some insects (not ticks which are different arthropods) have separate organs that inject saliva from their piercing/sucking beaks...

 

It sounds more like those claiming "vomit" really mean "don't squeeze" as that action could inject the body fluids of the tick through it's orifice into your bloodstream.


 

Randy, I'm sure you are an authority on decease as well as an entomologist, but the rest of us must simply go on the advise of people like The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who aren't as well informed as yourself. According to the CDC:

quote:
INFECTED DEER TICKS MUST FEED FOR AT LEAST 12 TO 24 HOURS before they can begin to transmit the Lyme disease bacterium. Therefore you should remove ticks as soon as possible. Take a shower after outdoor activity and check your body thoroughly, paying close attention to the armpits, the groin, and neck. Use the buddy system! Look for ticks nightly, especially if you have young children.

 

In New Jersey, approximately 20 to 40 percent of deer ticks are infected and able to transmit Lyme disease. The infection rate is linked with native white-footed mouse populations.

 

Remove ticks with tweezers only (bent, "needle-nose" tweezers are best). Do not use alcohol, nail polish, hot matches, petroleum jelly, or other methods to remove ticks. These methods may actually traumatize ticks, causing them to regurgitate gut contents, which may include the Lyme disease bacterium.

 


I suggest you contact them ASAP, so they can be informed of your current research, and update their website accordingly.

 

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

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Proper tick removal techniques have changed in the new world order. You should forget everything you thought you knew about their removal, including the unenlightened posts above. These methods of removal completely disregard the rights of the parasites, injures their self esteem, and could easily lead to a murder.

 

Proper tick removal should be conducted thusly:

1. Observe the tick for at least ten years to establish its pattern and method of head penetration and blood suckage.

2. Ask the tick to politely find a new host.

3. If the tick denies having weapons of mass blood suckage, denies it is a threat to your blood, and denies it would ever harm you, take your complaint to the world body of parasites.

4. If the other parasites in the world body can agree, draft a resolution formally requesting the tick immediately stop sucking your blood. State unequivocal dire consequences should the tick fail to comply with the resolution.

5. If the tick reiterates its denials while at the same time wiping your blood off its lips, reconvene the world body of parasites to band together to enact the enforcement provisions of the resolution.

6. If certain beret wearing parasites would prefer not to agree to the resolution they already agreed to (because they get a blood kick-back from the tick), sit back on your hands and enjoy being sucked dry by the tick.

7. Prepare to be sucked by many other parasites.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

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A little off topic- I am not an expert on ticks, but have recently attended a lecture series about the Bubonic Plague. It is passed by fleas via regurgitation. Essentially, the plague makes the blood in it's guts coagulate and the flea starts starving to death. So it starts jumping from animal to animal to person trying to get some sustenance. Every time it bites, it gets a little blood, but cannot ingest it and instead ends up throwing it back up into the wound. That is how fleas spread the plague.

So you can't say that bugs can't barf. I am uncertain about the transferral mechanism behind tick diseases, but since, like fleas, they bite for blood, I would guess that they would have no problem throwing up if they had to.

A local lab is doing Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever research here and is always on the lookout for locally captured ticks. Also, in Montana there is a unknown disease that is being transmitted through tick bites. It is simliar to RMSF but not as prevalent. Not that RMSF is prevalent, it is rare, but the symptoms are such I do not wish it on anyone.

I will continue using the CDC's recommendations for tick removal. Timely topic, picked one off me a week ago after wandering through a local forest.

-Jennifer

 

Where am I going? I ain't certain.

When will I get there? I don't know.

All as I know is I am on my way!

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Criminal, thanks for the laughs. Mopar thanks for the voice of reason. I got off trail yesterday and pulled 10+ off of me (with tweezers) icon_eek.gif before getting in the shower. It's 70+ and sunny in NC this week; come on down Brian. (Yes I know your post was a month ago, but you can still visit if you like.)

 

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

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quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

Proper tick removal techniques have changed in the new world order. You should forget everything you thought you knew about their removal, including the unenlightened posts above. These methods of removal completely disregard the rights of the parasites, injures their self esteem, and could easily lead to a murder.

 

Proper tick removal should be conducted thusly:

... snip...


 

Well,

 

I hate to break a long-standing tradition, but I have to agree with Criminal on this one! His ideas and clearly outlined steps are exceptional.

 

Now, I must go ask my wife for 75 billion dollars as a down payment towards this tick procedure...

 

--majicman

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quote:
Originally posted by Jennifer & Dean:

I am not an expert on ticks, but have recently attended a lecture series about the Bubonic Plague. It is passed by fleas via regurgitation.


 

Cool! I love corroboration of information.. Thank you for sharing.

 

Randy

 

PS: Mopar, I don't think the CDC wasn't to hear my guesses and opinions--even if you believe my opinions are facts. Thanks for the honor! (In my brief web search I found many other organizations promoting the concept, but hadn't run across the CDC...)

 

PPS: I did "take down" our city's previous health director during the West Nile outbreak, when he erroneously suggested bats are rabies hazards to humans before any occurance of bat-human transmission had been confirmed... Everybody can't know everything--even in their own fields!

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quote:
Originally posted by garrettmaster1:

...so taking a match to the tic isn't a good idea? Works for me!


Yep, it works on getting the tick out. It also increases the risks of the tick infecting you with Lyme, or lots of other equally nasty illnesses. I know people with Lyme, it can be serious.

 

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

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