tick removal

[Jim Wagner]

Here is an link to an excellent flyer from the CDC on ticks (and removal there-of) and Lyme Disease.

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/tool ... se-508.pdf

Jim Wagner

[Bosterson]

I have a Tick Twister that I (thankfully) haven't had to test yet.

Update: a few weeks ago, I had to use the Tick Twister on a hiking partner, and then it had to be used on me, and both times it seemed to work really well. The tick that was pulled off me (after around 4 hours embedded) was so intact that it extracted itself from the twister slot and started crawling around.

[Chip Down]

I try to follow the practice of pulling on a tick gently until it gives up and releases on its own (using the proper instrument and technique). Done correctly, you don't squeeze the tick. Imagine pulling a nail out of wood, using a claw hammer. Same idea. Pull gently until your skin tents out, hold for maybe 15 seconds, if no success pull a little harder. It always works for me, I've never had to pull a tick out using brute force (i.e. I've never pulled a tick off the same way you'd pick a berry, by simply plucking it off quickly). I've only had to extract a handful* of ticks, so I'm far from an expert.

* not literally, that would be horrible

[Chip Down]

The tick that was pulled off me (after around 4 hours embedded) was so intact that it extracted itself from the twister slot and started crawling around.

Yeah, exactly, the ticks I've extracted appeared to be perfectly healthy.
"catch and release"

[Waffle Stomper]

Incidentally, it's interesting how long an extracted tick can survive. You might think it's dead, but blow on it and it will squirm around for a minute before going dormant again.

I had one squirm in a vial of rubbing alcohol for a couple days before there was no further movement.

[BigBear]

Chip Down: your "catch and release" comment is very funny

I just hope I don't get bitten by one of your ticks. However, my policy is more like "stand your ground." If it bites me, it dies. That goes for animals big and small.

BTW, I could use another bear skin carpet. That cougar skin in the guest bedroom is getting a bit worn out.posting.php?mode=reply&f=18&t=28121#

[retired jerry]

hmmm...

my cat bit me...

[Water]

i got 2 tick bites this year. One on the top of my forearm near my elbow out in the ochocos in may. Pulled it off the second i noticed it and no reaction really. Itched for a few days, small spot for a week, then gone. Whew, as my prior tick bites in the previous years lasted for months upon months..

Then I got a bite under my left pectoral muscle july 1st down in the siskiyous. Must have be a section we went through as my dog picked up a bunch that day but we did a hike with plenty of brush and tall grass just 1 ridgeline/valley over and zero ticks.

Anyways the tick wasn't on me for more than an hour and had bitten, I pulled it off and killed it (always). Within 12hrs later, that night, I couldn't sleep due to pain in my shoulder. I was wracking my mind for where I must have jarred it, having done some off trail up hill travel with a 25lb kid on my back and other misc stuff.. surely i had tweaked it. The next morning inspection showed a line of red traveling up from the tick bite to my armpit where my lymph node had swelled considerable (maybe like the size of a small mandarin orange?)..basically the 'cup' of my armpit was bulged out instead of in..and my entire shoulder hurt 5 out of 10 on the pain scale.

By late Tuesday it felt better, and Wednesday we had a town day scheduled and I managed to get in an out of urgent care at Curry Health Center in Brookings in about 35 minutes with a prescription for doxycycline which I finished on Saturday. No more pain but intense itching at the bite and around it still and it looks terrible. I feel like I'm getting a hyper-reactive immune response to tick bites these days. At almost 40 I guess it is finally time to establish a PCP and keep an eye on these things so I've got a follow up at the end of the month. I am guessing I'm going to have to have the bite area excised or wait for a granuloma to form and that will be removed.