I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you spend much time outdoors, you’re probably going to get bitten by a tick. And that means you could contract Lyme disease.
Climate change is partly to blame. Warming global temperatures are helping boost tick populations in two ways: they’re giving ticks more time to complete their life cycle, and they’re making it easier for these pests to survive in more northerly latitudes that used to be too cold for them.
But development and sprawl are factors, too. As development shrinks forests and wetlands, deer, foxes, and other animals that carry ticks move into suburban and even urban neighborhoods. The ticks may rub off onto bushes or fall into the grass, where pets can easily pick them up, or you’ll get them when you’re gardening or having a barbecue.
More Lyme Disease
More ticks everywhere only means one thing: More Lyme disease.
According to researchers from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in Toronto, Canada, Lyme disease incidence increased about 80% in the United States between 1993 and 2007. And it’s still going strong.
The symptoms of this wretched affliction can be miserable: fever, headache, fatigue, and a skin rash that often creates a distinctive “bull’s eye” circle around the place where you were bitten.
If you don’t treat the disease, the infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. And once it gets hold of you, it can last for years. Immediate treatment, usually with antibiotics, is absolutely critical.
Just as important, though, is to protect yourself against getting a tick bite in the first place.
How to Prevent a Tick Bite
1) Take precautions year-round, but especially April – September, when ticks are most active.
2) Stay on paths and avoid high grass. It’s easy for ticks to attach themselves to your clothes or skin if you’re walking through woods, a meadow, a forest, or even a tall lawn that hasn’t been mowed for a while. Stay on a clear path where you won’t brush up against foliage that could be bearing ticks. Walk in the center of trails.
3) When hiking through woods or tall grass, wear protective clothing. That includes long pants that fit close to your ankles, socks, boots or shoes that enclose your entire foot, long-sleeved shirts, and a hat.
4) Garden carefully. When gardening in your yard or mowing your lawn, wear long pants, socks, and shoes rather than shorts and sandals. Don a long-sleeve shirt and a hat, too. Remember, ticks can brush off deer and other wildlife and end up in the low branches of a tree, where they can drop onto you if you happen to be walking below.
5) Apply tick repellent insecticides sparingly. I prefer to wear protective clothes and spray the clothing than to spray my skin directly.
6) Look for ticks when you finish your hike or come in from outdoors. Brush off your clothes, shake out your hair, and examine your exposed skin and your scalp closely. A tick is very very tiny so take your time as you look yourself over. Parents should take extra care with their children, looking under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.
7) Examine your pets. Keep your cats and dogs up-to-date on their flea and tick regimen. Pets can get Lyme disease, too. They can also transport ticks into your home, where they could bite you. The best strategy is to keep ticks out of the house and off your body and that of your pet. Before you bring your pet inside, comb its fur with a fine comb to reveal any ticks that could be clinging to it. Otherwise, it’s easy for the pet to transfer the tick to you.
Meet My Tick Bite
Last May, after a weekend spent gardening in my backyard, I woke up to discover this big red welt on my lower abdomen.
As soon as I saw it, I thought “tick bite,” though I don’t remember seeing a tick, and there was no tick apparent.
I immediately went to the doctor, and his reaction was the same as mine. He took one look and decided to put me on antibiotics right away so I wouldn’t get Lyme disease.
It took almost two weeks for the welt to go away. I finished the antibiotic treatment and have no Lyme disease symptoms. But this spring and summer, I’ll be much more careful about dressing to protect myself against getting bitten again.
How to Remove a Tick
If you happen to find a tick on your skin, remove it carefully by following these directions, courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control:
√ Do not paint it with petroleum jelly or hold a lit match close to the creature.
√ Use a fine-tipped set of tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
√ Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; you don’t want the insect’s mouth parts to break off and remain in the skin.
√ Thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
√ If the tick is still alive, submerse it in alcohol or flush it down the toilet.
√ Do NOT try to crush it with your fingers.
3 thoughts on “Why You Are Probably Going to Get Bitten by a Tick This Summer (Unless You Follow My Advice)”
I go hiking a lot in the Los Angeles area so this was a helpful (albeit slightly frightening) post. Are there any natural tick repellents that you know of?
I really think your best bet is to keep your body covered as much as possible, to look carefully for ticks while you’re hiking and then when you’re finished, and to use the recommended repellents on your clothing rather than your skin. I know it is inconvenient, but that’s probably the best way to stay safe. Good luck.
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