Some Advice on Ticks!

I always take a little Crisco Shortening with us out camping. You cover it with a coat of Crisco and watch it. After a minute or two it will back right out and there is no worry about the head. I don't know why some get ticks and some don't. My oldest son had them all the time while the other two hardly ever did. My dog gets them a lot too.
Also, keep the tick in a jar or baggie. They say it is good to have if a person gets sick, or at least that is what they said when my kids were small.

Don't worry about lyme disease. The ticks that carry lyme are about the size of a pin head. It sounds like this tick is much larger.

I would take her in to the doctor to make sure the head was not left behind. Ticks can carry not only Lyme Disease which can be very debilitating, but in some areas they can also carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and encephalitis. My cousin's little girl has been on an antibiotic for the last two weeks because of a tick bite that caused a fever. She felt pretty nasty for a week before she started the antibiotic.

It is true that things like vasaline, sunscreen, etc. can smother ticks, but you still have to be careful when you pull them off that the head isn't left behind. I have also heard that using that method can also cause the tick to spew bacteria into the bite area. Even if the tick has died, it can still cause an infection or illness. I would avoid using a hot pin (or a hot knife like my dad did with me once) just because it is too easy to slip and burn your daughter. This web site has some great information about how to remove ticks.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ticks/article_em.htm

The best way to avoid ticks is to use a product with Deet but that shouldn't be used on kids under a certain age. It also helps if you can avoid dead wood and tall grasses and brush. Wearing long pants and sleeves and tight clothing can also help keep them from reaching your skin. My mom used to make us tuck our pant legs into our socks and always had me pull my hair back. If you wear light colored clothing it is easier to spot ticks. Good luck!

Melaleuca oil is one of the best ways of removing ticks. Put a couple of drops on the tick and it should easily come off in about a minute and the area will be disenfected besides.Check to make sure it's the good stuff. I get it through my company. You can also make up a tick repelant spray with some of the my products.
Blessings,
S.
Mom of a 14 year old, married 32 year and home business owner with Melaleuca.

Hi N.,

I've found this year to be so bad for ticks! What we do is put on bug spray that helps repel ticks. If you find one embedded, do not put anything on it to help ease it out. It sounds gross, but if you put rubbing alcohol or something on it, the tick will just regurgitate what it's eaten so far. All ticks should be cause for concern as some carry Lyme disease and some carry Rocky Mountain fever. Both are difficult to diagnose since the symptoms are similar to flu and many other common ailments. Just take a pair of slanted tweezers and gently pull it out, getting as close to the surface of the skin and the tick's head as possible. If the tick was in your daughter for more than 12-24 hours and you don't think the head was removed, take her to the doctor. Chances are she's fine, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. Especially if the area hurts, I'd take her.

Good luck!!

S.

Someone just sent me an email with this hint. It is worth trying.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

Good luck! I have 14 month old twin girls and we have found ticks on 1 of them. Luckily they were just crawling on her and hadn't 'dug' into her yet. We have said that she must be our tick magnet.

I have gotten several emails about how to remove ticks, and one trick was to get a cotton ball, saturate it with dish soap, and just hold it on the tick. The tick will suffocate and back out of the skin, and you just use the cotton ball and wipe the nasty creature right off, not even needing to touch it. I don't know if it works as I haven't tried it yet, the only tick we had this year was on my 2 year old son in his hair and he wouldn't sit still long enough for me to try this trick, I just had to use tweezers and pull fast. I am curious to see if this works, ticks just give me the creepy crawlies and I cannot touch them at all. Good luck to your tick magnet :) I hope you find something that works for you.

i used to get ticks a lot as a child, my grandma often took care of them, besides just pulling, i think she would sometimes smother it with vaseline or burn it with a hot pin-- these methods usually caused the ticks to pull their heads out so they could just be plucked off

I would second the advice to save the tick in case your daughter gets ill. You do not have to save it in alcohol, however. Place it in a sealed ziplock bag with a damp paper towel, mark it with your daughter's name, the date & general location (some diseases are tracked). Store it in the refrigerator. I did this with a tick that bit my son, & was told it would survive a month this way. Actually, it was still alive 6 months later when I finally disposed of it.

Cover the tick with vasaline or something of that nature. After a little while, it will sufficate and then it should pull off easy in one peice. You can also try killing it with rubbing alcohol.

This is the link to the Centers for Disease Control:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/StopTicks/

There you will find information about which ticks carry which diseases (while any tick can carry a number of diseases, only the blacklegged (deer) tick carries Lyme Disease. On this site you will also find information for precautions you can take, how and where to look for ticks, and removal advice.

They're gross little buggers...in the past we've found several each summer; this year we went WAY-preventative in the yard (creating a "barrier," "fogging" the yard between the field and where the kids play, etc., and we haven't found any yet. Good luck!

Hi N., I would say to make sure you keep some brand of Tick and Mosquito spray on her all the time. They do make some that are safe for little kids. I heard that if you put vaseline on the tick it will draw back out because it can't breathe, and I also heard that Dawn dish soap soaked on a cotton ball works if you put it on the tick for 20 seconds. I am not so sure about the soap idea, but you can give it a try. I think maybe the tick head is still embedded in your daughters head. I would just call a nurse and ask what they think you should do. I wish I could be more help. Good luck.

Hi N.!

PLEASE RE READ CINDY W!!!!! SHE IS GREAT!!!!!
I would have written the exact same thing!

More info about me, I got Lymes disease from one of the many ticks that bit me and I didn't know...
I went undiagnosed for 9 YEARS and then went on antibiotics for another 6 YEARS until I got pregnant. It is a horrible disease... One that I would encourage every parent to treat with every precaution. The symptoms are so all over the place. As Cindy stated less than 50% of the people develop the "bullseye" ring. Some just feel under the weather- kind of flu like for a few days.
I am not a lover of drugs, but in this case I would say- fight for it!!!!! I went through Lymes disease, and it was horrible!

I pray only the best and healing for your daughter.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Blessings,
G. H.

PS- we live in a suburb of the Twin Cities!

I'm sure you have heard this by now but I do not have time to read the responses. You can burn them and usually they will pop right off. Just pull the hair back as much as possible and hold a lit match to the tick's butt and he'll be ready to go! That's how my family has removed ticks for ever. They do this because it is VERY important to get the head too as the head can keep burrowing into the scalp without it's body. If you question whether the head is still there, take her to the doctor. As far as keeping them off her goes, we always wear ball caps or bandanas over our hair when we're out fishing or camping. My fiancee has also had a couple of ticks already this year just from fishing (somebody forgot their ball cap!!) so perhaps it's just a bad year for them. Hope this helps!

First, I freely admit I am NOT a professional, but I was taught back in the girl scout camp days that ticks burrow in clockwise, so if you grasp the tick as close to the skin as you can, and give it a gently twist/turn counterclockwise before you pull (gently! you don't want to rip the body off!), it makes the pincers release so when you pull, you get the head, too. I've been doing this most of my life now, and have yet to leave the head in. (I became the official tick remover of the family @ about the age of 9 as my mom is bug-phobic!) Once the tick is out, check out it's little head, if it's got a bit of skin attached, you got the head. I've heard the smothering thing too, and as far as I know it works, I'm just too stubborn to let it sit in me longer than it absolutely has to! I've also heard you can light a match (the big wooden ones) blow it out, and apply the hot tip to the tick to make it reverse, never tried it, tho! Obiviously as the other moms have said, cleanse the area afterwards! Also, the less you freak out about it, the less your daughter will freak out. Like I said my mom is completely bug-phobic and thank god my dad was laid back about it and the camp counselors were, too, otherwise I'd be as chicken as my mom!

I would read up on lyme disease, too, just to be safe, and learn what to watch for for symptoms. I wouldn't stress too much about it tho, especially if the tick is bigger than the head of a pin and has either a white necklace marking or white racing stripe markings on it's back. Those are the normal ticks that have been plaugeing us for forever!

You can also try acetone nail polish or cooking oil. Ticks apparently breathe thru their butts so if you put stuff on the end sticking out, they will let go and you can grab them then. Don't just pull them out because you could end up leaving part of the head behind and it could get infected.

Just keep it clean and keep an eye on it. Ticks are really gross, but they are mostly harmless. (Except for the deer ticks who carry lyme disease.)

Hello,
We live in Northen Minnesota and have daily tick searches. About a week ago I was sent an e-mail claiming that if you soak a cotton ball in liquid soap and hold it to the wood tick for 10-20 seconds the tick will come right off. Of course I have not had a wood tick on me, the kids, the dog or the husband sense I received the e-mail so I don't know if this will work. But it shouldn't hurt. ;)

first of all - WHERE DO YOU LIVE!! your list of education is impressive and i would like to do all that someday. i have the home day care.. just the other stuff would be nice. congrats - great work - lol.

ok, 2 ticks in 2 separate weekends ISNT a lot LOL. my grandpa is a trapper and he probably has 20 or so on him a day LOL.

anyway, you need a tweezer, and you need to grab as far down to the skin as you can. on that one that you missed, keep a CLOSE EYE on it to see if a ring shaped rash develops. you probably know that. take her to the doctor if the symptoms you describe are still there .... i dont know if the ring always develops or not. you must be in a deer tick area considering the size of tick you saw. wow.

anyway, good luck. i hear the only thing to prevent getting them is DEET, and thats some nasty stuff, so consult your doctor. cut hair short i guess, wear light colors to spot them on clothing, etc. i dont know. i HATE ticks, and i just try to avoid the long grass areas where they may be hiding.... :(

This link explains how to properly remove a tick, and prevent and treat tick bites. NEVER USE VASELINE OR A HOT NEEDLE!!!
http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?lic=1&article_s...

The best way that H ave found to remove ticks is to cover the tick and small surrounding area with vaseline. It blocks their breathing and the back out and let go. I hope this helps.

M.

Growing up in Kentucky ticks were a part of our everyday life. They don't "creep me out" like some people since I pulled them off my dogs and myself all the time. The best way to get a tick out is to smother it. Usually spreading vaseline on the entry point will cause it to back out because it can't "breath." However, since you found this last one after it had become embedded I would watch the site very carefully for a day and if it doesn't get better take her to the Dr. to have it checked. They are nasty little critters and can cause serious illness so just make sure you check yourself and your kids over very closely, but yeah, sometimes they slip past you. Have fun camping and good luck in your studies.

I don't think the area should hurt after you pull the tick out, at least it never has on me or my kids. Maybe you better see the professionals if it gets worse.

Two things that make tick removal easier - try a cotton ball soaked in alcohol or with petroleum jelly on it for a few seconds, then remove with a tweezers (hold the head as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out). Keep ALL ticks (even if they are not attached when you find them) removed in a small tightly closed container (I use an empty baby food jar) filled with rubbing alcohol. If there is a reaction, or if you are not sure if you got it all, the doctor can then examine or test the tick. Be very careful with the tiny ones, as they may be deer ticks and can carry lyme disease. Sounds like your daughter's reaction to the tick bites is similar to my daughter's. Her body actually rejects the tick and reacts to it's saliva by forming a hard knot of tissue around it. The bad thing is that then the tick burrows further and attaches more firmly and is harder to remove. If you are not sure, or if there is any redness or anything around the bite, have your doctor check it out.

First of all you need to put some heat near the tick to get it to back off and then pull it out and you'll get the head, or go to the pet store and buy a dog tick remover. It gets close to the head, so you can get the whole thing. Also, after removing it, try taping a penny on the tick bite; the copper helps pull the venom out and it does not hurt as much.