Tick Prevention Tips

The best way to avoid tick bites is to stay away from tick infested areas. However, if it is necessary, follow these tips when working or walking in areas potentially inhabited by ticks.

1.Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Light colors are best so ticks are easier to detect.

2.Secure the bottom of pants inside socks or tie close around the ankles

3.Wear a hat.

4.Tuck long hair under a hat.

5.Carefully inspect your body after exiting infested areas. Have another person inspect your backside and back of your head.

6.Wash clothing in warm water and detergent immediately.

7.Never throw potentially infested clothing in a hamper with other clothes or onto the floor.

8.Protect pets by preventing them from venturing into tick-infested areas or consult your veterinarian for tick treatment products. Remember, your dog can also contract Lyme Disease.

9.Inspect pets carefully for ticks after walking them in wooded areas or fields.  

10.Use tick repellent applied to clothing, particularly the lower body and the arms.

Ticks Bite Symptoms

Tick bites are generally painless. You may not even notice the bite. And you may never find the tick if it falls off. Small ticks, like the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, are so tiny they may be nearly undetectable. Some ticks are about as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

The actual bite may cause symptoms only after the tick drops off. You may notice local redness, itching, and burning-and, rarely, localized intense pain. The results of the illnesses transmitted by ticks often begin days to weeks after the tick is gone. That's why doctors may not suspect a tick-related illness.

You may have any of these symptoms:

•Feel as if you have the flu

•Fever

•Numbness

•Rash

•Confusion

•Weakness

•Pain and swelling in joints

•Palpitations

•Shortness of breath

•Nausea and vomiting