# Bit by a tick.



## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

So today I was getting ready to take a shower and I noticed a tick on my waist band area. I removed him and killed it but I'm sure I was bit wen I popped him he was full. So now tomorrow after work i get to go to the doc. .... Fabulous .


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## MDsapper (Mar 12, 2013)

good luck, i wish you the best.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks MD. I'm sorta freeked out a bit


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

Doc? Well it is that time of year. I can't tell ya how many ticks I've pulled off my kids. Wash the area, clean it with some peroxide, make sure the head is not still attached, and unless you get a fever, no worries.

I'm not a doctor, just a mama.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

For reals? I've never been bitten and I don't know how long that freek show was there. So no fever I'm ok?


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

If it makes you feel any better only 25-50% of ticks carry the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease. And of several varieties of tick, only 2 are carriers. Plus the tick has to be on you for 24+ hours to transmit the infection. So the odds are in your favor. Best of luck.

http://patients.about.com/od/misdia...mes-Disease-And-Other-Tick-Borne-Diseases.htm


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

When I lived in MN I was bitten by hundreds(thousands?) of ticks and so was every other farmer. It is unlikely you will die from it.


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

PipLogan said:


> For reals? I've never been bitten and I don't know how long that freek show was there. So no fever I'm ok?


Bless your heart. I'm sorry. Don't worry. It will be a little red for a day or so. Like I said, make sure the head is gone. Number one worry will be infection at the spot, so clean it good. Just be aware of fever.

Call and talk to a nurse if you want to, may put your mind at ease.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks guys, sorry to spazz


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

Yep, no need to worry unless you start to experience fever or you see a reddened ring around the area. The tough part will be to keep from scratching it. Ticks are just a way of life here and I hate them (although the daily "Tick Checks" can be fun). ;?)


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

If you are in Lyme country doc would probably give you prophylaxis doxycyclene, maybe 2 x day for 2 days.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks guys, this whole living rural thing is great but I'm still figuring out when to panic and when not to panic


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

I had a tick embedded into my hip towards the side/front, just below the waist-line while I was on an 2-week emergency spill response in Maryland 13 years ago. The on-site EMS team told me to use an irritant (such as after-shave or cologne) to get it to back it's mouth parts out and drop off (also acted as an immediate form of disinfecting due to the denatured alcohol), but it didn't work, so I slowly twisted and pulled to remove it with tweezers on it's head. I'd swear that little SOB left part of it's mouth in me, because to this day, I still have a small lump which occasionally itches, but I have suffered no ill effects from a site infection or fever from Lymes disease..maybe I just got lucky, but 13 years? I neevr thought about getting it lanced and removed right away, 'cuz I didn't think anything was still in there, but after a couple years, I decided to leave it alone if it didn't cause a problem. Maybe I have a healthy immune system, but I wouldn't think this would be normal, even for me. The body should attack that site due to foreign material being embedded under the skin...didn't seem to happen for me, though.

Anyway, if Lymes disease is of concern, and it was in you for an extended period, probably see the doc, but otherwise, don't sweat it. Site infection, as DJ mentioned, should be your main concern for now.

Good luck! Wish I were living rural, myself...feel a bit of envy for those who do...grew up on a farm/ranch, and I do miss it a lot, sometimes.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

THanks buddy, the longest it could have been in there was Tuesday evening. I went hunting that night.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Takes more than 24 hour attachment to be infected by Lyme.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

That's what I've been hearing hence the mini panic attack. I don't think it was there Tuesday but I don't know for 100%.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

No need to waste cash on doc visits. That sucker will itch like the dickens for a few days. Don't scratch it too much. I got bit three times on the junk one time. I wish that on no man.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

8thDayStranger said:


> No need to waste cash on doc visits. That sucker will itch like the dickens for a few days. Don't scratch it too much. I got bit three times on the junk one time. I wish that on no man.


Been there. Experienced that. Resisting the urge to scratch in public took _real_ control.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

8thDayStranger said:


> I got bit three times on the junk one time. I wish that on no man.


About a decade or so ago, I was making a BBQ pit for a buddy of mine from an old water heater. He went to the back of his lot and was burning the foam insulation blanket in an old metal garbage can while standing in the tall grass, with khaki shorts on.

Chiggers. He never knew what hit him! I also just about never felt so sorry for someone. I think he said the "general" got bit a dozen times...


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

WOW!!! That's somewhere I would never want chiggers!! I had my first run in with chiggers about three years ago. Absolutely miserable little creatures.


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## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

Chiggers (Redbug where I come from ) are aweful..My son had Rockey Moutain Tick Fever over 35 years ago and it was bad.It looks like measles under the skin(rash) and very high fever Again that was ages ago!!! So just keep a watch.And just to be safe we do the tick check on each other often in the family.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks for the stories / advice . I think I'll wait till the mrs gets home and tell her I'm going to need Tick check


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

To relieve the itch on the bite itself, I recommend any one of these essential oils: Lavender, eucalyptus globulus, citronella (not the stuff you burn in those torches!), tea tree, peppermint, or rosemary.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Pip*



PipLogan said:


> Thanks for the stories / advice . I think I'll wait till the mrs gets home and tell her I'm going to need Tick check


You probably should check everywhere. Where there is one , there are usualy more.

Be sure to check out Big Pipi and the twins. They seem to paticulary like that territory .

I recomend "Off deep Woods" for your next outing.

I used to get them when I was younger and thought nothing about it. Ijust pulled them out and it made an itchy red spot for a day or two .

Now that I am old, they leave a scar that looks like a gun shot wound for a year or more.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Done and done, the boys are good. After extensive searching i seem to be tick free!


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

They like all warm places. Check in your belly button too...I've had a few find there way in there and it is not pleasant.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Hot dang! I'm en route to the bathroom with tweezers and a lighter ( things I never thought I'd say) lol


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## Kenneth (Mar 31, 2013)

All kidding aside it does seem that in the last couple a years the bites have gotten worse . Some bites I got years ago still have bumps and occasionally flair up with a bad case of the itches . 
Don't know if this is a getting older thing or a tic thing . Either one is a drag , lol , Kenneth


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

When I first read the thread title, I thought, so what!

I guess it's the area of the country you live in. Here in Nebraska, ticks are apart of life. I've come back from the fields and had 10-20 ticks on me. I've never considered it a big deal.

Here is what I've found that helps is to use tick repellent and to wear calf length socks and then pull them over your pant legs. Duct tape works also to seal up lose pants. As soon as you get out of the field brush your self off and if you can have someone look you over. When I get home, I have my wife look through my hair and watch me as I take my clothes off. Never mix the clothes with any other clothes in the house.

I have 2 dogs that are tick magnets. I put Frontline on them the first of every month and that stuff works very well. The ticks will just craw all over them but don't bite.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

You might get lucky and have no Lyme infection, but for 10 cents of antibiotic why not make sure?

If you get body ache like the flu or run a fever get some doxycycine in you ASAP. Lyme is deadly serios business. It WILL kill you if you leave it untreated, if you treat it within a day or two you will recover within days - ignore it for weeks it will give you MONTHS of pain. Survive untreated for months it will make you suffer with chronic pain, nerve damage, and organ damage for years and years. Do not fool with Lyme disease! Not all Lyme disease manifests with the bullseye rash.

See these threads:

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f3/lyme-disease-17946/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f91/ne-ticks-17945/


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## Roslyn (Feb 20, 2012)

Ticks are nothing to scoff at. I live in a tick area, but was always told that it wasn't an area with Lyme disease. 8-9 years ago I took my dogs for their checkup and at that time the Vet was doing a routine screening for dogs to see if they had been exposed to Lyme. Both my dogs tested positive. The vet kept asking me if we had traveled "North of Interstate 80" in Pa because we were his first positives for local only animals.

Back then we kept Frontline on the dogs every month like clockwork because we were pulling more than 5 ticks a day from them both. And they had to go back to the vets for more blood for a more exacting test. Both numbers came back that they had to have antibiotics and they never had symptoms.

My Pug is fine to this day, but my other dog died about 16 months later from a liver issue that was never diagnosed. I didn't have the heart to get full answers with a necropsy. 

So, then we ended up getting a puppy and also kept him using Frontline because of the ticks. When he was about 8 months old he got really sick one morning. He was lethargic and within a short time he was shivering and moaning, unable to get up and had a fever. I rushed him to the vets when they opened and they kept him that day and came back with a bacteria that NO ONE could pronounce and the vet staff didn't know existed and gave me a paper printed from the internet. It was a tick borne bacteria. Antibiotics cleared him up and he has been fine since.

Well, I have stopped using Frontline. I don't know if it is prolonged use that has made it no longer effective or what, but I'm still pulling ticks off the dogs, even though they have had Frontline.

Instead, I groom regularly and that is how I find ticks to pull. They are bathed regularly etc.

When they have a tick, or when a family member has a tick we pull it and then I schmear a calendula/plaintain/yarrow balm on the site. Plaintain and yarrow are great for pain and itching and calendula has other healing properties. I also put a drop of tea tree oil a day later when I check the area.

It's tough with pets, but with people we put rubbing alcohol in a little jar and then up-end it over the tick and it usually lets go and makes popping it off much easier. Then I follow up with the balm and tea tree oil and make note to look at the site once a day.

Lyme's disease is more than just a round of antibiotics. You can have it without any skin rash. My husband has a family member with a long line of chronic symptoms that she keeps going to the doctor, but there has been no diagnosis. They are symptoms that are similar to many people who have a chronic lyme that suffer for years.

Lyme is a tricky thing and can hide in your body, which is why one test can say you don't have it, yet another says you do. Many doctors won't even test if you don't have the rash.

If you read about the history of Lyme it definitely raises your eyebrows and gives you the heebie jeebies.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

Lyme is like malaria for North America. Once you have it, you have it for life and when your body gets weak from some other illness or injury - it manifests. Treat it early and agressively to avoid a lifetime of suffering. 

Tea Tree Oil seems to help keep teh ticks off as does clothing treated with Peremythrin.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Lyme is like malaria only if you are a hypocondriac. Doxicycle will cure it.


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## jeremiyah (Feb 13, 2009)

Study lymephoto.com
They have a simple & effective remedy.
Salt & Vitamin C protocol.
It works.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

swjohnsey said:


> Lyme is like malaria only if you are a hypocondriac. Doxicycle will cure it.


Dead wrong. Do some research on chronic Lyme disease. Doxy only works if you treat immediately. If you are infected and fail to treat within a few weeks you will suffer for life.

http://www.underourskin.com/

http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/268761


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## jeremiyah (Feb 13, 2009)

A nurse told me that doxy was one of the most dangerous drugs -very easy to over do and mess up intestinal balance enough to kill someone.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

GroovyMike said:


> Lyme is like malaria for North America. Once you have it, you have it for life and when your body gets weak from some other illness or injury - it manifests. Treat it early and agressively to avoid a lifetime of suffering.
> 
> Tea Tree Oil seems to help keep teh ticks off as does clothing treated with Peremythrin.


Good advice,don't let them tell you lyme is'nt in your area.Its everywhere now.I had it in 1999 and caught it early about 3 days after I pulled it out of my head, doc said perfect bulleye bite site ,took strongest antibiotics known to man at the time.I was lucky I had an appointment that same week and ask him to look at it.He said it was lyme and good thing I noticed it and told him.

Any infected place after a tic now I go get meds.I've pulled about 10 off me so far thsi year.Have to watch since wild animals bring them into the yard,especially rabbits and squirrels.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)




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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)




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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

Got bit by a bunch of ticks this week. About 50 or so. Got some doxycycline today. I do agree, once you have it, it stays with you.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

I have it, my son in law one daughter and 3 of my 6 grandchildren have it ... My son in law has it the worst.. crazy things have happened to all of us .. it is an epidemic here in the Hudson Valley and most of the time you have to go repeatedly to test for it.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

faithmarie said:


> I have it, my son in law one daughter and 3 of my 6 grandchildren have it ... My son in law has it the worst.. crazy things have happened to all of us .. it is an epidemic here in the Hudson Valley and most of the time you have to go repeatedly to test for it.


It's amazing how bad it is in some areas. I've been bitten by probably hundreds of ticks in the last 15 to 20 years as i used to spend every day in a densely wooded area and I've never gotten sick. I've never even seen a doc for a bite, just pulled it out cleaned it and went on my way. Thankfully Lyme and the other nasties are not prevalent in my area. Hope you and your loved ones fare okay with everything.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

I think it is because of Lyme Connecticut .. or that island that they were experimenting with the ticks... I remember when they were shooting the deer that were swimming to the main land from that island years ago.... Plum Island. There was an up roar around here about killing the deer... LOL Oh well .. we do our best to try and stay healthy.. and trust The Lord for the rest...


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

More than likely, a course of antibiotics will be in order. Good luck.


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## rf197 (Jul 19, 2009)

Just took one out of my armpit which was gross. I'm a bit concerned cause I think part of the head is still in my skin. I can't see it very well and am going to have to wait for someone to get home later for a second opinion. Wondeful


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

Maybe you can go to one of those urgent care places and they will see it is a tick and give you a set of antibiotics ... and then do other protocols ... better safe than sorry ... kill the parasites before they get established....


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*The best*



rf197 said:


> Just took one out of my armpit which was gross. I'm a bit concerned cause I think part of the head is still in my skin. I can't see it very well and am going to have to wait for someone to get home later for a second opinion. Wondeful


The best thing to do is, 
1. Get a good sharp pocket knife and cut at least a 1/4 inch deep and a half inch in circumference all the way around the tick head.
You may need a mirror for this, remember to reverse all motion as the reflected image will be reversed.

2. You may at this point want to take a couple of drinks !

3. using a pair of needle nose pliers remove the plug of flesh containing the tic head.

4. Sew up the opening using an upholstery needle and monofilament fishing line.

5. apply antibiotic ointment to the area.

6. Take two more drinks !

OR

Skip steps 1. thru 4. and just do step 5. and 6. artydance:


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## Halloween (Nov 24, 2012)

rf197 said:


> Just took one out of my armpit which was gross. I'm a bit concerned cause I think part of the head is still in my skin. I can't see it very well and am going to have to wait for someone to get home later for a second opinion. Wondeful


Atleast you caught yours. Apparently I got hit 2x's on separate occasions. Both gave me lymes! Never knew I was bitten and never saw them


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

BillM said:


> The best thing to do is...:


ignore BillM's post! lol

Seriously the best thing to do to remove a tick is cover it in liquid dish soap and wait 5 minutes. Don't poke it or pull it! wait 5 minutes with it covered in soap. It will back itself out and you will be able to easily brush it off!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

GroovyMike said:


> the best thing to do to remove a tick is cover it in liquid dish soap and wait 5 minutes. It will back itself out


Yep... or Vaseline. They back out because they can't breath.


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## rf197 (Jul 19, 2009)

The head was in there still but my GF got it out with a sewing needle, tweezers, and beer....actually I had the beer


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

You can also light a match, blow it out, and touch the hot end to the tick. It will back out within seconds. :2thumb:


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## drfacefixer (Mar 8, 2013)

HarleyRider said:


> You can also light a match, blow it out, and touch the hot end to the tick. It will back out within seconds. :2thumb:


I'm not gonna be the downer on the party, but alot of the wives tales are not recommended by the medical experts. The best plan is to remove the tick as quickly as possible without stimulating a possible transmission. The recommedation is to remove the tick as close to the head pulling directly out and then disinfecting the area. burning it, smothering it, dousing it with organic solvents will likley remove the tick but increases the chances of the pathogenic transmission.Many of these wives tales work well for other non vector insects like north american chiggers. I would strongly head the advice of the experts on this one. (otherwise why even consider taking the doxy?)


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## JoKing (Mar 11, 2012)

One thing to mention...pull the tick out slowly. If you act like you're pulling off a band-aid, the head will most likely pop off. Also, if he ain't fat, you shouldn't worry so much about disease.


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## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

Have been cutting the grass at my "TM".The whole place has ticks everywhere.I've been told chicken can do a "number" on cleaning out the bugs in the yard!!! Sounds good to me!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

gabbyj310 said:


> I've been told chickens can do a "number" on cleaning out the bugs in the yard!!!


Don't know about chickens, but have heard for decades that Guinea Hens will eat ticks.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

__ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/121386152428363465/

Tick Removal: A nurse discovered a safe, easy way to remove ticks where they automatically withdraw themselves when you follow her simple instructions. "I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. "Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tickwith 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. Please pass on.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

Watch out for the little buggers. We nearly lost my mom to a tick bite last week - end result is bacterial menengitis from a bacteria transmitted by ticks. She couldn't keep anything down for 6 days - not even liquid. Without an IV she'd be dead. The bacterial infection is under control with doxycycline but she has weeks of recovery ahead because of the damage done to her brain and surrounding tissues from the swelling. She can barely walk now - no sense of balance. Not only is there Lyme disease, and Ehrlichiosis, but a new report out shows that in NYS the ticks are also now carrying the encephilitus virus which the study in the Poughkeepsie journal says can be transmitted in as little as 15 minutes.

Scary Scary stuff. Be careful out there! Take every tick bite seriously, it could be the one that kills you if left untreated.

Read his too:

http://healthland.time.com/2013/07/19/theres-a-new-disease-spread-by-ticks-and-its-not-lyme/


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

A couple companies make cloths that are supposed to repel or even kill ticks - permethrin is embedded right into the cloth, and doesn't wash out. Brands I know of are Insectshield and Nosilife


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

We live in N.Fl. and I have had to take high powered antibiotics 3 times in past 15 yr.s here from tic bite infections. We stayed in the woods pulling vines cutting limbs and small trees every since. 

Now I cover my pants with large socks, spray Deet or Adams on my socks and sleeves. Most tics are below 3feet so most come from the ground or low hanging branches, from what I was told.

Never leave the head in and always use some kind of antibiotic ointment like Neosporin or Polysporin and if it gets red seek dr immediately because you only have about a 4 day interval before it can get hard to treat. This is what they told me anyway.


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## rf197 (Jul 19, 2009)

Update..So I end up with another tick but this time its partially in the top of my foot. (better that than the top of my....) Anyhow I figured I would try the soap trick so I dropped a blob of liquid dish detergent on that little jerk and waited about 2 minutes. To my surprise it backed almost completely out and with a little grab from my now overworked tweezers I got him/her out whole. Score one for a wives tale.


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

local news for me - a second fatal tick bite this year in this area:

http://www.fox23news.com/news/local...tially-fatal-tick/Cew3IZxQ_UCbim3KMkgXug.cspx

http://www.news10.com/story/22966845/one-saratoga-resident-died-this-year-from-tick-borne-virus

http://www.fox23news.com/mostpopula...lness-in-the-area/j1Oee7Cu9kmIZwTXAfbYeg.cspx

The first I was aware of was from Erhlicia (bacteria) which caused organ failure in a 71 year old woman. This one was a viral infcetion. The scary thing is that antibiotics dont work on a viral infection and they can be transmitted to your from the tick in minutes not hours.

Be careful out there folks.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

GroovyMike said:


> The first I was aware of was from Erhlicia (bacteria) which caused organ failure in a 71 year old woman. This one was a viral infection. The scary thing is that antibiotics don't work on a viral infection and they can be transmitted to your from the tick in minutes not hours.


Zoiks! That sucks!


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## GroovyMike (Feb 25, 2010)

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/sci...ng-symptoms/DP82z7oYLdfq8wEQZ7ekaL/story.html


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## jeremiyah (Feb 13, 2009)

http://www.lymephotos.com/

http://thelymespot.blogspot.com/2010/03/adis-saltc-protocol.html

http://www.lymediseaseresource.com/New_Salt_Protocol.html

http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Plus-Protocol-Lyme-Infection/dp/1463575483

http://saltc.proboards.com/


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