Yuck, a tick!

[FinallyRetired]

Been playing a lot of golf lately, and this morning while showering I felt this thing sticking out of my right upper thigh. It was blood red and I pulled it off, I think it was a disgusting tick

I should have kept it in case a doc wants to test it, but I let it wash down the drain, got tweezers and pulled out what was left. I have a couple of red areas where it was attached and, come to think of it, I've had a really sore spot just above that under the skin, like maybe a swollen lymph node?

Never had a tick before, do I have to do anything else? What are the chances of lyme, or some creeping crud infection?

 

[bbbamI]

I got ticks on me all the time (well not all the time) when I was a kid. Never did get sick or have any problems. Of course now, some people would say you need to go the ER.

I'd say if you don't get a fever or rash, don't worry about it.

 

[REWahoo]

I got ticks on me all the time (well not all the time) when I was a kid.

Same here. And I agree you shouldn't worry about it at all unless you develop some sort of symptoms - highly unlikely.

 

[LOL!]

At your next yearly physical, tell the doctor about this tick. Your blood can be tested for antibodies to antigens from the causative agent of Lyme et al other tick-borne diseases.

 

[dex]

http://www.lyme.org/otherdis/ld_symptoms.html

[SIZE=-1]BRAIN
Nerve conduction defects (weakness/paralysis of limbs, loss of reflexes, tingling sensations of the extremities - peripheral neuropathy), severe headaches, stiff neck, meningitis, cranial nerve involvement (e.g. change in smell/taste; difficulty chewing, swallowing, or speaking; hoarseness or vocal cord problems; facial paralysis - Bell's palsy; dizziness/fainting; drooping shoulders; inability to turn head; light or sound sensitivity; change in hearing; deviation of eyeball [wandering or lazy eye], drooping eyelid), stroke, abnormal brain waves or seizures, sleep disorders, cognitive changes (memory problems, difficulty in word finding, confusion, decreased concentration, problems with numbers) and, behavioral changes (depression, personality changes).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Other psychiatric manifestations that have been reported in the scientific literature include: panic attacks; disorientation; hallucinations; extreme agitation; impulsive violence, manic, or obsessive behavior; paranoia; schiziphrenic-like states, dementia, and eating disorders. Several patients have committed suicide.[/SIZE]

 

[CuppaJoe]

Ain't summer glorious! Thank you for not posting photos. I know nothing about ticks and thought this thread was about a down-tick in you PF. You have a right to be ticked off. edit: where is that sick joke smilie?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

If it was embedded for less than 24 hours, there is little risk of Lyme Disease transmission. If longer, it is wise to be extra-observant for fever, rash, or other unexpected symptoms. Your doc will want to keep a low threshold for ruling out Lyme should any symptoms arise, which is easily treated in the early stages.

As long as you are well, there is little to do now, since it can take weeks for a blood test to turn positive. I'd make a phone call to see if he/she wants a baseline blood test to assess for "recency of exposure" should a later symptom arise. Saw a lot of Lyme when I lived in Wisconsin.

 

[DblDoc]

More than just Lyme disease in your neck of the woods: Tick-Borne Diseases*- Fairfax County, Virginia

From their website:

If you are bitten by a tick you should remove it promptly, and you may wish to consult with your health care provider. If you develop any signs and symptoms of early Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or ehrlichiosis you should promptly seek medical attention. For instructions on how to remove a tick safely, please refer to our Tick Removal page.

We saw some Lyme disease and rare Babesiosis in Mass when I was a resident.

DD

 

[Achiever51]

Lyme Disease is really nothing to joke about. Last month I went to the funeral for a friend's daughter who suffered for ten years from the disease before dying at the age of 42 from a massive stroke. Before getting the disease, she was an incredible harpist. One of the heart-breaking effects of the Lyme disease was her loss of hearing...but before the deafness, she developed extreme sensitivity to sounds of any kind. Even the ticking of a clock could cause her tremendous pain.

 

[Nords]

Been playing a lot of golf lately, and this morning while showering I felt this thing sticking out of my right upper thigh. It was blood red and I pulled it off, I think it was a disgusting tick
Never had a tick before, do I have to do anything else? What are the chances of lyme, or some creeping crud infection?

How'd the tick get there? You didn't by any chance happen to leave a fairway during any of those rounds, did you?

Joking aside, just before my FIL moved out of the Maryland house he decided to be a nice homeseller and mow the lawn. A couple weeks after he came to Hawaii he noticed a red rash on his shin, about six inches from top to bottom. Thinking it was some exotic tropical disease, he quickly made an appointment with a dermatologist.

The regular dermatologist was on vacation so a younger doc was covering for him. (This is an issue with my FIL, for whom anyone under the age of 50 is a "kid" and not to be trusted to have credibility or experience.) The younger doc commented that the rash was oval on his shinbone but if it had occurred on a flat surface then it'd be circular and a sign of Lyme disease. My FIL said that couldn't be possible because he'd just gotten to Hawaii. When the doctor realized FIL had moved here from MD he ordered the blood test. FIL grudgingly complied and casually inquired as to when the regular doc would be back on the job.

By the time the regular doc was back the rash had disappeared. FIL went to see the old doc anyway and the Lyme disease concern was dismissed by both of them as unlikely.

A week later the test came back-- Lyme disease. The medication makes one extremely photophobic, so his next few weeks in the bright Hawaii sunshine were pretty miserable.

The younger doc was given his due measure of respect and contrition. Now FIL won't tramp in the East Coast fields during summer without shoes, long pants, & high socks, no matter how miserably hot the weather.

 

[Ronstar]

Several neighbors and I get ticks all the time. Some have contracted Lyme Disease. My friend's research found what Rich stated - little risk of Lyme Disease if embedded less than 24 hours. Some neighbors keep their ticks by scotch taping them to pieces of paper (I guess in case they develop symptoms later and need the tick for analysis).

My latest tick bite bled on and off for a few days, and I still have a scar a few months later. I got one of these as a prank gift, but it really does work:

TICKED OFF™ the world's simplest tick remover

 

[FinallyRetired]

More than just Lyme disease in your neck of the woods: Tick-Borne Diseases*- Fairfax County, Virginia

From their website:

We saw some Lyme disease and rare Babesiosis in Mass when I was a resident.

DD

Thanks, I was playing golf in Fairfax County and I think that's where I got the tick.

And here I thought Babesiosis was a disease you got from too much girl watching on the beach

 

[TromboneAl]

And here I thought Babesiosis was a disease you got from too much girl watching on the beach

That's a whole different kind of swelling.

 

[Martha]

I am an expert tick remover. When growing up my younger sibs used to go and play in the woods and swamp. When they would come in I'd strip them down and removed the ticks. I still remember one time counting 40. Both wood (dog) ticks and black legged (deer) ticks. Despite strip searches one of us inevitably would have an attached tick. I was the designated remover of the attached ticks. From the dogs too. I would grab very close the the skin with fingernails and slowly pull. Never squeeze the tick. If you don't have long enough finger nails use a tweezers. We had outside dogs any they could get covered with ticks. Big stinking blood filed ticks. Man, I am thankful for Heartguard and other such products that they have today.

Once when I was maybe 10 I had a tick attached to my stomach and a big red rash developed. Never told the parents. That was my worst experience with ticks. Of course these were the days before Lyme disease and other tick borne diseases are rare in my part of the country.

When I am in tick country, like out at the family farm, I do a shower and scrub when I come in. Nevertheless, once in a while one attaches. So far no illness for me but my cousin had a bad case of Lyme disease from a tick likely received near the farm. Deer ticks live in woodsy brushy areas.

 

[freebird5825]

I live in the country but I do not go not go wooded areas unless there is a wide path cut. Deer abound just a few hundred yards from my house.
I check my dogs frequently. The dogs cannot get into the woods because my entire yard is fenced in.

 

[TooFrugal]

I grew up near a woods. My siblings, our dog and I got ticks fairly regularly. We just pulled them off with a tweezers and never thought twice about it back then.

One of the heart-breaking effects of the Lyme disease was her loss of hearing...but before the deafness, she developed extreme sensitivity to sounds of any kind. Even the ticking of a clock could cause her tremendous pain.

Hearing loss and noise sensitivity can also be a sign of magnesium deficiency, which interestingly can also come from long term antibiotic use (which is also the way Lyme disease is treated).

 

[TromboneAl]

My understanding is that the ticks just sit on a piece of grass waiting for something warm-blooded to come by so they can grab onto it. Just think how many there must be out there -- most waiting in vain.

I once put a tick on a piece of wood. When I moved my arm back and forth past it, it would rear up and track it. Kind of holding its "arms" out and saying "uppy!"

 

[aaronc879]

Saw a lot of Lyme when I lived in Wisconsin.

I'm going camping in the north woods of Wisconsin next month. Tweezers are on my list of things to bring. I'll have to check myself daily.

 

[FinanceDude]

I'm going camping in the north woods of Wisconsin next month. Tweezers are on my list of things to bring. I'll have to check myself daily.

Long pants, boots, and a little Deep Woods off with DEET should help...........

I never had a tick attach to me, and I spent a LOT of time trapsing the wooded areas around La Crosse. Of course, I took precautions........

 

[travelover]

I've treated my hiking clothes with a 0.5% permethrin solution, mostly for chigger protection, but it seems to work for ticks, too. It is not only a repellent, but also an insecticide.

DEET vs. Permethrin as a Tick Repellent

 

[kumquat]

Of course, I took precautions........

Doesn't that belong in this thread http://www.early-retirement.org/for...let-teen-sex-can-be-fun-45246.html#post835703

 

[Martha]

I'm going camping in the north woods of Wisconsin next month. Tweezers are on my list of things to bring. I'll have to check myself daily.

I'll be there too. Stop by and I'll do a tick check for ya.

 

[spncity]

While in most cases it likely takes some time before the Lyme spirochete makes its way from the midgut of the tick to its salivary glands and then to you as you're being bitten, I heard Willy Burgdorfer (for whom the Lyme disease spirochete was named Borellia Burgdorferi) relay the results of a study he did which showed that up to ten percent of ticks already have the spirochete in their salivary glands and can transmit Lyme disease upon biting. In other words, they don't have to be attached for hours to transmit the disease.

If you have the rash, you have the disease. Unfortunately, many people don't get the rash but still get the disease. Lyme is a clinical diagnosis. Tests can be misleading (false negatives).

Check out "Cure Unknown" by Denise Weintraub and "Coping with Lyme Disease" by Denise Lang.

Some links:
Diagnostic and Treatment Tips ILADS - International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society
The new documentary about Lyme Under Our Skin: An Infectious New Film
Lyme Times archive Archive Issues of Lyme Times
The Lyme vaccine controversy Overview of 3 years of Research

From Lyme Disease Foundation
[FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]o One tick-bite can spread multiple diseases, [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]including ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, bartonella, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, tick paralysis, tulerimia, and more.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o Ticks across the country spread diseases.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o The most common Tick-Borne disease is Lyme disease, which accounts for 90% of all vector-borne infections in the United States.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o Lyme disease patients live in every state. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o There is no definitive test for Lyme disease.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]o A survey by the Lyme Disease Foundation and the Society of Actuaries found that Lyme disease cost this country approximately $1- $2 billion per year in increased medical costs, lost productivity, prolonged pain and suffering, unnecessary testing, and costly delays in diagnosis and inappropriate treatment.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases of this Tick-Borne disease have increased 25-fold since national surveillance of it began in 1982. Between 1980 and now 244,003 case have been reported and accepted by the CDC as qualified cases. Studies have shown that the actual number of Tick-Borne disease cases are approximately 10 times the amount reported due to poor surveillance of the disease.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, arial, verdana][SIZE=-1]
o Patients with Lyme disease are increasingly having difficulty obtaining diagnosis and treatment for these diseases, and being restored to health. Because of differences in medical and scientific opinion, clinicians and other providers of health care services (testing laboratories and intravenous teams) face retaliation from insurance companies and medical licensure boards based on their diagnosis and treatment of patients that vary from the CDC's surveillance criteria.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Kindest regards,
spncity

 

[Purron]

I just now took a look at this thread and noticed a couple mentions of Fairfax County, VA where DH and I live. Ticks are bad here this season and heard it has something to do with the unusually wet weather we've had. I also heard something on a local news radio station regarding DEET which indicated it's not that effective and has potentially bad side effects. The recommendation was to use tick repellentants made of natural substances which repel these nasty pests but don't pose health risks. I recall Repel brand lemon eucalyptus tick repellent being mentioned as well as herbs such as catnip and lemony smelling plants. Garlic was also mentioned as a natural and effective tick repellent. I did a quick google search and couldn't find it otherwise I'd post a link.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Guinea hens and chickens are very helpful in controlling insect populations if you are able to let them range in an area. We do not have a huge tick problem here in SC, but I have a friend that is mostly disabled as a result of Lyme disease. She is only 27 and her health problems are pretty overwhelming.
I would never give up my outdoor pursuits, but I go with the good odds and wear repellant, long pants, check myself for ticks, and look for rashes or odd physical symptoms after I've been hiking.