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Tick Removal Techniques

When a tick attaches itself, remove it as quickly as possible. Research shows that Lyme disease germs live in the stomach of a tick, not its mouth. The longer the tick remains attached, the more chance there is of it regurgitating the disease into the body of the victim. The tick may take hours to regurgitate the Lyme disease, but trying to get the tick off the wrong way may make it regurgitate immediately, infecting its victim on the spot.

  1. Tweezer Method

    • The easiest way to remove ticks safely is with tweezers or forceps. Use fine-point tweezers to make sure the tick is lifted off the skin, rather than crushing it into the skin. Place the tip of the tweezers solidly around the base of the tick, close to the host's skin. Pull the tick straight out, making sure not to twist it. Place the tick in a safe container and eliminate it. If the tick's mouth breaks off in the skin, dig it out as if it was a splinter or leave it alone. The body usually eliminates this part on its own.

    Straw and Knot Method

    • Using tweezers to remove a tick often leads to the tick regurgitating into the skin of the victim. This then leads to the danger of Lyme disease. The Intradermal Blister Technique is another possibility. This involves a doctor injecting Xylocaine into the skin under the tick. The straw and knot method might work as well. Place a drinking straw over the tick at a 45-degree angle. Tie a loose knot with a length of thread over the straw. Slide the knot down until it is under the tick's belly. Tighten the knot and then remove the straw. Pull the thread up and the tick will detach without regurgitating.

    Suffocation and Burning

    • For many years, the method for removing ticks included placing alcohol, lighter fluid or nail polish over the tick to suffocate it or using fire to burn it off. Doctors have rejected these methods in recent years as dangerous and unnecessary. Suffocating the tick makes a victim more likely to contract Lyme disease. A tick does not need to breathe as much as other creatures, so by the time it suffocates, it is likely to have regurgitated into the wound. Burning the tick off causes injuries that using tweezers would not.

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