Home Remedies for Wood Ticks

Often found on people and pets returning home from a hike in forested areas, wood ticks are universally unwelcome guests, and for good reason. These nasty parasites don't just drink animal and human blood---they also inject their own saliva, which can transmit a number of diseases to the host. To avoid potentially dangerous infections, remove the tick as soon as possible. Over the years, a variety of home remedies to remove wood ticks have emerged, though most experts agree that many of these treatments do little to get the tick to withdraw, and may actually worsen the situation by encouraging the tick to release more pathogen-rich saliva or to burrow in even deeper.

The Hot Match

• If you've discovered a tick that's already attached itself beneath your skin, avoid the instinct to pull it off; all you'll succeed in doing is detaching the body from the tick's still-buried head. One of the most common home remedies involves putting the heat on---literally---in the hope that the offending tick will squirm its way out. Simply light a match and then extinguish it. Then, taking care not to burn your skin, apply the hot, smoldering end of the match to the body of the tick. Ideally, the application of heat will encourage the tick to extricate itself. Despite the logic behind this method, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautions that this plan can actually produce the opposite effect---the sudden application of heat could stress the tick, leading it to release more of its saliva.

Alcohol-Based Irritants

• When it comes to home remedies for tick removal, spraying or pouring some sort of alcohol-based substance onto a tick to force it out has long been a favorite home treatment. Some swear that the extra irritants in perfume will do the trick, while others go for the old stand-bys such as rubbing alcohol or vodka. While this method may have worked once or twice, it is not recommended by the CDC for the same reasons that hot matches should be avoided.

Tweezers

• Tweezers are the best tick-removal tool available.

  When done correctly, the tweezers method is by far the most effective way to remove a tick. Begin by using clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grab the wood tick as close to the skin as possible. Then, using even pressure and a steady hand, pull the tick from the skin directly upward; avoid twisting the tick, as this could leave behind potentially infectious pieces. If you do notice any remnants of the tick still beneath the skin, attempt to tweeze these out as well. Use tissues or gloves when handling ticks, as they can release potentially infectious organisms that are easily absorbed by the skin.

Prevention

• For as long as animals and humans have shared forested areas with wood ticks, savvy outdoorsmen have developed simple and effective strategies for keeping ticks from attaching themselves to their skin in the first place. To do so requires dressing in long-sleeve shirts and pants, the weight of which should correspond to the temperature. It's equally important to protect the hair, as it is extremely difficult to detect wood ticks that have made their home beneath the hair on your scalp. You can do so by simply donning a cap or another type of hat, although people with long hair should tie it back and up, tucking it beneath the hat if necessary. To get the best protection from these invading parasites, try tucking your pants into your socks---sure, you'll look ridiculous, but at least you won't find that a tick has been happily making its way up your leg. You can also use rubber bands around your wrists for added protection. Finally, tradition has found that dark-colored wood ticks are much easier to spot and swat away if you're wearing brightly colored clothing.

Wound Care

• The successful removal of a wood tick certainly leaves a mark. To treat and clean the wound, cleanse the affected area with simple soap and water, then follow up with a disinfectant such as iodine or another over-the-counter antiseptic. Keep an eye on the area surrounding the bite for redness or inflammation, particularly a bulls-eye-shaped rash, which in some cases doesn't manifest for as many as 30 days. These symptoms point to infection---many of which can be quite serious---so the victim should see a doctor as soon as possible.

A Cautionary Note

• Thousands of people still swear by their alcohol- and heat-based home remedies for treating wood tick bites despite information and warnings to the contrary. The majority of physicians, experts and authoritative entities, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maintain that the only way you should attempt to remove a tick is to extricate it with tweezers. Other traditional yet well-meaning home remedies may actually be doing more harm than good, as they increase the likelihood of ticks excreting more infection-causing saliva into the bloodstream, as well as the tendency to leave mouth parts and other pieces of the tick's head beneath the skin.