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How to Remove Ticks From Children's Ears

Ticks are small insects that feed off the blood and tissue from a living host and can be found in nearly any outdoor environment. If your children play outdoors it's important to check their bodies thoroughly for crawling or attached ticks. Removal of a tick that has attached itself to a child's ear, scalp or other part of the skin, is relatively simple and consistent for most body parts.

Things You'll Need

  • Tweezers
  • Alcohol
  • Antibiotic cream
  • Bandage
  • Cotton Swab
  • Small lidded container
  • Lamp
  • Bobby pin or clip
  • Sewing needle
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Instructions

  1. Basic removal

    • 1
      A bright lamp will make tick removal easy.

      Seat the child under a bright lamp and place his head comfortably in your lap with the ear containing the tick facing toward you.

    • 2
      A small bobby pin can keep the hair clipped away from the ear.

      Part any hair and clip it away from the ear.

    • 3

      Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, with a pair of tweezers. Apply firm pressure and do not twist or crush the tick's body.

    • 4

      Pull straight upward firmly and slowly. If the tick does not immediately release and come off, continue applying firm pressure but wait for the tick to release before pulling it out completely.

    • 5

      Swab the area with alcohol, apply an antibacterial cream to the bite and a small bandage, if possible. Pour rubbing alcohol into a small, lidded container. Drop the tick into the alcohol to preserve it in case your physician needs to examine it.

    Head Removal

    • 6
      Check the ear to make sure the tick's head doesn't remain behind during removal.

      Remove the head of the tick separately, if it remains in the skin.

    • 7

      Clean the spot where the head is burrowed with alcohol.

    • 8
      A small sewing needle is adequate for removal of the tick's head.

      Use a sterile needle to gently flake off the top layers of skin to uncover the tick's head.

    • 9
      Flat-head tweezers may provide the best removal opportunity.

      Use the tweezers to remove the tick's head.

    • 10
      A very small bandage on the spot will keep the antibacterial cream from rubbing off of the ear.

      Clean the entire area with alcohol before applying antibacterial cream and a bandage, if possible.

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