Tick Remedies for People

Ticks, like spiders, are arthropods, meaning they have eight legs. More than 800 species of ticks are known to exist worldwide, often found in moist, shaded, wooded and brushy habitats. Ticks are the leading disease-carrying insect affecting people in the United States. Understanding more about ticks and tick remedies will help you prevent encounters with ticks and will help you react more effectively when you do.

About Ticks

• There are two families of ticks, ixodidae, also known as hard ticks and argasidae or soft ticks. Hard ticks are identified by their characteristic back plate or scutum. In addition, hard ticks will feed on a host for hours, even days, before moving on to another target. Hard ticks transmit the disease they're carrying near the end of their feeding cycle or when they are nearly full of blood. Soft ticks don't have a scutum and are more round in appearance than hard ticks. Their feeding cycle tends to last less than an hour, but the initial bite has been known to cause a great deal of pain. Moreover, soft ticks can transmit disease within minutes of beginning their meal. Regardless of which tick type you encounter, reacting quickly and correctly will decrease your chances of contracting a disease.

Tick Removal

• A tick harvests blood immediately at the point of contact. It's imperative that you act quickly to remove it, especially if it's a hard tick. Cover your fingers with paper tissue or put on a pair of latex gloves. It's important not to touch a tick with your bare fingers. Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible and slowly pull upward with steady pressure. Never twist the tweezer-grasped tick because the head could break off under the skin. If this does happen and removing the head proves too difficult, allow the skin to heal over. After the tick has been removed, disinfect the bite with rubbing alcohol. Save the tick in a glass or plastic container and record the date you pulled it out. Take the tick to your county's public health clinic to have the tick tested for transmittable diseases. If you notice a rash, headaches or any irritation around the bite area, see a doctor immediately.

Tick Prevention

• The best possible scenario when traveling in areas with high tick populations is to come out unscathed. There are several things you can do to avoid a nasty encounter with a tick. Ticks are a threat in all seasons, but are most active during the summer months. It's important to be extra vigilant during these months by avoiding brushy areas off hiking trails and control brush around your home. Avoid tall grass and high piles of leaf litter as well. Wear light-colored clothing to make spotting ticks easier for yourself and people in your group. Apply a thin coat of insect repellent that contains 20 percent DEET. After enjoying the outdoors, conduct a full body check in front of large mirrors to get a good look at all parts of your body. Thoroughly examine your children, pets and outdoor gear. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, showering two hours after coming home from a hike or outing has proven to reduce chances of being bitten by a tick.

Tick Diseases

• When a tick bites, it secretes harmful bacteria and toxins, thereby transmitting diseases to their host. Consult a physician if you experience fever or chills, aches or pain for an unknown reason, and rashes or spots. Because ticks transmit bacterial infections, they can spread the same disease multiple times to their host in a lifetime. Some notable disease carried by ticks include Lyme disease, carried by deer ticks; babesiosis, carried by hard ticks; Rocky Mountain spotted fever, carried by dog ticks and Rocky Mountain wood ticks; and Q-fever, carried by hard ticks. The faster you react to a tick bite the better your chances of controlling and treating these diseases. Tick-borne diseases become life-threatening when nothing is done after a tick bite.