Ticks can transmit serious
illnesses, including Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever, and Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, to name just a few. So if you spot a tick burrowed into your
skin—or your pet’s—get it outta there, pronto!
Conventional wisdom used
to call for dabbing a tick with rubbing alcohol, oil, petroleum jelly, or some
other substance before removing the foul thing. Well, forget all that. Now we
know that such pretreatment only causes the varmint to regurgitate germs into
the victim’s skin. Instead, this is the routing to follow, whether you’re
de-ticking a human or a pet:
Step 1:
Grasp the tick’s head, as close to the skin as possible, with curved forceps or
tweezers. (If you must use your fingers, cover them with several layers of
tissue or, better yet, wear latex gloves—never touch a tick with your bare
hands!)
Step 2: Pull
up with a smooth, steady motion. Jerking or twisting could cause pieces of the
tick to break off and stay in the skin.
Step 3: Drop
the tick into a container of rubbing alcohol, or flush it down the toilet.
Don’t crush it; you could spread disease organisms that may be present in the
body fluids.
Step 4:
Disinfect the wound with rubbing alcohol, and wash your hands with soap and hot
water.
Tick removal is not major
surgery, but there are times when you need medical help. In any of the
following instances, get to a doctor or veterinarian, pronto:
·
The tick’s body
slides out, but the head stays behind. It may take a small incision to finish
the job.
·
The victim starts
showing signs of infection.
·
You know the
culprit was a deer tick, and you live in Lyme disease country.
·
You experience
any of these symptoms: fever, rash, stiff neck, or pain or swelling in your
joints.
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