Concern about ticks?

[Richard]

I live in the woods. We have five indoor dogs. We keep their tick/flea treatments up to date however...

Having ticks from being outside or from being transported inside by the dogs is simply part of our life.

Wife still freaks out when she sees a tick (on her or a dog) and calls me to remove/vanquish it.

I've been awakened at 3:00 A.M. before with a tickle feeling on my arm, neck, leg...somewhere... and low & behold, it's a tick. Get up & flush em.

All that is just a preface to paint the picture.

Maybe 2 weeks ago, I went to bed. In the morning, I saw a TINY spot on my right arm, right at the shoulder. TINY TINY tick. pulled it off and sent it packing. It had not been there for more than 7 hours (wasn't there prior to going to bed)

I STILL have this spot where this tick was embedded and it still itches like a SOB today.

I'm beginning to think this was a deer tick (although I'm the first to admit I do not recognize variations among ticks)

I DO NOT have the 'bullseye' marking that a deertick might leave.

Fast forward a week... and after working outside all day, I ended up finding two more small ticks. I'll spare you with where they were imbedded since no one wants to envision me sitting on the poor ticks...

Here's the gist of my question... these three specific ticks I've had (out of maybe 5-6 total) have each left a VERY itchy spot. Indeed, I've got what appears to be a welt on my butt, much like a bee sting (although it was a tick).

I'm letting these heal by themselves but then it dawned on me, what if they were deer ticks with lyme disease. I know nothing about this.

(if these were not lyme ticks, then I suppose they will heal by themselves)

If indeed, they were lyme ticks, at what stage does one want to go see a doctor? Immediately? after the bullseye?

Part II: Would you see a "regular" doctor or would you go to an allergist or perhaps a dermatologist?

(I've seen all three over time and would hate to see one just to be told to go to the other (and get a bill from the first for the advice))

I'm getting intrigued at how long it is taking for these to heal. The welt on my back side is large enough and itchy enough to be a nuisience.

**** little buggers....

 

[clemsonfor]

Don't worry yet. Im a forester and a hunter etc. I get my fair share of ticks each year some embedded for a day or more. From deer ticks dog ticks and tiny seed/wood ticks the size of a period on a 12 font printout on paper. A red area around a tick is normal for me as well as if one has been attached several hours a spot that has a red and open place that itches for weeks sometimes, the more you scratch the longer it lasts it seems like. Every one is different and will react the same, mosquitoes welt me but not as bad as my wife i suppose ticks are the same. Your descrition seems about what i get after on has attached, although i would never describe one as painfull? Once you see the bullseye; (dont make yourself see one though) i have often had what some panicy people would call a bullseye, but never any symtoms of Lyme disease or Rocky mounted spotted feaver; anyhow once you see the bullseye you can go to the regular doctor (family practice type is fine) you will not die even if it takes a week for you to get around to it. Lyme i thing makes you sluggish and more tired than you usually will be. Most doctors may test but if they see symptoms they may just start you on the antibiotic or whatever they prescribe. My brother and cousin have both had it although i think they just said it sould be in my brother and did treatement before it was onset, i think i remember him saying the test took to long or was often inconclusive or false positive. Kind of like swine flu they just told people that had the symptoms and knew another victim that they had it as the test took to long to get back and was very expensive, and places like universities were just treating not testing all cased that they confirmed.

-Nate

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Richard:

First, nothing replaces talking with your personal healthcare provider, so take this for what its worth...and you would start out by talking to your "regular" doctor. An allergist or dermatologist would not be required/warranted.

Sounds like you have very little to worry about. It is believed that ticks need to be attached around 36 hours prior to there being any real chance of disease transmission.

Be aware that not everyone who ultimately contracts Lyme disease remembers developing the classic bull's-eye rash.

Most of those who do contract tick-borne illnesses will develop a flu-like presentation that begins in the neighborhood of 3 - 30 days after the bite (fever, aches, +/- rash).

The lumps/inflammation you have sounds like a local inflammatory reaction and is relatively common. Not just with ticks. Some people will experience this with mosquito bites as well...may take a month to fade away.

My suggestion...take an over-the-counter antihistamine like Benadryl or Claratin and perhaps a topical cortisone applied over the bites. If you develop a worsening rash, fever, body aches, etc. then go to your physician.

 

[Richard]

Thanks for the advice.

So far, the red spot (inflamation) around the sites are staying static. Still itch like a SOB but, I hadn't thought of the claritin type solution.

IN fact...


HA!!!

I'm at work and wondered if I had some claritin sitting in my deck drawer in front of me. I do!

I'll be downing it momentarily.

:licking:

 

[buckredstone]

I deal with ticks every year, seems to me the more bites you get the more they all itch, they communicate somehow. Doctor tells me that if it has not been attached for more than 24 hrs no problem. The little seed ticks are the worst so just keep scratchin your back side. Ps if you never scratch they go away a lot sooner.

 

[Toyboy]

Don't write off that itchy bump so fast. I had a similar bite like your talking about a few years back and was told the same thing by neighbors...don't worry about it. Well two weeks later I was sick as a dog and required antibiotics to fix it.

Then last year I got a tick attached between my big and second toe, (how it got there??) itched like crazy. Removed it that nite and by morning foot was swelled up and blisters like poison ivy. Doctors at first thought it was a spider bite until I told them I had removed a tick there. Can't remember what they finally decided had happened, but it was similar to blood poisoning w/streaks coming up my foot. Antibiotics again saved the day. Lyme disease is not the only thing that can be transmitted by ticks.

I guess my point is they are not to be ignored. See your Dr. and let him call the shots......or give 'em.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

One other thought....

Ticks are like taxes. Some are easy to see, others are "hidden"

Make sure you've double-checked the, um, hard to reach places...the small ones can be very hard to spot.

 

[milkman]

Don't worry yet. Im a forester and a hunter etc. I get my fair share of ticks each year some embedded for a day or more. From deer ticks dog ticks and tiny seed/wood ticks the size of a period on a 12 font printout on paper. A red area around a tick is normal for me as well as if one has been attached several hours a spot that has a red and open place that itches for weeks sometimes, the more you scratch the longer it lasts it seems like. Every one is different and will react the same, mosquitoes welt me but not as bad as my wife i suppose ticks are the same. Your descrition seems about what i get after on has attached, although i would never describe one as painfull? Once you see the bullseye; (dont make yourself see one though) i have often had what some panicy people would call a bullseye, but never any symtoms of Lyme disease or Rocky mounted spotted feaver; anyhow once you see the bullseye you can go to the regular doctor (family practice type is fine) you will not die even if it takes a week for you to get around to it. Lyme i thing makes you sluggish and more tired than you usually will be. Most doctors may test but if they see symptoms they may just start you on the antibiotic or whatever they prescribe. My brother and cousin have both had it although i think they just said it sould be in my brother and did treatement before it was onset, i think i remember him saying the test took to long or was often inconclusive or false positive. Kind of like swine flu they just told people that had the symptoms and knew another victim that they had it as the test took to long to get back and was very expensive, and places like universities were just treating not testing all cased that they confirmed.

-Nate

Now that's funny, my mom has welted me a few times with a switch when I was a kid, but I won't put up with that from my wife...

I found a spot on the back of my arm last night and thought it was a mosquito, but when I looked real close, I could see a small black dot. I had the wife pull it off and had to get a magnifying glass to see that it was a tick. I found another one on my shoulder, never seen ticks that small. They sure itch like crazy.

 

[Taylortractornut]

One of the men at work got a tiny seed tick off his stomach 2 years abo the wound stayed there nearly 2 months. The tick had dug in and it was one of his little jabbers left in there. The worst tick I had I got working under the compactor at work, It was in some grass and I was fixing a hose above me, I felt some thing in my ear and my worker told me it was a piece of grass. Laterthat night I was havig trouble hearsing and my ear got terribly sore. I went to the ER and waited 2.5 hours on a slow small town night while the doctors and nurses all were on the cell phones. The doctor who I barely understood said nothings wrong just in my head blah blah blah.


When I got home I went to sleep in my chair and Amy got home and noticed my heads was red and I had a v ery bad fever. My ear ached terribly. SHe looked at it and said she saw a round grey thing. She took a picture and showed me, I figured that sensation earlier was a tick. Went back to the ER and the doctor told me and I quote " in a few day he fall out on own."

We left right then, It was storming and the next ER is 25 miles away. I got amy to stop at the Walmart and get me a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and we went home. I told Amy to pull it out with a pair of needle nose pliers and she wouldnt. I gave the little sucker adrink of the alcohol then. I was in pain so I convinced Amy to put the pliers on it and I did the work. In just a few minutes I my face was normal and my neck and head quit hurting. but some of the bad ones are little seed ticks

 

[impdaddy]

My son had lyme disease TWICE. if you start to fell like crap(beyond normal) see the doc. nothing to play with. my$.02

 

[rekees4300]

Did use Off to keep the ticks off but this year switched to Natrapel. Spraying shoes, socks and lower pants has been 100% effective so far. It also smells better than Off and it doesn't contain DEET. Got it from Amazon.com

 

[forgeblast]

had a small one deer tick, and a simple blood test after a dose of antibiotics ran its course showed no lyme disease. i would see a dr. it could be the head is still inside, it will work its way out, you just want to watch for infection.

 

[dmccarty]

We live in Tickville. Even with two feet of snow on the ground we can have ticks.

This time of year it is getting really bad. In a few months it will be beyond bad. The Chiggers will be out in June to add to the fun.

We use the Pro Tick Puller that we get at REI. Pro-Tick Remedy Tick Removal System at REI.com. It is the best tick puller we have tried. And we have tried a few. It can get out small ticks that the other pullers cannot.

When working outside I wear long light colored trousers tucked into socks and then sprayed with a DEET product. If I think ahead I soak my clothes in Permethrin which lasts the seasons. This is a different bottle but same brand, Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray - 24 oz. at REI.com. I have walked into two nests of chiggers and watched them die from contact with trousers treated with Permethrin.

For chiggers the clear Benydryl gel works well. It can cover a large area of bites easily and quickly.

The wifey had a tick in the back of her neck. By the time we found it the tick had burrowed deep into the skin. Even with the previously linked tick puller we could not get it out. The tick broke up. The head stayed in her skin. The doc said the body will deal with it and just watch for infection. :confused2: Which is what we did.

We have small ticks. Medium ticks. And big ticks. I think we have deer, dog and Lonestar ticks. I think a wildfire is what it would take to clean them up for a year or two. I am hoping the fire ants will do them in. :thumbsup:

I don't know how we could not have Lyme at this point but I have read that the tick has to be attached 12-24 hours before Lyme is transmitted. The tick puller we use does not smoosh the tick so it pukes into you so maybe we have been "lucky" so far. But I know I have had the Bulls eye rash years ago.

Depending on the tick bite I might each of a few days but the "bump" may last a few weeks. Sometimes the bite site is a welt. The Chigger bite sites seem to last a month with a couple of weeks of itching. Though they don't seem to itch as bad as they used too. Guess I am getting used to them.

In the winter when we find ticks we put them in the wood stove. In the fire. :thumbsup: Send them back where they belong......

Later,
Dan

 

[LRTX1]

I tested positive for lymes last summer. I was bit on my stomach at some point during the day and removed the tick around 7 P.M. Three weeks later devolped the Bulls-Eye rash and went to the doctor. Had to take antibiotics for a month.

The itch is well treated with Absorbine Jr., do you guys remember that stuff. It was for sore muscles and athletes foot I think. Don't know why it works but it does. I have had the "itch" for well over 2 months before I was told of the Absorbine Jr.

My advice would be dont worry about it if you don't see anything more than a red spot. If you start to feel bad or get any type of rash then go get it looked at.


For the chiggers I use clear fingernail polish. I scratch em until I can see all the red spots, wipe with rubbing alcohol then apply the fingernail polish.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

But I know I have had the Bulls eye rash years ago.

Dan,

With that history, have you been tested for or treated for Lyme disease? If not, I'd recommend you get checked out. Once you get past the initial flu-like phase, Lyme disease can remain "dormant" in your body for many, many years. Then, it rears its ugly head again, but the next time around it can get much worse. This time around it tends to mess with your heart, nerves, and joints.

You may not have actually had Lyme disease, even with the "bull's-eye" rash. I actually wrote my Master's Thesis on tick-borne illnesses. If you ever have trouble sleeping, let me know and I'll see if I can find it...two pages of that and you'll be sawing logs for sure...:laughing: There are other diseases, both tick-borne (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness, or STARI) and others totally unrelated to ticks (too numerous to mention) that are very similar to the classic rash of Lyme disease. Regardless, if you develop that type of rash and remember a tick bite - even if it was years ago - get yourself evaluated.

 

[foggy1111]

Since we started treating our clothes with Repel permathrin we have had just a few ticks to deal with....in over a years time. Before that it was crazy....we must be the tick capitol of the USA or something.

I have had people come to visit me while I was working in the woods.....they will pull off like 20 ticks in a half hour....and I will have 0. I am a big time believer in treating my clothes with this stuff....and it seems to last a long time....even after washing our clothes. :thumbsup:

 

[clemsonfor]

Fingernail polish on chiggers i have heard is a wives tale. I use to do it, now dont, and i dont see a differece in the bite or itch. I was told that by the time you see the bite and feel it the whole thing is over so polish does not "smother" anything.

Just because you had a deer tick attached for 1 day 2 days or three does not mean you have lymes disease. Not all deer and therefor not all ticks carry lymes disease. Just cause you have had a tick bite for a 24-48 hour period does not mean you will 100% get it. NOT all ticks even have it , deer ticks are the carriers (not sure if the only tick species that can cary it), but again NOT all deer ticks are infected with the disease. I have no idea the percentage but in all my years of ticks i have been lucky many have been attached over night, rarely deer ticks mostly the smaller ones but have had larger ticks attached for a day or so i have not got lymes disease yet. Thank goodness.

Just pointing out this is not an inevitable thing. Its a percentages thing.

 

[Tororider]

I feel lucky that we have very few ticks around us. Sounds like you guys need to invest in some chickens or guineas.

 

[Toyboy]

I can just picture the coyotes and wolves up here hearing them, and think it was their dinner bell

 

[dmccarty]

Dan,

With that history, have you been tested for or treated for Lyme disease?

No test.

There is quite a bit of controversy on the tests, which test to take, when to take it, when is it valid to test after a bite, and what do the results mean.

I have never had a tick on me more than 12 hours or so. Even 12 I think is pushing it. Since you are not supposed to get Lyme until the tick has been in 24-72 hours I think I am ok.

Later,
Dan