Ticks

Whoa mama, the ticks are bad down here in the South! Just pulled one giant gross sucker out of my armpit after a recent trip to the Glass/Bald, NC & my partner and I counted like 6 of them at the TWall a couple weeks ago down near Capitol Assets.

Anybody feel like sharing experiences? Any tips on cleaning these f*ckers off of gear, backpacks, etc.

Know the signs and symptoms people. Check and re-check yourself and your dog/baby or whatever.

As far as the slim chance of Lyme, I think Im going to monitor myself for any fever or other symptoms and pump myself full of apple cider vinegar, probiotics and ashwagandha, but any preventive care/ cleansing advice would be much appreciated as well.

Stay safe ya'll !!!

After having one chomp down on me in LCC a few weeks ago I started spraying Permetherin on my clothing and pack prior to climbing. Haven't had one on me since. Best way to remove embedded tick is pair of tweezers and pluck. Little fuckers.

Don't pluck. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible with tweezers held parallel to skin and give a steady slow pressure until it lets go.

Yeah Im 99.9 % sure this f*cker came out as I could see his head and legs attached to that big ball of whatever grossness on its back. Call me crazy, but I think the tea tree oil I put on it helped extract him or made him want to get the f*ck off.

edit to add: Im going to run the vacuum thoroughly through all my gear and maybe some hot soapy water will kill, not sure?

Cover them with something like vaseline and they will let go, if you just pull them out there is always the chance you will leave part of them inside you and could cause infection.

Best way to get them out is to heat a pair of tweezers and grab the tick, this will cause them to start to back out. Slowly but firmly turn the tic counter clockwise to make sure to remove the head and body. If possible wash the area ASAP w clean water (no creek water) and soap.
Permetherin is not for skin! Use it on pants, socks, packs, etc. make sure it dries before use, but beware it might stain fabric. It's the same stuff that companies such as Ex-Offico sell as their "Bug Off" clothing

Viperscale: I believe your thinking of chiggers, I've used that and clear nail polish w good effect.

No bug spray will prevent tick bites! If they are there and you have exposed skin, they will bite. Best way as stated above is to pull them out with tweezers. Another good way is to light a match and put the match out on the tick - they will let go and if you do it right it won't hurt you. Regular ticks don't care Lyme disease. FYI, the only ticks that carry Lyme are the deer ticks, the ones with the white streak in their backs. Cheers

I would not recommend using heat to encourage the tick to let go. I've heard that the match can cause the engorged tick to regurgitate it's contents which really increase your chance of catching something.

As stated use tweezers as close to the head as possible and slowly pull off. Then use an antibiotic cream.

I've been seriously sick from ticks. Pretty nasty animals.

If you're into essential oils Doterra makes an awesome insect repellent blend.

If you start feeling tired or lethargic after being outdoors, get a Lyme test asap even if you don't have the classic ring around the bite. Lyme is no joke, it's better to try to catch it early.

LCC-Climber wrote:After having one chomp down on me in LCC a few weeks ago I started spraying Permetherin on my clothing and pack prior to climbing. Haven't had one on me since. Best way to remove embedded tick is pair of tweezers and pluck. Little fuckers.

Cody, If that's directed towards me I should have clarified that this was a while ago that I got sick.

Luckily we really don't have Lyme disease out in Montana. We have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever among others. I definitely encourage getting checked out Especially if your lymph Nodes start to swell up.

I've had 100% success by grabbing the tick with my fingers and applying enough pull to pucker the skin but not snap em off. Now just keep applying the pull for usually up to a minute or so. They release their grip and your free.

Nope josh..just what has worked for me in NE as well as CO

Thought I would chime in since I just recently (two weeks ago) found a tick on my scalp the next morning in the shower after climbing in little cottonwood canyon. Given that it was my first encounter with a tick I did a fair amount of research afterwards to make sure I knew what to look out for in the way of Lyme Disease. One thing that I thought was really interesting was how specific all of the resources were about how to actually remove a tick, and since there were so many recommendations on this thread I thought it could be good to post. This is straight from the American Lyme Disease Foundations site and many others say the same thing:

To remove a tick, follow these steps:

1. Using a pair of pointed precision* tweezers, grasp the tick by the head or mouthparts right where they enter the skin. DO NOT grasp the tick by the body.

2. Without jerking, pull firmly and steadily directly outward. DO NOT twist the tick out or apply petroleum jelly, a hot match, alcohol or any other irritant to the tick in an attempt to get it to back out.

3. Place the tick in a vial or jar of alcohol to kill it.
Clean the bite wound with disinfectant.

• Keep in mind that certain types of fine-pointed tweezers, especially those that are etched, or rasped, at the tips, may not be effective in removing nymphal deer ticks. Choose unrasped fine-pointed tweezers whose tips align tightly when pressed firmly together.
• * the main reason experts suggest not using matches or something hot that irritates the tick is because the tick can then spit (or something along those lines) their infected saliva back into your body.

Lyme test not very helpful. Just ask your doc to write you for some doxy if you want to nip possible Lyme in the bud

Yup Im getting some doxy tomorrow just to be safe. Been reading up on this stuff the last few days and wow, this sh!t sucks!

Thanks all for your input.

This site has lots of good info
American Lyme Disease Foundation

This thread is a compendium of whacky tick-removal nonsense. Read tsaint's post of American Lyme Disease Foundation guidelines.

Tick infection rates vary enormously by region. Here in the Northeast, 50% infection rates have been observed.

The bulls-eye rash may not occur.

Lyme is no damn joke and can be very serious if untreated.

I've had it three times in spite of knowing what to do and what to look for.

I have also had Lyme, and it is definately no joke. There's a lot of bad information out there to wade through before you get to the real stuff. Do your own research and don't rely on what armchair quarterbacks think they know. A lot of doctors are even clueless. I was mis-diagnosed negative twice before finally being properly diagnosed, and that made the sickness and the treatment much worse. Ticks are evil and nasty, a scourge. Take all precautions.

Old Crusty wrote:Lyme test not very helpful. Just ask your doc to write you for some doxy if you want to nip possible Lyme in the bud

50% yeah that's high, it's because there are more hosts that carry it (deer & mice)
It's also 50% in the upper Midwest. There is a link to a US range and statistics map on the link I provided above.

Been reading about the history here near East TN and it sounds like it's around 10%, but they've noticed increases in studies done in 2009 and 2012. There was even a couple deaths in children several years ago around here.

Got my doxycycline (10 days worth). Can anybody share on, or suggest getting another 10 day script after this one? Or just wait to monitor my symptoms? My doc doesn't seem to know much about it. He's pretty nonchalant about it. I did notice very light symptoms in the form of radiating pain in my right arm where the bite was plus a very light rash on my stomach (not bullseye), that is now gone. No fever or nausea. Worrying is the worst part. Do my muscles/joints hurt? Is that a rash? Etc. just got to hope my body fights it off, I guess, if it's there at all.

Unfortunately mine was engorged and swelled with blood so it was probably on there for a couple (or several) days.

From what I understood when I got pills after a tick bite is the pill only works if you take it 48-72 hours after the bite. Maybe I got a different med than you? I only had to take two pills. My doc prescribed double the dose so I would have the med for the next time not to take more meds.

The worst part about my experience with ticks was where the damn thing decided to camp out. My junk! For like two days I'm showing my ding a ling to everybody! Friends, my wife, the doctor.. I was so glad to educate a class of female med students on what a tick bite was. I've never been more happy with choice of underwear than that day. Boxers in the summer make me more comfortable to be a penis lab rat than boxer briefs.