Tick bites and Lyme disease

[Applesister]

Thought I'd share this with the community.

The only downside to the mild temps. I feel these things biting and this was on back of my shoulder. I couldnt see it no matter what I did in mirror so I tried the phone.
Up close this thing is buried. The bites take a really long time to recover from.
I had a hard time convincing a doctor to do a Lyme test for me once. He argued that my exposure was minimum to the possibility of getting Lyme disease. I said, just do it.

 

[TheAardvark]

I hate ticks with a passion. In my area it is my opinion they are the most dangerous creature in the woods. Lyme disease has become a major issue for people that love the outdoors. Black bears, copperheads and coyotes don't scare me. Ticks freak me out.

 

[velvetfoot]

I like this:
http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick

 

[DougA]

Lyme disease tests should be repeated to be certain, especially if you have any symptoms at all.

 

[LocustPocust]

I didn't find any ticks on me all summer. Then the woods were infested once the deer started moving in September. They go dormant below 40 degrees so it's been boom times for them lately.

Lyme is epidemic here, but there's also been a spike in cases of Anaplasmosis recently in Rensselaer County, NY according to the Department of Health.

I know many (myself included) who have contracted Lyme, and a few are suffering permanent health effects because of it. It's absolutely ridiculous. I never even knew what a tick looked like until I found one on me for the first time in 2001. Now I'm regularly checking myself for ticks while I'm in the woods and I've literally picked dozens off my clothes after being in the woods for only a few hours.

Spraying bug spray on my winter hat and jacket is still a very strange thing for me..

 

[firefighterjake]

Odd year up this way . . . last year there were plenty of ticks . . . this year I didn't find any on me and only a few on my pets . . . seemed like there wasn't as many ticks this past summer.

 

[Riff]

Odd year up this way . . . last year there were plenty of ticks . . . this year I didn't find any on me and only a few on my pets . . . seemed like there wasn't as many ticks this past summer.

Just the opposite down here. Spring wasn't too bad but early summer we had plenty of ticks all around. Seemed like we were constantly pulling them off of pets and livestock.

 

[MJSully]

Woods by my new house loaded with ticks. One of my dogs was covered after one brief walk. She also just tested positive for Lyme. every little tickle I feel on my body throughout the day freaks me out and makes me pull down my pants and check!

 

[DougA]

freaks me out and makes me pull down my pants and check!

TMI

 

[Applesister]

Just pulled 2 more off.

It is way too much information...
But its a reality, what surprises me is the doctors horrified reaction to the possibility of a tick bite.

 

[Applesister]

Supposedly theres a lab testing facility on an island off the coast of Lyme CT where the first cases of childhood arthritis was diagnosed. In 1972. And it is inaccessable and also supposedly owned by a German company. Where they lab test animals. It has been speculated to the possibility of some kind of containment breach. I read this in a magazine years ago.
Just saying...lol.

 

[Seanm]

But its a reality, what surprises me is the doctors horrified reaction to the possibility of a tick bite.

Wow. Be safe Applesister! Will you get tested after this find? How did you remove the little buggers? Ive never had to remove one although they are in the Rockies as well and see them around. Tundra (avatar) gets treated every year so she doesnt get sick. Each treatment lasts about a month.

 

[Applesister]

The 2 little green crowbars, OTOM, a patented name for the little things. Purchased from my cat/dog vet. It works like a prybar only you twist them in your fingers and the tick lets go.

 

[Applesister]

Wow. Be safe Applesister! Will you get tested after this find? How did you remove the little buggers? Ive never had to remove one although they are in the Rockies as well and see them around. Tundra (avatar) gets treated every year so she doesnt get sick. Each treatment lasts about a month.

I love your pics by the way, the ones you took at the lake. The dog is perfect. Has Lyme disease reached your area?
For quite some time it was contained to CT.

 

[Seanm]

The 2 little green crowbars, OTOM, a patented name for the little things. Purchased from my cat/dog vet. It works like a prybar only you twist them in your fingers and the tick lets go.

Interesting. I thought they were there to show the scale. I may have to look into one of those!

I love your pics by the way, the ones you took at the lake. The dog is perfect. Has Lyme disease reached your area?

Yes it has unfortunately. I had a real nice guy who used to rent one of my condos. He ended up getting sick, losing his job and moving on. I didn't hear about him for a few years and then saw a local article about him. As is often the case people get misdiagnosed and live with it until the damage is done. Lyme has changed this young mans life. I seem to recall hes doing better now but suffers from long term affects. We have lots of ticks here but fortunately most of them dont carry the disease. I often find them squished in the vertical cracks that form in standing dead trees. We split along these cracks and check them out while were processing. Thanks for your comment about the lakes and my dog. We were told by the vet that if we find any ticks to bring it in and they will send it off to be inspected for Lyme. We had Tundra in for a routine check up a few years back and was told that the vet found a very full tick buried in her fur underneath her collar. We use the drops on her during tick season.

 

[Longstreet]

Very interesting subject. To be honest, when I first read this thread, I thought you all were crazy to even think about seeing a doctor for a tick bite. I mean seriously, treatment for a tick bite removed before it's full of blood and without any symptoms!! What a bunch of pansies!

Well, jokes on me. Looks like NE is an entirely different world when it comes to risk. Just one more sign that God loves the South.

For the record, when we were building our family's lob cabin, I had dozens of ticks removed from me over the years. No one even thought about having a Lyme test done if they got removed within a day or two and you had no symptoms. My parents knew somebody that knew somebody who had a friend who lived next to a man that had Lyme disease once. That was the extent of our experience with the subject.

 

[MJSully]

Rule of thumb is usually has to be feeding for 24 hours, sometimes, but not always, it will leave a red "Halo" around the bite area. Also only carried by a 1 or two tick species.

 

[saskwoodburner]

I would advise anyone with concerns over ticks, to read up on permethrin, then get some, and treat clothing etc

 

[Oldman47]

I remove at least a half dozen ticks from myself every year. Lyme is not common here only because deer ticks are not common here. We only seem to get the bigger ticks and I am not aware of them carrying anything I need to worry about.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I lived in the woods as a kid in upstate NY. NEVER once go a tick bite. I didn't even know what they looked like..and I'm only 37.

I got my first bite in SC, riding my motorcycle of all things. Then when I moved to CT years later, I was absolutely amazed at the infestation of ticks. I rememeber walking my dog and standing on a big rock, not paying attention. And like something out of a movie, I looked down and there were 10 or so ticks crawling up the rock to get to me. I knew then that I would end up moving.

I rarely see them on my property and I do everything I can to kill the mice that spread them.

 

[warbonnet]

Go to wally world and buy some " sawyers" treat a set of clothes you plan to wear when out in the woods. The stuff flat out works.

 

[2broke2ride]

I have accepted it as just being part of the outdoors around here, I lost count at twelve bites this year, I have had as many as 60 ticks on me at a time during hunting season some years. I have also been treated for lyme twice. I take every precaution there is but I love the woods to much to let them spoil it for me.

 

[English BoB]

Just pulled 2 more off.
View attachment 169477
View attachment 169479
It is way too much information...
But its a reality, what surprises me is the doctors horrified reaction to the possibility of a tick bite.

I hope everything turns out well sister.

bob

 

[bags]

Yikes! Nasty little bite. Thanks for the reminder. I was once bitten by a Brown Recluse spider and that was no joy ride so keep all of the enemies at bay. Seeing your pics just gave me an unfriendly flash back reminder of that fun time.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

I have Lyme's. If you contracted it it, within a few days you will notice a red and purple "target" around the bite and you will develop flu-like symptoms. If that happens, get to a Doc's ASAP. They can stop most of the symptoms from being a lifelong issue, but I still have a burning nerve pain where I was bit. It's like someone stabbed me with a fork and twisted it.