How To Remove A Tick The Correct Way

Camping gives ticks all sorts of access to you – and you kiddos’ – skin.

By nature, ticks attach to your skin and then bury their head to fill themselves with blood.  Gross, I know, but you need to know how they operate in order to remove on correctly.  Most ticks take several days to complete fill with blood – at which point they will detach on their own – but ticks can introduce infection and/or Lyme disease, neither of which you want.

Just like mosquitos or spiders, it is so important to check yourself for ticks each night before you go to bed while camping.  When or if you do find a tick on yourself, here is the correct way to remove it.

Use Gloves

Ticks and blood both carry diseases, so if you’re removing the tick from yourself or someone else, try to use gloves.

Grab & Pull

Gab the tick as close to the skin as you can get.  Tweezers or pliers works great in this situation if you don’t want to or can’t get close to the skin.  Gently pull the tick out in one long, slow motion.  Do not squeeze, yank, or twist the tick.

Alternatives

If you cannot grasp the tick close to the head, try taking a thread and tying it around the tick as close as you can get to the head.  If the tick is too small to grab, try using a credit card to scrape the body of the tick upright and away from the skin, and then push the card edges into the skin near the head and then sweep out with the pressure focused on the area that the tick is attached to.

Do Not Squeeze The Tick

Squeezing the tick is how bacteria or saliva is released, so be careful not to squeeze the tick any harder than is necessary to remove it.

Wash

Once the tick is out, wash the are with soap and water, and then dab it with Tea Tree Oil or rubbing alcohol.  Then, wash your hands with soap and water.

See A Doctor If

• You can’t get the head and mouth, or part of the tick are still embedded in the skin
• You are a bit victim who develops fever, nausea, sore muscles, stiffness, migraines, headaches, or a rash.  These could be signs of infection or an illness borne by the tick.  Symptoms may not appear for 2 weeks.

Tick bites can be scary – although not that painful.  Assuming you take time each day and inspect yourself for ticks, you can usually catch ticks before they’ve filled with too much blood, and they are fairly easy to remove.

Til Next Time,

Gretchen

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