Tick bite prevention tips
Although prompt removal of ticks can prevent transmission of Lyme, the best way to avoid tick-borne disease is to prevent bites. Taking the following steps can help protect you and your family.
Know when you are at highest risk. Use particular caution when walking through fields or meadows where there is grass that grows taller than your socks and hikes where you will be brushing up against bushes, leaves, or trees. Typically, ticks are transmitted from leaves or blades of grass on the ground to the legs, where the ticks crawl up.
Wear protective garments. The best protection is long pants tucked into socks to keep ticks from crawling up under the pant leg. Lighter-colored clothing can make ticks easier to see.
Use repellents. Treat clothes with permethrin (Nix, Rid) to repel ticks and discourage them from attaching. Treating skin with DEET products may be helpful as well. Follow directions carefully. Inspect each other. Have a partner check you for ticks, to look in those dark areas where it’s hard to see. Pay special attention to the armpits, neck, scalp, ears, backs of the knees, groin, and navel (belt area). An adult I. scapularis tick is about the size of a sesame seed.
Remember that ticks don’t bite right away. They crawl around on the skin looking for the best place to settle. This gives you an opportunity to get rid ofthem first. After you come inside from outdoors, take off all clothes and put them straight in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any ticks that may be on them. Then get in the shower to allow water to simply wash away any unattached ticks that may be crawling around on your skin.
Remove ticks. If you do find an attached tick on the body, remove it as quickly as possible to prevent the risk of transmission of B. burgdorferi.
Tick-borne diseases are becoming more common, and the range of affected areas is spreading. Your best chance of avoiding the potentially serious long-term consequences of these diseases is to practice protective measures when you go outdoors to keep ticks from having the opportunity to bite, and to do routine tick checks when you come back inside.
If you do find and remove a tick, consult with a doctor if you think it might have been attached for more than a day or so. Finally, if you do develop the characteristic bull’s-eye rash or other signs of Lyme or another tick-borne illness, seek medical attention immediately.