Tick Removal
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Paul Auerbach, M.D.
After reading my last blog about acquiring Lyme disease from a (presumed) tick bite, a few people have asked me, what is the correct way to remove a tick if it is embedded in a person or pet? With a rising incidence of tick-borne diseases, it’s important to know the answer to this question.
The correct way to remove a tick is to grasp it close to its mouthparts with tweezers or with your fingernails (cover your fingers with tissue paper, gloves, or a thin cloth) and pull it out with a slow and steady motion. There are also V-shaped tick removal devices that are designed to slide between the tick and the skin to trap the tick and allow it to be pulled free. Don’t twist the tick. Don’t touch the tick with a hot object (e.g., extinguished match head) or cover it with anything that will cause it to struggle, since that might cause the tick to regurgitate infectious fluid into the bite site. If the tick head is buried in the skin, you can apply permethrin (Permanone insect repellent), which is an insecticide, using a cotton swab, to the upper and lower body surfaces of the tick. After about 10 minutes, the tick will relax and you can pull it free. After you remove a tick, look for remaining parts, and scrape them free with a knife edge or needle. Then wash the area well and apply a dab of antiseptic (e.g., bacitracin) ointment. If the area swells a bit, this is not necessarily worrisome, since ticks have salivary substances that cause a bit of a skin reaction, which may last for a week or two. However, if an infection develops or if the lump doesn’t go away, seek medical attention.
Tags: tick removal, tick, medical, physician, health, wilderness medicine, outdoor medicine, healthline
12 Comments:
At Fri May 25, 03:25:00 AM 2007,
andrea said…
I have a 17 month old staff,who has developed a large lump at the front of his chest,next to this is acream coloured pollip about the size of 1/2 a grain of rice. Could this be a tick bite?
At Mon May 28, 10:57:00 AM 2007,
Kathryn said…
What if your 14 year old son informed you he pulled a tick that had bitten hold of one of his testis and on checking the tick it is clear, he did not get the head out. Further this tick is small enough to be a deer tick, it has a white spot on it's back. Problem 1, the head and its location, will an infection ensue if it is left there? Problem 2 our pediatrician is very dubious about the whole lyme disease diagnosis.
At Sun Jun 17, 06:53:00 PM 2007,
Diane said…
I removed a tick from the back of my head last week and now have a sore area that feels like a pimple. I got rid of the tick so fast I never checked it . How could I tell if the head was removed? I'm not sure what to look for.
At Mon Jun 18, 12:51:00 PM 2007,
Paul Auerbach, M.D. said…
To tell if the tick was completely removed, have someone inspect the site using a magnifying glass. Any retained tick parts are usually darker than the skin, and may appear as black dots in the center of the skin reaction, which may be a bit red and swollen. If it appears that part(s) of the tick are still embedded in the wound, and cannot be easily scraped away or removed with a tweezers, then see a health care professional, who may need to numb the area and dig them out.
At Mon Jun 25, 04:07:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
If the tick was very small and was not raised (or full) but flat on the skin, does this mean that it did not attach completely and fill up with blood or does it signify a certain type of tick? It all seems to be removed but there may be a extremely small black dot left. What should we do?
At Mon Jul 02, 07:40:00 PM 2007,
Krystyne said…
My husband had a tick near his temple that had not quite latched on although it took a little effort on my husbands part to pull it off. I am certain it bit him but was not there long enough to get any of his blood......BUT.....the spot is a little swollen, and the his forehead is VERY swollen. Not sure if the two are related, I can only assume so. Is this an allergic reaction or just the beginning of something that could be serious?
At Tue Jul 10, 09:29:00 AM 2007,
janetwaters@hotmail.com said…
MY DOG.(Champion Blue Beagle) Has been infected by five ticks which has bit him I have pulled at least that many out of his skin maybe not getting the head of one seems to have burrowed into his armpit causeing a abcess he has been down and out for four days near death i would say .. running a fever for a few days started with 250 milgrams of amoxicilyn for the last three dyas seems to have him up staggering around a little .. what else can i do..
At Thu Aug 09, 03:51:00 PM 2007,
olivia said…
i found a extremely tiny black tick on my stomach. I thought it was a spec of dirt at first, so i tried to rip it off, and i realized it was attached. i threw it against the wall and looked at it, and it was black with 6 legs, no other patterns.
At Fri Nov 16, 05:54:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
I have a tick on my saintbernard how do I get it off without hurting my dog?
At Mon Dec 17, 07:28:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
A friend told me that if you pull a tick off and don't get the head out, the tick will grow a new sac. I had never heard that. Is it true?
At Tue Sep 16, 08:42:00 AM 2008,
Brandy1982 said…
I just found the biggest tick i've ever seen in my life! My boyfreind said that he saw it on the bed next to one of our dogs. It is totally "blown up"... I want to know how long it takes a tick to get to it's full capacity.. I check my 2 dogs EVERY DAY! I checked last night and could'nt find any. Are they always a "spec of dirt" once they attatch? I use medication on our dogs but it does'nt seem to be working. I've seen more fleas in the past 2 months then i've seen in the past 3 years of living in my place.Why is'nt this medicine that was made for keeping the pests off working????? This is really frustrating. If anyone has any information on what i should do or use I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance.
At Fri Oct 23, 12:05:00 PM 2009,
ilya_gofman said…
i hope everything turned out ok.
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