Prevention
- Wear long clothing and tuck pant legs into socks
- Use insect repellent containing DEET on all exposed skin
- Use permethrin spray on clothing, shoes, hats, and outdoor items such as tents and sleeping bags
- Upon coming inside, take a shower and put worn clothes in dryer for 10 minutes to kill off any lingering ticks
- If you are going somewhere where reports of Lyme’s
- Disease are high, talk to you doctor about getting
- preventative antibiotics like doxycycline
What to Expect
- Little to no pain
- A small bump lasting about 2 days
Treatments – OTC
- Wash hands and bite site after removing the tick
- Apply one application of OTC antibiotic ointment
How to Remove Ticks
Using Tweezers:
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible
- Pull straight upwards without twisting or crushing the tick
- Keep steady pressure until the tick lets go
- If any part of the tick remains in the skin, clean the skin with rubbing alcohol and scrape off what you can with tweezers or a needle
Using a Twisting Device:
- Slide slotted part of took along skin and around the ticks head
- Twist tool until the tick release from the skin
- Lift tick and tool away from skin
Products at Patton Pharmacy
- DEET Bug Spray
- OFF Family Care
- Coleman 100 Max Insect Repellent
- Permethrin Spray
- Sawyer Insect Repellent Clothing
- Antibiotic Ointments
- Polysporin
- Neosporin
- Tick Removers
- Tweezers
- Tick Tornado
When to See the Doctor
- If you cannot get the tick removed from the skin
- A rash or fever starts over the next 2-14 days
- A new redness starts over 24 hours after the bite
- Signs of infection
- A red ring or bull’s eye rash appears around the bite
Treatment for Lyme Disease
- Antibiotic treatments for Lyme’s Disease in adults and children over 8 years old include Doxycycline, Amoxicillin, and Cefuroxime
- Children less than 8 or women who are pregnant should not take Doxycycline but can still use Amoxicillin or Cefuroxime
- Treatment can last from 10 to 28 days depending on the medication used and what stage the disease is in
- If you get bitten by a tick, your doctor may prescribe a preventative dose of doxycycline within the first 72 hours after removing the tick depending on the likelihood of Lyme’s Disease development