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6 Tips to Avoid Ticks
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How to Remove a Tick
Tick bites are generally painless, so you or your child may not know you've been bitten until the tick has become engorged. If you do find a tick that has attached to you, your child, or pet, the CDC offers the best way to remove it. Follow these steps:
- Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the surface of the skin as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick— this can cause the mouth parts to break off and remain embedded.
- If the mouth parts do break off, remove them with tweezers. If you are unable to remove them easily with clean tweezers, leave them alone and let the skin heal.
- After you have removed the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
- Avoid folklore remedies such as "painting" the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach.
- The tick might have been on the skin for more than 24 hours.
- Part of the tick remains in the skin after you have attempted to remove it.
- A rash of any kind develops, especially a red-ringed bulls eye rash, or red spots on the wrists or ankles, as this is a symptom of Lyme disease.
Seek medical attention if:
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