How to Remove a Wood Tick
What the experts say:
The Nova Scotia Department of Health Protection and Promotion–
The Nova Scotian Government distributes a brochure with the following advice: Grasp the tick with tweezers and pull it straight out. To be honest, that is how I deal with them except I don’t bother with the tweezers. I just grasp them as close to the head as I can and pull gently and steadily until the little bugger has to let go. It might take thirty or forty seconds but it seems to work fine.
The Nova Scotia Department of Health Protection and Promotion–
The Nova Scotian Government distributes a brochure with the following advice: Grasp the tick with tweezers and pull it straight out. To be honest, that is how I deal with them except I don’t bother with the tweezers. I just grasp them as close to the head as I can and pull gently and steadily until the little bugger has to let go. It might take thirty or forty seconds but it seems to work fine.
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A Parasitologist –
A Parasitologist working at Dalhousie University says the best way to remove an embedded tick is to cover the body of the tick with Vaseline, butter or a similar substance. An insect breathes through holes in its body called spiracles and if you plug them it can not breathe. This will cause the tick to contract the little spines which hold it in place so you can just pick it off.
It is the spines on its proboscis and head which make it dangerous to just pull the tick off. If any part of the tick breaks off while pulling it out, the consequences to your health can be profound, from infection to tumors or worse.
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Folk Wisdom –
When I was young, the conventional treatment for removing a tick was to touch it on the bum with a lit cigarette or the little ember on the tip off of a just blown-out wooden match. The tick would pretty quickly let go and try to find a more temperate place to settle in. At that point you would grab it and either finish burning it or just flush it down the toilet. It seemed to work as well as anything and left no obvious ill effects.
A Parasitologist –
A Parasitologist working at Dalhousie University says the best way to remove an embedded tick is to cover the body of the tick with Vaseline, butter or a similar substance. An insect breathes through holes in its body called spiracles and if you plug them it can not breathe. This will cause the tick to contract the little spines which hold it in place so you can just pick it off.
It is the spines on its proboscis and head which make it dangerous to just pull the tick off. If any part of the tick breaks off while pulling it out, the consequences to your health can be profound, from infection to tumors or worse.
-
Folk Wisdom –
When I was young, the conventional treatment for removing a tick was to touch it on the bum with a lit cigarette or the little ember on the tip off of a just blown-out wooden match. The tick would pretty quickly let go and try to find a more temperate place to settle in. At that point you would grab it and either finish burning it or just flush it down the toilet. It seemed to work as well as anything and left no obvious ill effects.
A. blacklegged tick larva. B. blacklegged tick nymph. C. blacklegged tick adult. D. Dog or wood tick adult. Image from: http://www.gov.ns.ca/
Where did they come from?
Ticks have not always been a problem in Nova Scotia. The first ones are thought to have arrived in Yarmouth on some sheep imported by a farmer in the 1940’s. I always figured they came in on the dogs brought by tourists via the Portland to Yarmouth ferry that docks in Yarmouth. In either case, the first ticks settled into Yarmouth and have worked their way steadily across the province ever since. In the 1970’s we had them in Queens County. In the 1980’s they were being found in Kejimkujik National Park and into Annapolis County.
Apparently they are everywhere in the province now but I rarely see them west of Lunenburg County. East of there I expect to be crawling with them after a day in the woods.
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What about Lyme disease?
For a long time Lyme disease was not a concern here even though we had ticks. It seems that the ordinary wood tick is not a particular carrier. Recently there have been reports that a different and smaller type of tick has been found around Bedford in Halifax County that is a carrier. I read in the paper recently that there are now twelve confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia. Five of the confirmed cases are in Garden Lots, Lunenburg.
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Keeping them off in the first place
I am not sure you can really keep them off in the first place if you are spending time in the woods but here are the conventional tips to minimize contact:
Tuck your pants into your socks when walking around in grassy areas. Check yourself and your companions frequently during your trip.
Wear a mesh bug jacket when you can.
Use a good DEET based insect repellent and spray a bit on your shoes and around your ankles.
When you get home from your day out, strip off and examine yourself for ticks. You rarely feel them on your skin so check your self over. Most often ticks climb aboard and work their way up toward your head and neck area before embedding-not always but often enough that it is a good idea to carefully check the hair line around the back of your neck and ears.
The most common place to get ticks on you is not actually the woods but the fields and grass around the edges of the woods.
It might be good advice to avoid Garden Lots, Lunenburg County.
-Here is a picture of a device some friends showed me at the cottage the other day.
A doctor from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia – the entry point of Nova Scotia’s tick invasion, invented Tick Off. It looks like it would work pretty well but I have not tried it.
Ticks have not always been a problem in Nova Scotia. The first ones are thought to have arrived in Yarmouth on some sheep imported by a farmer in the 1940’s. I always figured they came in on the dogs brought by tourists via the Portland to Yarmouth ferry that docks in Yarmouth. In either case, the first ticks settled into Yarmouth and have worked their way steadily across the province ever since. In the 1970’s we had them in Queens County. In the 1980’s they were being found in Kejimkujik National Park and into Annapolis County.
Apparently they are everywhere in the province now but I rarely see them west of Lunenburg County. East of there I expect to be crawling with them after a day in the woods.
-
What about Lyme disease?
For a long time Lyme disease was not a concern here even though we had ticks. It seems that the ordinary wood tick is not a particular carrier. Recently there have been reports that a different and smaller type of tick has been found around Bedford in Halifax County that is a carrier. I read in the paper recently that there are now twelve confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia. Five of the confirmed cases are in Garden Lots, Lunenburg.
-
Keeping them off in the first place
I am not sure you can really keep them off in the first place if you are spending time in the woods but here are the conventional tips to minimize contact:
Tuck your pants into your socks when walking around in grassy areas. Check yourself and your companions frequently during your trip.
Wear a mesh bug jacket when you can.
Use a good DEET based insect repellent and spray a bit on your shoes and around your ankles.
When you get home from your day out, strip off and examine yourself for ticks. You rarely feel them on your skin so check your self over. Most often ticks climb aboard and work their way up toward your head and neck area before embedding-not always but often enough that it is a good idea to carefully check the hair line around the back of your neck and ears.
The most common place to get ticks on you is not actually the woods but the fields and grass around the edges of the woods.
It might be good advice to avoid Garden Lots, Lunenburg County.
-
Labels: How to Remove a Wood Tick, how to remove ticks, Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia wood ticks, Nova Scotian Government fact sheet on ticks, remove ticks
posted by Steve Dobson at
01:01
4 Comments:
Ticks are very interesting. A couple of comments...
Checking yourself regularly for ticks, as you say, is the best advice.
Wearing light-colored clothing does nothing to discourage ticks, but makes seeing them as they crawl up your pantleg a whole lot easier. It's a good way to cut down on the number that actually make it to your skin.
If they do find a spot to their liking, remember it takes 18 to 24 hours for them to attach and drill down to where they actually get to the blood supply. This gives you a window of opportunity to remove the critter before there is much risk of being infected by Lyme disease.
As a school teacher, I have seen a few children distressed to find a wood tick embedded, usually in the head area, and usually on Monday mornings following a weekend outing. Parents should remember to check their children carefully.
One final thought...
Of all the critters that can afflict the outdoorsman here in Nova Scotia, blackflies, no-see-ums and mosquitos, in that order, are the most annoying. Wood ticks come dead last in my book.
I find a dozen or more on me during an average season - most often between early May and mid-July. Of these, only one or two actually attach to my skin, although I have no doubt they all would if I forgot to strip down and check for these hitch-hikers.
Usually after removal of a wood tick, the area may become slightly swollen and itchy. If you scratch it, it may become red. This is normal. It lasts for a few days and gradually disappears.
If you develop a circular red rash at the site of the tick bite any where from 3 to 30 days after removal or have any of the following symptoms:
* fatigue
* chills
* fever
* headache
* muscle and joint pain
* swollen lymph nodes
consult a doctor immediately. Most cases of Lyme disease are cured completely within 2-4 weeks of treatment with antibiotics. Early diagnosis is crucial.
RP
Thanks RP;
That is all good info.
Cheers,
Steve
I've never seen a wood tick or any tick really here in Ontario, although I understand they are around in some areas. I'm OK with not seeing any, since I don't fancy having critter attach themselves to me, thank you very much.
Yes Mr.A,
They are kind of creepy. I've never gotten used to them but they are a fact of life back here now just like Blackflies. Random Phrump offers some good advice,"Check your self regularly" while afield. It is easier to flick them off than extract them.
Cheers,
Steve
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