Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Bit By a Tick? What Next?



Don't panic. It's hard. I know, they are ugly, and crawly, but take a deep breath.

Go get the tweezers.

Put the tip of the tweezers as close to the base of the skin as you can.

Hold firmly (but don't squeeze too tight) and pull straight up from the skin.

The tweezers will hopefully help minimize any tick breakage and subsequent oozing and mixing of tick fluids into your skin and bloodstream.

My mom has just informed me that smothering the tick with dish detergent on a cotton ball will work too. Less chance of it breaking off in the skin too. ** Edit. Apparently this may cause tick to regurgitate its stomach contents into the human body. So you don't want to do it since it may be carrying a disease **

Photo by Sarah Blankenbaker
Make sure to put an antibacterial ointment on the bite as soon as possible afterwards. Ticks carry all sorts of harmful diseases, so good to kill as much topically as you can right away.

Natural antibacterial ointments are preferred so those toxic chemicals don't get into your blood stream. Especially if its your child.

I use a wonderful 21 herb salve that my friend made from plants she grew locally. You can make your own healing salves to have ready for bites, injuries or skin alignments. Here is a link to a Make-Your-Own Salve article.


2 comments:

  1. Hey! I just came across your blog and love it! As a yogini hoping to be a parent soon I love reading about your experiences!

    I just had to comment on this post - I was bitten by a tick a number of years ago now. I plucked the tick out and put some antibacterial cream on, as your post suggests. I saw a doctor not long afterwards and she prescribed antibiotics in case of an infection, but, not being a huge fan of taking unnecessary medicine, I didn't take the drugs. I mean, how serious could a tick bite be??

    As it turns out - REALLY serious. 7 months later I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which is potentially very serious and even FATAL if undiagnosed. Thankfully I only had a mild case. I had to take a 3-week treatment of major antibiotics. By the way, I was NOT bitten in an area that is known for Lyme disease.

    So I really have to share this in case other people bitten by a tick - especially a child!!!!!!!, they should know that this can be really serious and that they should SEE A DOCTOR!

    Namaste!

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  2. Yes, thank you La Gitane. It is so true. I didn't realize how serious it was too. Glad yours wasn't too serious. How are you feeling these days?

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