[308win]

I received this from another member on this board and thought I would pass it along.

Please forward to anyone with children... or hunters or dogs,
or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!

A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to
share --

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best
way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's
sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a
head full of dark hair, etc.


Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick
with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the
tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it
away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently),
and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.

[Kingcreek]

I'll have to try that. we've been seeing alot on the dogs (and a few on us) this spring.

[Legionnaire]

Good tip! Went out to the local state game lands on Monday to do some hiking. Sure enough, picked up a couple of ticks along the way, but fortunately, found and disposed of them before they latched on.

[sojournerhome]

Here's an easier way. Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Put it on the tick. The tick lets go. Use the swab to put the tick in a little cup of rubbing alcohol. No more tick. Used this last year hunting in Texas scrub. Lotsa ticks on myself and the boys, but this worked well every time.

[ZeSpectre]

Sorry folks, urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/tick.asp
The problem with many of these "chemical" methods is that they cause the tick to throw up into the wound, something you do NOT want.

Personally I use the "straw n' string" method.

Use an ordinary drinking straw and place it at a 45 degree angle over the tick (the straw is simply being used as a guide to direct the knot). Next, take a length of thread (dental floss works great) and tie a loose knot at the top or midsection of the straw. Now, slide your knot down the straw to the site. Position the knot underneath the tick's head, so that the knot will encircle the embedded part only. What you are trying to do is "lasso" the jaws and force them shut so you can withdraw the tick.

Slowly tighten the knot to close snugly around the jaws. Now, remove the straw and pull the thread in a steady upward motion. This will cause the tick to detach and since their jaws are "lassoed shut" they can't regurgitate into the wound channel.

Put the tick in a container for later medical analysis if necessary.

[Samuel Adams]

Ticks suck.

[leathermanwave]

Take a needle heat it up and touch the tic with it the tic will jump out and run for his life.

[Vern Humphrey]

I just shoot them off with my .45.:neener:

Actually, I just pull them off. Small "seed ticks" are scratched off with the fingernail.

[Cosmoline]

Or just move to Alaska.

No ticks

No fleas to speak of

[Vern Humphrey]

Or just move to Alaska.

No ticks

No fleas to speak of
The mosquetoes killed them all off.:neener:

[Cougfan2]

I despise ticks. When I have picked on up I usually find it after I get home and change clothes. I cover the tick with a glob of vaseline and it backs out after less that a minute. I hear this is because they breath through their skin when they are buried in you and the vaseline blocks off their oxygen supply.

[Legionnaire]

The mosquetoes killed them all off.Yeah, I've heard rumour that the mosquitoes in Alaska are big enough to hunt! Wonder what caliber you'd use for that?

[Vern Humphrey]

Yeah, I've heard rumour that the mosquitoes in Alaska are big enough to hunt! Wonder what caliber you'd use for that?
If my experience with Alaskan mosquitoes is typical, at least a .30-06!

[ZeSpectre]

Yeah, I've heard rumour that the mosquitoes in Alaska are big enough to hunt! Wonder what caliber you'd use for that?

Ah, that reminds me of the classic

Mosquito hunter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcACaW9vwg4)

[homers]

I use a product with Permanone! No more ticks! Used according to directions, spray on clothes, let dry, provides at least 2 weeks of protection.

http://www.repel.com/ProductCategories/Insectrepellents/Permanone/

[Vern Humphrey]

Permanone = a big fat lie.

Come to the Ozarks and see how your permanone works. Nothing fazes our ticks.

[homers]

Me and a couple of my buddies have used it (followed the directions, did not just spray it on prior to entering the woods like other sprays) for the past few years in Michigan and have had 0 ticks come home with us. Without it, we almost always have a tick or two on us. I've seen a mosquito land on my shirt sleave and drop over dead.

[Cougfan2]

Come to the Ozarks and see how your permanone works. Nothing fazes our ticks.

Them hillbilly ticks ARE tough. We were at a campground near the Elk River in MO once and the ground almost looked like it was moving there were so many ticks crawling around. The only things more disgusting to me are leaches.

[Vern Humphrey]

Come to the Ozarks and see how your permanone works. Nothing fazes our ticks.
Them hillbilly ticks ARE tough. We were at a campground near the Elk River in MO once and the ground almost looked like it was moving there were so many ticks crawling around. The only things more disgusting to me are leaches.
I am fortunate to have a farm way out in the hills -- so one time I came home, stripped, and my wife and I pulled over 40 ticks off.

[Vern Humphrey]

Now I'll tell you a sad story about ticks.

The Department of Agriculture had a Tick Eradication Program which came up with the answer. It's deer feeder, with two feeding stations and a vertical feed box. On each corner is a paint roller, filled with tick dope. The deer has to roll the tick dope onto its neck as it sticks its head between the rollers to feed. They call it the "Four Poster."

Something like 95% of all ticks spend some part of their life on the white tail deer, and something like 95% of those are found on the head and neck.

So what happened? The Department of Agriculture, which developed this device with your money, patented it!! So it can't be manufactured and sold commercially. They gave the patent to the American Lyme Disease Foundation -- which has done squat with it.

If they hadn't patented it, the damn' things would be stacked three-high in the Wal-Mart parking lot, and the woods would be full of them.

Ask your congressman and senators why the USDA Four Poster isn't available in your state.

[Karl Hungus]

I've had about 100 ticks on me so far this season. Last night I found one dug in on my back and I ended up performing surgery on my own back to get him out. It's very difficult to cut a tick out of your back while looking in a mirror. Needless to say, I wish I would have read this thread last night. First tick in years that has dug in like that.

[koja48]

Only partially true . . . the skeeters got the ones the black flies missed . . . the big skeeters didn't bother . . . they carried-off whole grizzlies . . .

[BIGR]

I hate ticks. I have got several off of my pants this year. Try to use the deep woods off as much as possible on my pants.

[orienteeer]

i got in on the ground floor, & got vaccinated years ago with LYMERIX. supposedly good for life, but they don't allow its use anymore....... a few patients got swollen joints/arthritis, so the rest of the world got it snatched away.

sorry. :(

[Art Eatman]

Powdered sulfur around your ankles and in your socks will keep the crawling ticks off pretty good.

Kerosene isn't that common any more, but a rag soaked in kerosene will do a seed-tick removing wipe-down on your legs. I'd bet that a cotton ball with some kerosene would make "dog ticks" turn loose, although I never tried that.

[Grizfire]

The removal of a tick should only be done with tweezers. All the other methods probably do get the tick out, but its likely the tick will regurgitate infectious material into your bloodstream before it leaves, and thats NOT GOOD.

[W.E.G.]

I would use a dremel.

But that's just me.

[koja48]

Ya gotta luv power tools . . . things to play with when you can't use a gun . . .

[TimboKhan]

It's fairly horrifying that improper tick removal means that it might, literally, puke into your bloodstream. Gross, man.

Ticks freak me out simply because of Lyme Disease, but aside from that, leeches freak me out more. When I was in the USMC, I used to carry a pouch of Redman into the field because Redman spit was good for getting leeches off, and it helped illeviate bee and wasp stings. Granted, it's pretty gross to have to spit chaw-juice on yourself, but it works.

[redneck2]

Most insects breathe through their outer skin/shell. When you cover them with any type of soap, petroleum, etc. they suffocate.
The removal of a tick should only be done with tweezers.
Problem with this is that you may pull the head off and it stays embedded under the skin and usually gets infected (sometimes badly).

We always covered them with Vasoline. They'd back out after 20-30 seconds.

[buck460XVR]

after my bout with Lyme's a coupla years ago I aways make sure to use insect repellent(most work very effectively against ticks...thank goodness) and/or check myself well after being outdoors. The tiny bear/deer ticks are only about the size of a pinhead and can imbed themselves deeply very quickly.

[wuchak]

You guys are missing out on the easiest tick removal system ever. The O'Tom. You get a small one and a large one in a package for about $5 (they are worth 5x that amount) and they are fantastic. They are also fast. If you have ever tried to remove a tick from the deep ruff hair of Belgian Sheepdog you know that just getting the tick exposed where it can be accessed to remove is a major chore and you'd better grab it quick before the dog moves. Our short haired border mix is a real tick magnet. Took 14 off the other night and 7 off last night.

http://www.otom.com/images/pgcvpreweb.gif

http://www.otom.com/

Once I pull them out I put them on a paper towel, fold over a corner so they are covered top and bottom, and then I use the bottom of the O'Tom handle to pop them.

http://www.otom.com/images/notice1uscouleur_reduit.gif

http://www.otom.com/images/notice2couleur_reduit.gif

http://www.otom.com/images/notice3fcouleurreduit.gif

from their site," Cradles the body of the tick without compressing the abdomen, minimizing the transfer of tick-borne infections.

Removes the whole tick without compressing the tick's mouthparts and leaving bits behind in the skin.

Removes the tick, quickly and without any pain"

[Legionnaire]

^^ I like the look of the device, but always thought you should pull a tick straight off, not twist it off, as shown in the last picture.

[ZeSpectre]

What it looks like that "otom" is doing (when you spin it) is compressing the mouthparts together. It's another way of doing the same thing the "Straw n' String" technique does.

In short you compress the "anchor jaws" together so the tick isn't as well anchored anymore and then you can more easily remove the tick. (without doing anything that would cause them to injection vomit into your bloodstream). I have no idea if it leaves the "spike" part (forgot the name) behind.

A review of a few other options
http://www.placervillevet.com/ticktools.htm

[Husker1911]

Question: When using the vasoline method, is it likely the tick will upchuck into one's bloodstream?

[ZeSpectre]

Question: When using the vasoline method, is it likely the tick will upchuck into one's bloodstream?

According to most of the information I've read on the subject the answer is YES. But don't take my word for it, do your own research.

[koja48]

Bought a couple sets of these a Petco today after reading this . . . looks promising & there are enough of the little vampires around this year to determine how well they work.

[Supertac45]

I just shoot them off. Actually a normal shower with a brush gets 99%of them with no problem unless you've been in the woods for a couple of days.

[Double Naught Spy]

While I appreciate the intent of the original post and the fact that it was quickly corrected as a BAD idea because it is an urban myth, it should have been able to be spotted as an urban myth quite quickly and easily. It has several traits that make it immediately suspect...

Please forward to anyone with children... or hunters or dogs,
or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!
This is the same problem as with many emails. It is a problem email in and of itself because it has you try to bind up bandwidth by sending out countless emails to everyone. Even if not actually a virus, flooding the internet on the random advice of an unknown person isn't good.


A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to
share --

Here we have endorsement by an unknown authority figure. So the credentials are supposedly there, but no way to verify. Then you have the endorsement supposedly sending it, "good enough to share" which is equally dubious.

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best
way to remove a tick.

It gets better. Our medical expert, the nurse, actually doesn't know squat about tick removal. S/he learned this from some unnamed pediatrician. So we have introduced the Sally Struthers factor...a tie to the children.

Come on! I know a guy who has a brother who was in a shooting that married a woman who knew the doctor of the Dalai Lama's 2nd cousin once removed whose son-in-law says the best way to remove ticks is with a weedeater. So it much be true.

[redneck2]

Yeah, but if the post hadn't been here, I wouldn't have known about the little tick pry bar thing. For $5 it's worth a shot.

[Grizfire]

Most insects breathe through their outer skin/shell. When you cover them with any type of soap, petroleum, etc. they suffocate.

The removal of a tick should only be done with tweezers.
Problem with this is that you may pull the head off and it stays embedded under the skin and usually gets infected (sometimes badly).

We always covered them with Vasoline. They'd back out after 20-30 seconds.


The danger associated with a tick regurgitating infectious material in your bloodstream far outweighs the danger of the head staying in. Plus, when you pluck a tick out with tweezers you can tell that the head is on by noting a white chunk of your own skin stuck in the ticks mouth. If that white piece of skin is not there, then you simply dig out the head and disinfect. Also, I've never left a head in, and I've tweezed dozens of ticks.

Again...USE TWEEZERS TO REMOVE TICKS, OTHER METHODS ARE TOO DANGEROUS AND ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY [1]

[1] from the journal of American Family Physician....http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020815/646ph.html



How to Remove a Tick

What should I do if I find a tick on my skin?

It is important to remove the tick as soon as possible. Use the following steps:

1. If possible, clean the area with an antiseptic solution or soap and water. Take care not to scrub the tick too hard. Just clean the skin around it.
2. Use blunt tweezers or gloved fingers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
3. Gently pull the tick straight away from the skin.
4. If the tick's head breaks off in the skin, use tweezers to remove it like you would a splinter.
5. If you live where tick diseases are common, save the tick in a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. Your doctor can check it to see what kind of tick it is and what kind of infection it might carry. Otherwise, flush it in the toilet. Wash your hands.
6. Wash the area around the bite with antibacterial soap.
7. Call your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

Take care not to do the following:

* Do not use sharp tweezers.
* Do not crush, puncture, or squeeze the tick's body.
* Do not use a twisting or jerking motion to remove the tick.
* Do not handle the tick with bare hands.
* Do not try to make the tick let go by holding a hot match or cigarette close to it.
* Do not try to smother the tick by covering it with petroleum jelly or nail polish.

[eliphalet]

I guess if you only have one or two or perhaps even a few some type of "proper" method might be in order but, I use to live in a tick infested area far enough out that our dogs ran free.
It was tick picking everyday after work from a few per dog to at times over 50.
When you remove that many on a daily basis you just pull one off and move on to the next.
I know we removed literally thousands of ticks and not once was there a problem thatI can remember.
That has been awhile back so a infected place or two might have needed to be dealt with but nothing serious or I would remember. I guess what I am saying is just pull em off and be done with it on a dog or animal. On one's self I would take care that the head left with the body or was removed pronto and a disinfectant applied too.

[sm]

eliphalet,

Agree.
Back in the day, we used to get some really good tweezers from the Veterinarian.

A.G. Russel Field Tweezers are really great!
I have lost mine, still I highly recommend these for human and pet use.

http://www.agrussell.com/accessories/gifts/a_g_russell_field_tweezers.html

[wuchak]

I've removed hundreds of ticks with the O'Tom tool and the head has come out with each. It's not a violent twist. It's just a gently twisting motion as you pull upwards. I think it just makes it harder for the tick to hang than if you pulled it straight out.

[308win]

This video from the American Lyme Disease Foundation shows their recommended method of tick removal. It takes about 15 sec to download over a high speed connection and runs for a little over a minute.

http://www.aldf.com/videos.shtml

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Hey I remove a couple dozen ticks a year, and I always have a red itchy area around each removal site for 1-2 weeks afterward. Is this normal or do I have Lyme disease?

I do have memory loss, joint pain, and fatigue, but who doesn't?

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Anyone keep guineas around to keep the ticks down?

[Double Naught Spy]

Hey I remove a couple dozen ticks a year, and I always have a red itchy area around each removal site for 1-2 weeks afterward. Is this normal or do I have Lyme disease?

Did you watch the vidoe? The redness is your body's antibody response to tick saliva.

Do you have Lyme disease? Sure. Based on my non-medical experience in diagnosing medical disorders of unseen patients, over the internet, who give 4 non-diagnostic symptoms, I would have to say that it is absolutely 100% certain that you have Lyme disease, unless you don't. Then I am certain you don't have it.

[alsaqr]

Since 1993 I have been taking an odorless garlic capsule every day. This area is infested with ticks and i'm out there in the woods hog hunting at least two days every week. Have had ticks all over my clothes but few on my body. The ones that get on my body are always moving and seem to want to get away: In 15 years, one tick has dug into the skin.

[quiknot]

my wife saw this in a sunday's paper ...so i ordered some thru the internet.....had flies , mosquitoes, tick crawl around but never bit.....its a thin patch wore on the skin...was not sure but they worked....

[Cosmoline]

I'll take our giant blood suckers. They carry no disease and do their business without much fuss. I was gonna swat one yesterday but let him live out of appreciation.

[Vern Humphrey]

I'll take our giant blood suckers. They carry no disease and do their business without much fuss. I was gonna swat one yesterday but let him live out of appreciation

You let a Congressman live?!?:what: