Stay Tick Free This Summer
School's out, and temperatures are rising. As you spend more time outside and in nature, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and tiny hitchhikers. While they might look like insects, ticks are parasites, which means they feed on the blood of their host.
Ticks are found in all areas of the United States and are particularly active in the warmer months. These tiny arachnids (like spiders) often carry numerous bacteria and viruses and cause hundreds of thousands of Сòòò½APP infections in the U.S. each year, according to the .
Ticks grow to be only a few millimeters long, and their small size makes them hard to detect. They often live in fields and wooded areas and can climb aboard when you brush by vegetation.
How to Avoid Ticks
Follow these steps to protect yourself as you go into brushy or wooded areas:
- Wear insect repellent with DEET (20-30%); picaridin; IR3535; oil of lemon eucalyptus; p-methane-3,8-diol (PMD); or 2-Undecanone on exposed skin and clothing following label instructions.
- Treat clothing with permethrin (an insecticide).
- Avoid brushing by vegetation and stay in the middle of trails when hiking.
- Wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into your socks.
- Shower or bathe soon after being outdoors to wash off any ticks before they attach.
- Wash clothes on a hot setting once returning inside.
- Perform a "tick check" to inspect your body, your children, and your pets for ticks.
According to experts at Сòòò½APP, the most important thing is to look over your body after you've been outdoors. This includes feeling through your hair and looking over your skin.
What to Do if You Find a Tick on Yourself
Ticks are small and often cause little to no irritation at the site of attachment. They tend to attach by skin creases near joints and where clothing is tight around the body—like at your waistband.
Follow these steps if you find a tick on yourself, your child, or your pet:
1. Remove the Tick
No need to rush to urgent care; ticks can be removed at home.
- Using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible; pull back with gentle steady pressure and remove.
- Remove the entire tick in one piece and be careful not to leave the head in your skin.
- Do not burn the tick or cover them in petroleum jelly. These methods can be dangerous.
You can use this to help remove an attached tick and determine when to seek care.
2. Watch for Symptoms
Once a tick has been removed, it's important to consider the possibility that it may have transmitted a virus or bacteria. Lyme Сòòò½APP is the most common tick-borne illness, with around 300,000 infections in the U.S. each year, . Many other lesser-known tick-borne illnesses are found across the country.
Ticks can carry Сòòò½APP in essentially every region of the U.S.:
- Northeast, upper Midwest, and Pacific Coast: There is high prevalence of Lyme Сòòò½APP, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and .
- Southeast: Look out for Ehrlichiosis, STARI, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- West and Southwest: Tick-borne relapsing fever and Colorado tick fever are more common. Tularemia can be found across the country.
Each of these Сòòò½APPs can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, and nausea. Some Сòòò½APPs may cause rashes; Lyme Сòòò½APP often causes a bull’s eye rash (erythema migrans), while Rocky Mountain spotted fever can cause a rash that starts on the hands, wrists, and/or ankles.
Transmission of most tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme Сòòò½APP, requires at least 24 hours of tick attachment. Prompt removal of ticks reduces the risk of infection.
3. Seek Medical Care
Diagnosing tick-borne illnesses can be challenging because symptoms may not appear until weeks after exposure, and some people may not recall a tick bite.
However, if you recently spent time outdoors and notice flu-like symptoms in the days following, or you came into contact with a tick and are unable to remove it completely, seek medical help right away. Nearly all associated tick Сòòò½APPs can be treated with antibiotics or other medications, which can clear up symptoms within a few weeks. However, Lyme Сòòò½APP and Powassan virus can cause long-term symptoms.
If you are in the Northeast, upper Midwest, or Southwest U.S., and a tick has been attached to you for more than a day, you should remove the tick immediately and get medical help.
With the right precautions, tick bites are largely preventable. Whether hiking, walking the dog, or camping with your family, staying tick aware is a simple way to protect your health all season long. So get outside, soak up the sun (with proper sun protection), and enjoy the wild responsibly—just don’t forget to check for tiny hitchhikers when you get home.
