Ticks
Where Are Ticks Found?
Ticks are usually found in wooded and grassy areas, such as forests, hiking areas, and nature reserves. Sometimes, though, they roam closer to home (e.g., gardens, parks, and backyards). They’re most active during late Spring, Summer, and early Autumn.
There’s many species of ticks in the United States. The one that causes Lyme Disease (Ixodes scapularis or the deer tick) is most common in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, as well as the Upper Midwest states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan). Other species, however, are found throughout the entire country, including the West Coast, so it’s helpful to know what they look like.
What Do Ticks Look Like?
Ticks come in varying sizes, depending on their stage of development. At their youngest, they’re as small as a poppy seed, so they can be hard to spot! They’re usually black, reddish-brown, or brown in color. Ticks have eight legs (except for in their youngest stage, when they have six).
How Do I Prevent Getting Ticks On My Child?
What If I Find A Tick?
It’s time for tick removal! The goal is to do this within 36 hours, so we have more peace of mind that there’s no disease transmission.
Use clean tweezers to grasp the tick’s head as close to the skin as you can. Avoid the abdomen, since this can cause regurgitation of stomach contents into the skin.
Tug upwards firmly and quickly in one motion, rather than wiggling the tick out. This can lead to mouth pieces breaking off and getting stuck in the skin. Note: If you notice a small mouth part left behind, you can let it be. Your child’s skin should naturally expel it.
Kill the tick via submerging it in rubbing alcohol or flushing it down the toilet. You can also stick it in a sealed Ziploc, (just use two in case the first isn’t fully sealed). The latter is helpful if the tick needs to taken to the office to get identified (usually if attached >72 hours).
Cleanse the bite area with soap and water. You don’t need to apply any ointments.
Keep an eye out for symptoms of Lyme Disease (see below). If you think the tick has been attached for >36 hours and live in the Northeast or Upper Midwest, schedule an appointment with your PCP to see if your child would benefit from medication for prevention (not all kids are eligible, but it’s worth a conversation if you live in a high-risk area).
What Shouldn’t I Do?
“Suffocate” the tick by letting it remain on the skin and covering it with Vaseline or nail polish.
Try to use heat or cold (like a match) to kill the tick through extreme temperatures.
What’s The Harm Of Leaving Ticks Attached? How Do We Treat Tick-Borne Diseases?
In most cases, even if a tick isn’t caught until the 36-hour mark, a large chunk of these kiddos do just fine and don’t catch any diseases! However, sometimes ticks do end up transferring diseases. The two we see most commonly are Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Lyme Disease: Lyme disease starts with a flu-like illness (fever, fatigue, joint or muscle aches, headaches). A classic “target” rash often comes next, 1-2 weeks after the initial bite. Weeks to months later, if the disease isn’t treated, you can have complications of the heart (abnormal heart rhythms), joints (arthritis), and central nervous system (meningitis or Bell’s palsy). Treatment is with a course of antibiotics. If caught early (at the target-rash stage), symptoms should resolve quickly.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: RMSF refers to a constellation of different symptoms. At first, it feels like a severe virus (high fevers, headaches, joint aches, vomiting, facial swelling). A red, spotted rash on the wrists that migrates towards the torso comes next. If not treated early enough, it can lead to more concerning findings involving the lungs, kidneys, and nervous system. Treatment is with a course of antibiotics.
