What should I do if bitten by a tick? Symptoms of a bite, methods of independent safe removal of a tick.
Content
- Ticks: When are they active, how do they look, where do they live?
- Book a tick: symptoms
- What to do if the tick is bitten: methods of extracting a tick
- Video: How to quickly and safely pull out a tick?
- What can not be done when a tick is bitten?
- What to do after removing the tick?
- Video: What to do with a bite of a tick?
- How to understand that infection occurred after a tick bite?
- What is the danger of a tick bite: what diseases can cause?
- Tick \u200b\u200b-borne encephalitis: symptoms, treatment
- Borreliosis: symptoms, treatment
- Prevention of tick bites
- How to get rid of the tick yourself: tips, reviews
- Video: How to pull the tick in the field?
Ticks: When are they active, how do they look, where do they live?
With the beginning of the warm season, many love to go to nature on picnics. The number of vacationers in nature increases sharply with the advent of May holidays. Ticks that are most active at this time of year can spoil such a pleasant pastime.
It is worth knowing about what danger the ticks pose and how to get rid of them if the tick is bitten. Many people are not serious about this, they don’t even think about what a seemingly harmless tick bite can threaten. In fact, the situation with ticks is quite serious and the consequences are not always favorable.
According to medical statistics, the number of tick bites from bites is increased every year. This suggests that the tick population has increased.
The tick bite can not always pose a threat to human health, only certain species are dangerous. But it is impossible to determine the independent and non -hazardous tick on their own.
The tick looks like a small reddish-brown spider. The dimensions of the tick with the match head. Males are less than females. The dimensions of males are 2.5 mm, and females-about 3-4 mm.
Important: there is an opinion that ticks live on trees and fall on top of a person. In fact, ticks can live in the grass, on the branches of shrubs, on vegetation along the roadsides. Above 1 meter, ticks do not rise.
As soon as the tick feels the approach of a person or animal, he immediately rushes at him. The problem is that it is impossible to feel that the tick came to the body, since it is very small.
For some time, the tick moves through the body in search of a convenient place for suction. Then he digs into the skin with his proboscis and begins to suck blood. Often they find a tick even before it sucked in to the body. The dimensions of the tick, which managed to get drunk, can reach 1 cm. In this case, the color of the tick body becomes gray.
Ticks winter in the ground. As soon as the snow begins to go, and warm weather is installed on the street, they crawl out.
Important: the peak of the most aggressive activity of ticks falls on May-June, as well as August-September. Throughout the summer, ticks remain active, but in July activity is slightly reduced. The activity of ticks is caused not only by the season, but also by the time of day. The most active ticks are in the morning and evening.
Book a tick: symptoms
The tick bite does not cause absolutely any pain. The fact is that with a bite, the tick emits saliva with an analgesic substance, which allows it to suck imperceptibly.
A red spot can form around the tick bite, accompanied by itching, swelling, pain.
Also, depending on the individual characteristics of the body, such symptoms can be observed:
- Drowsiness
- Chills
- Subfebrile body temperature
- Lomota in the body
- Photophobia
Symptoms can develop from several hours to several days. It depends on the characteristics of the body. In some people, the symptoms of a tick bite are not observed at all. Most often, the manifestation of characteristic symptoms are subject to:
- Elderly people;
- Children;
- Allergies;
- People with chronic diseases.
The strong response of the body to the bite of the tick includes:
- Tachycardia
- Headache
- Nausea, vomiting
- Difficulty breathing
- Hallucinations
In this case, immediate medical care is required.
Ticks are attached to those places where soft, warm and wet. Their "favorite" places:
- Neck
- Behind the ears
- Shoes
- The inside of the hips
- Bend under the knee
- Groin area
- Stomach
In children, the skin is delicate and soft, so ticks can suck anywhere on the body.
If you find a red itchy spot on your skin, pay attention to its center. If you see a sobbing tick there, you need to urgently take measures to extract it.
What to do if the tick is bitten: methods of extracting a tick
Important: the most important rule when a tick is bitten is not to panic. As a result of panic, you can incorrectly remove the tick, so try to calm yourself.
There are reasons for concern, but you definitely should not panic:
- Firstly, not all ticks are a danger of infection.
- Secondly, if you quickly remove the tick, then the risk of infection is minimal or absent.
The most reliable way is to immediately visit the emergency room or clinic. The medical worker will correctly extract the tick, and then it can be directed to the laboratory for research on the tolerance of dangerous diseases. It is important that the tick is alive after extraction. Then it is possible to determine whether the tick is dangerous or “clean”.
If it is not possible to quickly go to the hospital, you will have to extract the tick yourself. Remember, the longer the tick is in the body, the more infection can enter the body.
Methods of removing ticks:
- Tweezers. The tick needs to be correctly captured with tweezers, otherwise there is a risk of breaking the parasite. You need to capture the parasite as close to the proboscis as possible. After that, carefully tighten the tick, shake it in different directions. Then it must be carefully turned into any convenient side. After 1-3 revolutions, the tick is extracted with the trunk.
- Thread. Select a strong thread that will not break during the extraction of the tick. Closer to the tick probability, tie the thread in a knot. Then twist the thread in one direction, pulling it a little up. Until the tick goes out.
- Hands. If there is no tweezer or thread at hand, you will have to twist the tick carefully with your fingers. It is necessary to wind a clean bandage or fabric on the fingers.
If during the extraction of the tick there was a rupture of the parasite, a black head may remain in the body. It also needs to be removed, but before that you need to wipe the place with alcohol. Then calculate the needle on the fire and take out the head of the tick, as the splinter is taken out.
If the tick exploded during the extraction process, burn it or pour boiling water. If the tick remains alive, it can be handed over to the laboratory. The studies will help to understand whether the tick was infected or not.
If the tick is in an uncomfortable place to extract, you need to extract it in any case. Even if the tick will break. But it will be better than wasting time looking for help.
Video: How to quickly and safely pull out a tick?
What can not be done when a tick is bitten?
When extracting a tick, it is important to carry out the correct actions in order to minimize the harm. There are also things that are unacceptable to do.
Consider what cannot be done when removing the tick:
- Lubricate or pour the tick with oil. Previously, this method was widely used. It is believed that the oil will prevent oxygen access to the tick, and it will come out. This is partly true, but there are disadvantages of this method. First of all, you lose time. In addition, the tick feeling the lack of oxygen begins to secrete even more saliva, which can be infected. Also, such a tick after extraction will not be accepted into the laboratory for analysis.
- Tear the tick. A sharp pulling out the tick will inevitably lead to a break, that is, part of the tick will remain in the body. Residues can come out on their own, and can cause an inflammatory process.
- Squeeze the body of the tick. The rupture of the tick in addition to the residues of the parasite in the body provokes the injection of the harmful substance into the blood. Therefore, you need to keep the tick at his head and try not to compress his body. In a word, you need to remove the tick as carefully as possible.
- Tick \u200b\u200bwith naked hands. If there was no tweezer or thread at hand, it is unacceptable to remove the tick with bare hands. The fingers should be wrapped with gauze, bandage, a handkerchief, any other soft cloth. Microstings can be on the skin, so you need to protect your fingers in order to prevent poison from entering these cracks.
In pet stores you can buy a special device for removing ticks. This is a kind of tweezers with sharp wrapped edges. If there is a person next to you who can confidently cope with the tick, trust him with this procedure.
Do not make sudden movements and rush. First, the tick needs to be a little shake left and right, this will help to extract it faster and in general. Since the tick sucks with its hooks very much, swaying helps to weaken their grip.
Ticks are dangerous not only for people, but also for animals. The process of extracting a tick from the body of the animal is similar. In this case, the animal must be kept tight to facilitate the process.
Important: if within 24 hours after sucking the tick, you managed to extract it, troubles can be avoided. In the future, it is necessary to observe the state of health.
What to do after removing the tick?
Important: if you are going to take a tick into the laboratory, you should place it in a jar with a moistened cotton wool, and close it tightly with a lid. Also, the jar should be put in the refrigerator if you do not pass the tick immediately.
The actions after the bite of the tick should be as follows:
- Remove the remnants of the tick if necessary.
- Disinformed the place of the bite with any antiseptic. Hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, iodine, green is suitable. Even if there is nothing at hand in nature, rinse the place of the bite with ordinary clean water.
- Write down the date when there was a bite. It is possible to donate blood to determine dangerous diseases provoked by a bite of the tick after 3-4 weeks. If you take tests earlier, the results will not be quite reliable.
After that, it remains to observe the state of health.
Video: What to do with a bite of a tick?
How to understand that infection occurred after a tick bite?
In infected people, the body reacts differently to infection transmitted by ticks:
- Most often, the onset of the disease is similar to SARS.
- Lymph nodes may increase, weakness, muscle pain appears, and body temperature rises.
- After a few days, a red spot may appear at the bite site, which sharply and greatly increases in size.
If such signs are detected, it is necessary to consult an infectious disease specialist.
What is the danger of a tick bite: what diseases can cause?
Ticks are dangerous in that they can cause infectious diseases. The most dangerous:
- Encephalitis
- Borreliosis
It is possible to determine which tick is bitten only by laboratory tests. In nature, there are also safe ticks, their bites do not pose a health hazard. But even if the risk of infection is minimal, you should try to avoid acquaintance with ticks.
Diseases caused by ticks are very dangerous. Up to disability, lethal cases.
Tick \u200b\u200b-borne encephalitis: symptoms, treatment
Important: tick -borne encephalitis is a dangerous infectious disease characterized by damage to the central and peripheral nervous system. The most severe complications of diseases are paralysis, death.
Symptoms of tick -borne encephalitis:
- Weakness in the muscles of the limbs, neck.
- Numbness of the face, neck.
- A fever to 40ºС.
- Sleep disturbances.
- Headache, a feeling of breakdown.
- Nausea, vomiting.
- An erythema appears at the place of bite of the tick - redness of the skin.
- Loss of consciousness, dullness of consciousness, stunning.
The incubation period of the disease lasts from 7 to 14 days, but can reach 30 days. There are cases when the disease begins to manifest itself earlier than 7 days later.
It is impossible to establish a diagnosis for the above symptoms, for this, laboratory tests are needed. If the patient’s encephalitis is suspected, it is necessary to deliver to the infectious diseases hospital where treatment will be performed.
Possible complications and severity of the disease depend on the form of encephalitis. All are distinguished five forms of the disease:
- Feverish
- Polio
- Meningeal
- Polyradiculutrician
- Meningoencephalic
At the early stage of the disease, immunoglobulin therapy is indicated. With a severe degree of disease, the patient is introduced by gamma-globulin. Preparations are also prescribed to maintain water-electrolyte balance, bed rest, vitamins and diet. Prevention of the disease is vaccination.
Borreliosis: symptoms, treatment
Important: borreliosis or Lyme disease is a dangerous infectious disease, which is characterized by damage to the heart, skin, joints, and nervous system. With late diagnosis and improper therapy, the disease can go into a chronic form.
The main symptom of borreliosis is erythema at the place of bite of the tick. General symptoms are also characteristic: malaise, high body temperature, muscle pain, joints, nausea and vomiting.
You can establish a diagnosis of borreliosis on the basis of laboratory tests. The disease is characterized by 3 stages with varying degrees of complexity on each of them. Sometimes the disease develops immediately from the second stage. The second stage is characterized by meningitis. The last 3 stages of the disease develops after a few months or years. It is characterized by:
- Skin lesion
- Chronic arthritis
- Damage to the nervous system
Often the disease affects one system in the body, but over time, a combined lesion can occur.
If borreliosis is not treated, the disease goes into a chronic form with wave -like relapse. In the chronic course of the disease, often develop:
- Lymphocytomas
- Arthritis
- Atrophic dermatitis
- Defeat of various structures of the nervous system
Borreliosis vaccines do not exist. In the diagnosis of the disease, antibiotic therapy is indicated. With the development of chronic borreliosis, the following complications can develop:
- Face deformation due to damage to the facial nerve
- Epilepsy
- Shattering while walking
- Arrhythmia
- Heart failure
- Visual impairment and hearing
- Decrease in muscle force in the limbs
In the early stages, a complete cure of the disease is possible without consequences and complications.
Prevention of tick bites
Prevention of tick bites is the following measures:
- Suitable clothes. Going to nature, put on your pants and a shirt with sleeves. There must also be a headdress, socks. Clothing should be light, because it is easy to see a tick on it. It is difficult to see the tick on dark clothes.
- Body examination. Every hour, the most vulnerable places and the whole body should be checked. First of all, you should pay attention to the folds of knees and elbows, axillary cavities, the area behind the ears, the neck. Children should be examined thoroughly.
- Choose for walks protopoted paths, less often it is worth walking in the grass overgrown with grass.
- Use repellers and acarcides. The pharmacy sells special products that repel ticks. They should be applied to clothes and unprotected areas of the body. Avoid getting into the eyes, respiratory tract and mucous membranes.
- After being in nature, take shower After returning home.
Even if all prevention rules are followed, the tick bite cannot be completely eliminated, but the risk is significantly reduced.
How to get rid of the tick yourself: tips, reviews
Zoya: “I extract a tick using a simple method. This method has helped out more than once, I want to share it with you. Take a small piece of cotton wool, moisten with water, squeeze, and then soap with soap. Then put this cotton wool in the place where the tick dug, press to the skin and quickly rotate clockwise 3-4 times, then counterclockwise the same. Very quickly the tick will be on Vatka, even if you managed to dig a lot. ”
Olga: “Once I also faced such an unpleasant phenomenon as a tick bite. She herself did not dare to get him, she turned to the emergency room. The doctor with a thick thread quickly took out a tick in 3 turns. The place of the bite was treated with alcohol and green. ”
Lyudmila: “The doctor was also twisted to me, she was afraid herself. It was prescribed to take a doxycycline for 5 days for 2 capsules. They also recommended buying a special tweezers for ticks. I really do not like and are afraid of these insects. "
Ticks are a danger to human health, so you should know the enemy in the face. It is very important to observe prevention measures to protect yourself and your loved ones from unpleasant consequences after a tick bites.