Ticks!

I've been hearing a lot of concern about ticks recently; from parents, from my friends, from the inside of my own head...Tick bites are definitely something to be concerned about, but as long as they are properly dealt with nobody should have any reason to worry. I've had plenty of 'em, and have never suffered any ill effects (aside from the gross-out factor.) Tick worry should never keep you and your children from adventuring, you just need to know how to deal with them. So, here's how.

Step One. Actually the only step I'll list. It is the best, easiest, and most important step, the rest are just details. Every time you are outside, check yourself for ticks at the end of the day. Every time. I cannot stress this enough, catching a tick bite early is the best way to prevent any ill effects (more on this later.) A tick can be tiny, so even look for something that could just look like a new freckle. Check your whole body, use a mirror for your back, especially check the base of the neck, hairline, and armpits. I have seen a lot of bites right along the waistline of pants (especially near the bellybutton.) Change your clothes once you get inside, and check them to make sure you're not bringing ticks inside on them. Another good piece of advice one of my outdoorsy friends told me recently: "In summer I switch from taking a morning shower to a night-time shower, just to be sure."

What you're looking for.
Only the top one can carry Lyme disease, but you could see any of these around here.

If you catch a tick before it has bitten you, you have to be sure to get rid of it properly. Now, normally I am the type of person who will go out of their way to bring an insect or spider outdoors instead of using my shoe, but things like ticks and mosquitoes are my exception. They made it personal. When you are trying to be rid of a tick, make sure to crush them (they are much harder to successfully squish than other insects.) Dispose of the bodies in an outdoor trash or flush them down the toilet, you want to be sure they're gone.

If you have a bite, make sure to remove the tick by the part that is closest to your skin (you don't want to squeeze the tick's body while it's still biting you, this creates more risk of infection.) Put the tick in some rubbing alcohol to kill it and take a look at it. Take a picture if you want, so you can tell what type of tick it was. Ultimately though, if you present symptoms a doctor would test you and not the tick, so you can get rid of it. Back to your wound, be sure to check and make sure you didn't leave behind the tick's head, nobody wants that. It would look like a little black speck in the bite area, or a headless tick in your pool of alcohol. For the record, it might be tricky to get all the mouthparts out, but this should not increase your risk of infection. Just do your best. 

Here's what people really need to know about tick bites: am I going to get sick? Most people who get bitten do not! Not all ticks carry Lyme diease. Only the blacklegged (or "deer") tick does, and they have to have bitten an infected creature before they bite you in order to be a carrier. The biggest reason not to panic about Lyme disease is timing. If you do a tick check after every time you are outside then the bite cannot have been there very long. If a tick has been implanted on you less than 24 hours then there is a very low chance that they can give you the disease, even if they have it.

What you need to do is watch the bite area, one of the first symptoms is a bulls-eye type rash around the area. Sometimes this rash doesn't happen, so if you go to your doctor with flu-like symptoms and a stiff neck within a few weeks of a tick bite, be sure to tell them about the bite. If you do have Lyme disease and catch it early, it's just like any other type of bacterial infection. It is not fun, but antibiotics clear it right up. Again, some of my friends have been treated for Lyme disease, and they're outside right now none the worse for the wear.

If you have any more questions about ticks, be sure to shoot them my way. Or the website for the Vermont Department of Health has some very excellent information, you can find it here.