HELP!! DD’s tick bite *pic attached

[PirateArrrr]

DD age 6 found a tick on her shoulder yesterday. I followed the advice online and used tweezers to pull it out but one leg was left in. DH and I spent ages trying to gently use a needle to get the leg out. After about half an hour, we gave up.

This is how it looks today. The leg is still in there. Is there anything else we should be doing to get it out? I don’t want to cause her any more distress but equally don’t want her to get any sort of infection.

Any help much appreciated.,

Can you email that picture to your GP?
My surgery is doing email and telephone consultations.
Tick bites can be problematical and you should get medical advice.
Magnesium sulphate paste is good for drawing out splinters, so might be helpful.

You need to get it out in case of Lyme's disease which can be nasty (but is fairly rare). Contact gp, get some pointy tweezerman tweezers (not cheap Boots ones) or similar if you can and try and get it out. Be glad it's in an accessible place as well!

Ticks legs don’t go into the skin. Are you sure it’s a leg? I would probably ask the pharmacist to take a look.

To be honest I would advise a precautionary dose of antibiotics. I am not a doctor, but DH has had lyme, and a friend of DD. BIG caveat though, we live in a very high lyme disease area. It's endemic here.

It is rare, but the risk does increase if bits of the tick are left in. This won't be a leg, the legs don't go in the skin, it will be a bit of the head. Did it crawl around when you got it out? If it didn't you left some head in. Sorry, I don't want to worry you, you probably are worried now, but I did the same last year, scratched one out with nail by mistake, so some was left in the skin. I phoned GP and he prescribed antibiotics just in case, but again, that is normal for this area.

The alternative is leave it be, and just look out for the "ring", and/or fever, aches, pains and fatigue, at which point then go for antibiotics.

Oh, and invest in a "tick twister" plastic tick remover for next time! They never fail. I use them on the cat, and us!!

Sorry I can't really help, there is some cream you can get from the chemist that draws things out, I think it's magnesium sulphate. It works on splinters but not sure about ticks.

It won't be the leg it will be the mouth, which has been left in after you pulled the tick away.

It can get infected so best to get it checked out.

Pet shops sell tick removers.

You need a tick removal tool for next time. Tweezers squeeze the tick body, which means some of the blood sucked out of your body can get back in along with the saliva which is how the Lyme disease gets in. If there is still some of the mouth part in there, you probably need to see the GP - ring for advice.

My DD got bitten, but the GP said they only give ABs if the bulls eye rash appears.

Thanks all. I called the GP and have been advised to keep a close eye on it. He told me we live in a Lyme disease area and said that if there are any signs of infection, or any rash that comes up anywhere on the body, we must call back. He also said to look out for flu like symptoms and also ring back for that as she would need to be seen. Hoping all will be well.

I thought antibiotics were given as precaution in Lyme disease area OP. Did your GP not mention giving them to DD before showing symptoms

I thought antibiotics were given as precaution in Lyme disease area OP. Did your GP not mention giving them to DD before showing symptoms

Sorry OP. If you are in a Lyme Disease area I would request antibiotics anyway. What have you got to lose? Yes, it's a pita, and you can't go in the sun for three weeks, which sucks, but it is definitely protocol in some areas of Surrey and the New Forest.

Oh really? The GP is someone I have dealt with many times and I’ve always found his advice to be excellent. He was very thorough when telling me what to look out for. I’ve always really valued his advice and opinions in the past and he was actually the first GP to sort out an effective medication for a health condition that I had suffered from for decades. I’d feel awkward to go back asking for ABs when he didn’t feel they were necessary. Obviously DD’s health is more important than me feeling awkward but I’d just be so surprised if he had misinformed me.

We're in a lyme disease area but antibiotics aren't routinely given for tic bites by our local surgery (north Hampshire).
Definitely invest in a tic hook. Found 6 between my two children following one particular camping trip [shudders]