What is this I’ve found on my daughters head? Is it a tick?

[Alwayswaiting]

My daughter, 5, has had a temperature of 40 all night. Been in with me, sleeping in her knickers to keep her cool. Had some calpol.

This morning I’ve woken up to take her temperature and found what I think is a tick but I’m not sure?

I’ve pulled it out - and thrown it away - but it was alive when I pulled it out. Should I get my daughter checked over by a GP?

Tick bites can be a trigger for various complications, not just Lyme,

Deffo go to A&E - I expect they’ll want her on IV antibiotics for at least 48 hours.

Do keep us updated when you can, fingers crossed you don’t have a long wait.

Definitely get her checked out but, if it’s any consolation, I have been bitten by ticks dozens of times over the years and haven’t caught anything nasty from them.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/

www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/

So lucky you spotted it!
Some areas are prone to Lymes Disease. When DD1 got a fever after a tick bite and I mentioned both DD2 and I had also been bitten but we're fine, we were all put on a course of doxycycline as a precautionary measure.

My friend has Lymes which they caught in the spring. It's been miserable.
Best of luck for your daughter!

The size of that tick makes me think it’s been there for a while. So her temperature and sore leg could be symptoms of Lyme disease?? I’d 100% be pushing for antibiotics - if not treated Lyme disease can be life changing

That tick has been there longer then 24 hours by the size of it.
A&E is definitely the right place due to risks with Lyme and tick paralysis. Hope you have a children's section of yours and it's not too long a wait

you actually don't know this. Sometimes people live with a borrelia infection (several types of this cause Lyme) symptom-free for a long time before another infection tips the balance. Critical mass seems to be a factor in chronic Lyme infection. It's always better to get treated.

OP, glad you've been sent to A&E. I hope your daughter gets great treatment and feels better asap, whether or not it's a tick-borne infection. I had a bullseye rash, stiff neck etc in the weeks following a tick bite a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised at how efficiently the GP responded - there seems to be increasing understanding and knowledge lately. If I didn't have a friend who had been very badly affected by Lyme I'd never have thought to educate myself or seek medical help.

Hope she’s ok OP!!

Sending good wishes, what a worry. xx

GPs always do, and the hospitals always roll their eyes at them.

Hope your daughter is ok

I was given antibiotics as a precaution, although the blood test came back negative.

Hi all - thanks so much. We’ve just been booked in at a&e - will update when I know more. Thanks so much for all the advice x

Hope she's ok OP, these bloody things always worry me when my daughter is out playing in the woods etc. Nasty little bugs.

Hope she's ok poor thing! You're in the right place.

Better to be safe than sorry.

good luck!

advice for anyone who removes a tick like that. keep it for identification or testing if that's an option.

Hope you get seen quickly. Vile creatures.

Thank goodness you got it out. Hope she's ok?

As others have said a tick that size has been there a while, they are tiny and black when they first attach. I’ve had a couple over the years and removed them fully with an O Tom hook I’d bought for getting them off dogs. Good luck at AE, hope your daughter feels better soon.

God it's such a worry, one of those things where it's better to be over cautious as lyme disease is awful

Oh wow, what a worry. So glad you're going to A&E. Hope she'll be much better soon.

Glad she is at A&E. It doesn't look like a new tick, it might have been there a few days.

Well done spotting it and getting it off. What a tricky place to attach.

Do you have the dead tick? I think they can sometimes test the tick to see if it's carrying Lymes.

I hope your daughter feels better soon.