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Original poster

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

351 replies

Alwayswaiting · 26/09/2022 07:57

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?

What is this I’ve found on my daughters head? Is it a tick?
OP posts:
Fladdermus · 26/09/2022 14:25

Hope your DD is ok. I bloody hate those things. Where I live they carry TBE and scare the heck out of me.

TokyoSushi · 26/09/2022 14:27

Oh OP what a nightmare, hope she's much better very soon Flowers

iekanda · 26/09/2022 14:32

Hope she is on the mend soon. Ticks are nasty things.

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gatehouseoffleet · 26/09/2022 14:33

oakleaffy · 26/09/2022 12:54

A vet treated my friend for a bad cut.. They were friends though, made a difference.

Saved a long wait in Casualty. {It needed stitching and antibiotics}

But I don't think generally they treat humans , possibly their insurance won't cover it?

Show quote history

I would think treating them for a bad cut would come under first aid.

I think in the case on here, they showed them how to get the tick out.

gatehouseoffleet · 26/09/2022 14:34

Fladdermus · 26/09/2022 14:25

Hope your DD is ok. I bloody hate those things. Where I live they carry TBE and scare the heck out of me.

There's a vaccination for that though isn't there, unlike Lymes?

gatehouseoffleet · 26/09/2022 14:37

Dolphinnoises · 26/09/2022 14:22

@Alwayswaiting ask if they’ve considered tick-borne encephalitis. It’s exceptionally unlikely in the U.K. but one case was recorded there a couple of years ago. Here in Central Europe we are immunised against it - it’s a form of meningitis

I missed your post, yes I thought there was a vaccination for it.

I hope your dd recovers well OP, she's in the right place now. A friend of mine went out for a run a few weeks ago and returned home with over ten ticks attached to her! I am always wary when I go out for a walk or run anywhere overgrown.

2021mumma · 26/09/2022 14:41

Please ensure they give her antibiotics. My friend died of Lymes disease.

RawChickenTray · 26/09/2022 14:44

GP was definitely right that she needed to go straight to A&E with those symptoms and a tick for several days, hopefully they get to the bottom of what’s causing the issue and will cover her for Lyme disease even if it’s something else causing it.

RaRaRaspoutine · 26/09/2022 14:47

Ticks are nasty things (had one between my toes once and have encountered deer ticks whilst gardening - they are ENORMOUS). Lyme disease can be serious but rarely fatal. Hoping your daughter is seen quickly and treated.

squishee · 26/09/2022 14:48

Wallywobbles · 26/09/2022 12:59

We are in France and she had to be tested by the vet. No reliable testing here.

My friend, also in France, says that she has a supply of Lyme test strips from the pharmacy in all the time.

Navigatingnewwaters · 26/09/2022 14:51

Wallywobbles · 26/09/2022 12:59

I hâve a uni student who is in a wheel chair thanks to Lymes Disease. Onset was a decade or so later. It's really horrible.

The first year after infection is the only time it can be effectively treated sadly.

Msloverlover · 26/09/2022 14:52

I’ve had Lyme disease and symptoms didn’t kick in until about 2 weeks after the bite. Didn’t even realise it was a tick, it was only after I had the bulls eye rash that I realised. Fever came after that. I think it’s just coincidence but I would get her checked just the same and look up images of rash so you know what to look for (comes up a few days after).

DeadButDelicious · 26/09/2022 14:52

So glad she's in a&e and being taken care off. Bloody horrid things ticks.

My DH had post viral arthritis and it was just awful. Wishing your DD a swift recovery.

JustlookingNotbuying · 26/09/2022 15:15

When my ds was a toddler, I found a tick just like that but on his shoulder. The cat had been sleeping on his bed, it must have come from that.
I removed it with a tick remover and got him straight to the surgery and they gave him a prescription for antibiotics. He’s now 17 and fine, no sign of Lyme’s or any other nasties,

Ericaequites · 26/09/2022 15:19

A tick in the scalp is not so uncommon. I’ve picked them up in the woods and long grass. Check children carefully before they bathe, and teach older youth to do this for themselves. Ticks can swell much faster if the bite in near or on a major blood vessel. In high school, I had a deer tick swell up hugely within ninety minutes. I put my hair up in a Psyche knot.. Before leaving the house, I picked up the cat and cuddled him over my shoulder to say goodbye. In second period, a teacher suggested I look at my neck after I completed.the test. The tick was huge. I ripped it out, because it was 1987.
They expect a Lyme vaccine to be approved in the United States by 2025. It will be expensive, but we’ll worth it. I live perhaps thirty miles as the crow flies from Lyme, Connecticut where the disease was first described.

SailingBuddy · 26/09/2022 15:23

fingers crossed for you and your daughter

Indoctro · 26/09/2022 15:27

Ticks are awful I live in a high area and bbc did a good documentary on it and this area called under the skin

The specialist on that show said ALL tick bites should be treated with antibiotics but unfortunately many GP's aren't up to speed on it.

20% in area I live carry Lymes.

Glad you went to A&E

FelicityBennett · 26/09/2022 15:27

ClaryFairchild · 26/09/2022 10:36

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

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Not true , A and E is correct for an unwell child with a limp and a high temp - regardless of the tick bite really ! Will need full assessment to exclude septic arthritis as well as decision usually from specialists in the case of a temp and tick bite

loz1996 · 26/09/2022 15:30

Hope all is ok!

Navigatingnewwaters · 26/09/2022 15:43

FelicityBennett · 26/09/2022 15:27

Not true , A and E is correct for an unwell child with a limp and a high temp - regardless of the tick bite really ! Will need full assessment to exclude septic arthritis as well as decision usually from specialists in the case of a temp and tick bite

Show quote history

Exactly, I’m glad OP didn’t get put off by this.

MandUs · 26/09/2022 15:45

That tick looks way too large to only have been there since yesterday. Looks at least a few days old.

Hope you are both ok.

rach2713 · 26/09/2022 15:46

Aww i really hope your daughter is feeling ok. There is nothing worse they are not well.

Navigatingnewwaters · 26/09/2022 15:46

FelicityBennett · 26/09/2022 15:27

Not true , A and E is correct for an unwell child with a limp and a high temp - regardless of the tick bite really ! Will need full assessment to exclude septic arthritis as well as decision usually from specialists in the case of a temp and tick bite

Show quote history

Exactly, I’m glad OP didn’t get put off by this.

whoruntheworldgirls · 26/09/2022 16:24

Poor little thing, sorry your both going through this, hope all the tests come back clear and it's just a bug she has and is soon on the mend

TimeforZeroes · 26/09/2022 16:55

Poor little monkey. I’ve had adverse reactions to bites before that gave me the onset of sepsis - hives, swelling etc and all the scanning of internal organs. You did the right thing getting her there OP.