To think this is a tick? (Urgent!!)

[britneyisfree]

Please help, I'm not from the country so I know nothing about stuff like this.

My DD went for a walk with nursery and has come home with this on her leg. She says it hurts.

My son got a tick bite on his head which went unnoticed because his hair hid it. He got Lime disease but no bullseye mark, one of the more typical signs. He suddenly developed temporary Bell’s palsy which was scary and other strange side effects and needed antibiotics. Don’t hang about if you have any apprehensions or see peculiar symptoms. Pharmacies sell the little plastic gadgets for a couple of £, to tweeze and twist the tick out more easily, and in one piece.

For anyone reading this far, these are the best tick tweezers we've used:

www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/insect-repellents/tick-remover

They even have a key ring version. (Pull gently straight upwards)

The Otom twister ones seem ok, but they can never get the tiny ones out (twist to remove)

Sorry if I missed any of OP's updates but removing a tick within 12 hours using a standard eyebrow tweezer is more crucial than getting the right tool but one day later. Bacteria is only released after 12 hours (presumably once they suffocate and die) which is why it's vital to check and remove ticks on the same evening.

We live in Austria where those ticks are everywhere. Children and adults will almost always end up with one after a day in long grass or the forest. These are some of the rules people go by here:

• Keep a tick removing tweezer (long pointed tips) in the freezer. The cold will shock the tick causing the parts under the skin to shrink back and make it slightly easier to pull out.
• It's definitely possible to remove the tick using any type of slanted tweezer. You need to grip it as low down as possible so the head gets pulled out, and not ripped off the body
• First 12 hours are best for removal. Ticks taken out during this time almost definitely don't pose a risk. Anytime after this you will need to look out for the bullseye rash etc.
• Even if the head does stay stuck in the skin, it will eventually get pushed out by the body just like a splinter. Not getting the head is slightly unfortunate but not a death sentence that many believe. Obviously if you have the time, you can have it fully removed at the doctors.
• Only 10% of ticks carry potentially harmful bacteria and an even smaller percentage of that will actually cause disease. So even if you entirely miss a tick and it stays in your body for days, there's still only a 1% or so chance that you'll ever get sick from it.
• The two major illnesses are Lyme Disease and TBE (tick borne encephelitis). A vaccine exists for TBE and is widely used in central Europe. You need 3 shots as a child and boosters every 3-5 years. There is no vaccine against Lyme Disease which is also the one people tend to associate with tick bites.
• The actual risks of getting ill from a random tick are very very low. Because of this, you can easily do anything like smear vaseline, spray with perfume, bless it with a crystal or whatever and it will appear to "work". Even if it's terrible advice, it's statistically not too likely to cause harm (definitely less than walking around without a mask if we must get into that).

Just for comparison, every single person we know (including children) get multiple ticks every summer but we know absolutely nobody who got sick. The only person I do know of is a friend who got Lyme after being bitten while on holiday and was entirely unaware of the tick checking/removal protocol.

Hard to tell from pic but looks like a tick to me. Can you see legs? They can be red, grey or black. I mainly find red ones. I’ve just been removing these off my dog tonight! You need a tick hook remover. DO NOT pull. This will leave the mouth parts in which may get stuck and infected. Put hook under body close to skin and rotate the hook until the tick lets go, then remove. Keep tick in enclosed pot. Clean area. Tick will leave local irritation but check it doesn’t spread, keep eye out for chills, fever and a bullseye rash (Lyme disease). This is rare but need to be wary of this.

I had to go to hospital when I was a child to have one removed. I remember the doctor saying to never remove it yourself, but that was about 35 years ago.

We have a lot of ticks here. I pull them off my dogs on a daily bases this time of year. I had a biggish one on the back of my arm a few weeks ago. I yank them right off and take great pleasure in crushing them flat. If there are a lot of them I drop them in isopropyl alcohol to die. In our family we call the big full ones, 'blood berries'. My son came up with that.

Amongst lots of other advice here, this is very bad advice. The tick itself isn't a problem whatsoever but the bacteria which some, ever increasing proportion, of ticks carry in their abdomen is most definitely a problem if it gets into you and causes an infection. Luckily it takes some considerable time after a bite for bacteria to be able to pass into the human, so time is most definitely of the essence. It's very rare for bacteria to pass and cause an infection in less than 24 hours. So please don't wait until it's bigger, to help removal, this is the opposite of a good idea. Remove immediately you discover it, which in my experience is often in the shower, or bed, after a day outside.

TL;dr bacteria only pass to you from the tick after about 24 hours, remove immediately on discovery!

whatever did people do without 'special tick removal tools'

I use pinched fingers - pull firmly & fast - have removed many many over the 30 years I've had dogs (and on human legs too) never had a issue yet 🤞

We lived next to woods at one point - breeding ground for deer ticks which carry Lyme disease 🙁

I always put Germolene on afterwards too

Keep an eye out for a rash around the bite site & get to a pharmacy or doctor quickly if you see it 🤞🏼

Yes it's a tick DO NOT just pull it off or you will leave the head behind,if you can't get to doctors local pet shop will sell tick remover they are only a couple of quid when removing you need to twist it round so it let's go,my son and I get them sometimes,don't let your DD pick it or scratch it.

Still keep your Doctors appointment as I’d push for antibiotics. Same happened to my son we a week off our holiday in Greece and I was worried he’d get a rash and I’d be having to explain to a Greek Doctor about Lymes disease! Our GP to be fair wrote a prescription out straight away before I had chance to say a word! We live in an area where there is Lymes disease. I def mention to your Dr as not all are aware. I have had 2 friends that have contracted it.

Wow! That sounds horrid.

Good to hear that you got it out OP

I agree with vodka. My DD was covered in ticks after a visit to the riverbank. At least 20 of them. Some still crawling and unattached. All small. We used a vodka soaked cotton wool pad and they all came off very easily.

Don’t use tweezers, get a special tick removal device. Most vets will have them, we have 3 dogs who get occasional get ticks from the long grass, and the tick removers are brilliant. They remove the tick completely, using tweezers may leave the head of the tick in the skin, not nice.

yes, it looks like it. Take her to the Dr's (if you remember what they are, we used to have Dr's before covid) you can buy tickets removing devices, but I'd not want to risk it with a child.

its unbelievable, she doesn't have a walk in centre or vaseline? can't get vaseline? not that people should be advising that. Has she heard of Google? or maybe she just likes drama more than the poor child?

@HoarHouse what are you on about??

The doctor couldn't see her same day, I took her to the chemist but they wouldn't remove it for me so we did it ourselves as safely as we could. It came out fully and all is well.

Also this was 2 days ago.

Doesn't anyone read threads anymore? Or at least the OP's posts? It's not difficult people...

First Post - End of that post - SEE ALL

Yes. Cover in a jig dollop of vaseline, they breath through their butts, & it will fall out.
if you choose the twist method of removal make sure you get the head out too. Also keep an eye out for tick paralysis in your little one. It is uncommon but better to know the signs & symptoms just incase 😘

@Grrrrdarling
You may wish to read the two posts immediately above yours?

Have you not heard of reading the OPs posts? This all happened two days ago... catch up!

For the stragglers: tick was removed safely by OP two days ago.

Though I like the tick threads. I ordered my tick card, finally, after being prompted by this one.

Hi. If you have matches then light a match and blow it out.
Then place the hot top on the tick.
Do it a few times until the tick pulls its head out.
Be ready with the tweezers.
You will be able to feel the resistance reduce.
I've done it a few times on my cats.
Works everytime
Good luck.

It's far too late for that.
The tick mutated into Gigantick and actually ate the OP and her family.