To think if it walked away…

[PatienceHeatherstone]

… after I pulled it out, there can’t be any bits of it still inside me? (A tick. It didn’t walk far before I scooped it into a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer. But it’s the first I’ve had and I’m still freaked out.)

Can’t they leave bits of jaw behind? That’s why you are supposed to use a tool rather than just pull.

… after I pulled it out, there can’t be any bits of it still inside me?

I was about to recommend the Sex board to you until I read your part in brackets.

Why did you put it in the freezer?

@RaininSummer so I can take it to be tested if I get sick. And to make sure it is dead and not just going to walk back into the house and bite another of us later on.

@SavoirFlair 😂

@LetMeInYourWindow Yes they can leave bits of jaw or their whole head behind, if I understand right. And you can use a tool or pull firmly from the base with fine tweezers, I've been told. But I think I pulled it out properly. I think the fact it walked away is a sign it was intact, so to speak. I wondered if anyone can confirm.

You'll be fine. Keep an eye on the bite wound, if it doesn't heal or goes nasty you'll soon know about it.

As long as there isn't any little black bit in the wound, you've got it all out. Take an antihistamine to ease the itching if you need one.

*Scottish person who deals with ticks on the regular.

And I'd throw away the frozen tick too, you won't need to test it

Thanks @DragonwithoutaDungeon that's pretty reassuring. 😁

Is there much Lyme disease in Scotland?

Where in Scotland are you? It varies.

Glad I could help!

Well it does happen, but honestly it's not so common that you need to be afraid of it IYSWIM. It's very unlikely you'll end up with Lymes.

Wear walking boots and trousers with tight cuffs, stay out of the heather and long grass (if you can), and give the humans and animals in your group a tick check when you get indoors from wandering.

Sorry to mislead @PuffinMcStuffin ; I'm not in Scotland. The name is a clue. There's a lot of Lymes here - and I haven't been on a hike in far too long. I think I picked mine up in a friend's (mown) garden 🤔

I will try to take on board @DragonwithoutaDungeon 's reassurance, even though the context is probably a bit different. I really do appreciate it.

Also FWIW when you pull them out you are correct that you want to get the whole head out, but don't use tweezers. Use the tool thing instead.

If you tweeze them out you might accidentally squeeze them, causing them to basically regurgitate into the bite wound. This is one of the ways people run higher risk of getting Lyme but it's just more likely to cause a bit of an infection.

Boil up some water and add a teaspoon of salt, let it cool till you can just bare to have a cotton ball soaked in the solution pressed against the wound and let it cool. It'll draw out anything nasty that's lurking in there out.

Also I've lived in a high tick area for my whole life and I don't know anyone who has picked up Lymes disease. There will be folk with it about but I've yet to meet one.

Thanks again, really very much @DragonwithoutaDungeon A GP had said about tweezers, they are probably more practiced though. Actually what happened is I decided it wasn't a tick (couldn't see any legs) and pulled to see what would happen, whereupon it audibly popped out and started waving its legs. I threw it on the floor in disgust and then realised I needed to pick it up so it didn't just go find one of the kids... Not quite covering myself in glory. I'll boil the kettle now...

That's pretty funny @PatienceHeatherstone I'm used to them but even I swatted a deer tick crawling up my arm off in disgust and horror once too, it caught me by surprise and it was a big bugger!

You'll be alright I'm sure though!

It probably hadn't got itself in very far if it just popped out like that too, so that's another thing to feel reassured about!