Just found a nymph tick in my DS's scalp, what do I do?

[MadameCheese]

I found it when I was washing his hair . It is so small I can't do the normal twizzling it thing and DS can't keep still. I can't get hold of DH to help, I'm loathe to leave it though and don't know how long it's been there, or how he picked it up for that matter. What should I do?

When that small I would just scratch it off and put a dab of TCP or equivalent on it. None of mine have ever had an infected bite. We live in a very ticky area so quite a common occurance and you should not leave them because of the risk of Lymes disease

Smother in vaseline, it will suffocate and drop off.

Hmm, not sure that wouldn't leave the mouthparts in place. I've had experience of this and it was not pleasant. DH will hopefully be back in a couple of hours so I'll get him to help me then.

Doesn't the vaseline cause them to regurge into the wound?

OMG, it has never occured to me to look for ticks - what do they look like??

Good idea to wait for a second pair of hands. I live in Bavaria where they are rife. I contracted early Lyme Disease last year (good strong dose of antibiotics sorted that). My poor DS2 has had 4 ticks in the last month.

We NEVER smother in Vaseline. Pull out carefully in one grab, burn or wrap in toilet paper and flush. Disinfect the point of bite and, most importantly, note the date and location of the bite.

If it does contain Lyme then around 14 days after you will find a bullseye type reddening around the bite. That is when you must take immediate action.

I check both my boys every day in every crease for ticks. They hide in the smallest places.

If you can, firstly smother in vaseline/sudocrem for a while. If it is very small, try using tweezers. I know it's fiddly; fgs, NEVER just scratch them off, for obvious reasons, like infection. Always push in to disengage the head then turn anti clockwise. If in doubt, go to a walk in clinic and get them to remove it..

It's tick central here at the moment and we are fed up with finding and removing the frigging things; I sympathise!!

Thank you abroad sound advice, particularly as I've just read the same on some webpages. Unfortunately though I don't have the recommended type tweezers. PotPourri it looks like a small black spider (with less legs), adult ones are much easier to identify. Thanks everyone

catbus thought cold winter would have sorted them but noooo!

You don't need a special tick pair of tweezers! Just normal ones and a swift hand. Husband is now a pro; found one when unloading DS from car yesterday; he did a quick push and twist and the bugger was out; but carried on crawling; eeeew! Good luck and sudocrem on the site afterwards I would recommend.

Don't panic. As long as you have good tweezers and two people (DS2 is 2.4yo and a bundle of energy) to hold them still.

If in doubt, definitely go to a drop-in clinic.

My top tips if you remove it yourself are to:

1. Remove in one grab and turn
2. Disinfect area
3. Note date and location
4. Keep checking location for the next 20 days

fun fun of Summer...urgh

ew this thread is awful - i don't think i've ever seen a person with one how do you get them?

Excellent thanks southeast, they live on sheep, deer, horses and other wild animals generally. Dogs pick them up easily when walking in areas where they are rife. They tend to get picked up in long grass so anyone walking in these areas is advised to cover up, long trousers long sleeves etc. My DS must have picked it up in the garden, we live near woods so cats probably bring them in. Either that or they have survived in the garden from when we had a dog.

Dog had been gone 18 months!

Oh and mice also carry them. Got it off, DH is a dab hand . Thanks everyone