Unlike the mosquito bite, a tick bite gives no immediate or itching reaction. You can get a small red bump may be sometimes itchy due to toxins in the tick saliva.
Most of the tick bites are harmless with no symptoms. While often showing the serious allergic reaction and passing the diseases onto humans and pets. A tick bite can cause an alarming situation if it is not treated promptly.
Ticks are usually found in outdoor places like grass, trees and shrubs. In this article, we will explain symptoms, treatment and ways of its effects on the body. Let us discuss:
How does the tick bite affect the body?
Ticks are not like the bug that will fly off after the bite; rather, they stay on the host body for about ten days. So its tooth mark is non-itchy at first and does not hurt due to the small size tick. Often it looks like the speck of dirt and tick becomes visible when it swells after feeding from host body.
Sometimes the body reacts when it gets 1 to 2 inches of redness around the bite. The rash may be a sign of some dreadful tick-borne disease like:
- Lyme disease
- Tularemia
- Ehrlichiosis
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
Possible symptoms of tick bite diseases:
Tick bites sometimes become itchier and often not, their symptoms vary from time to time. Often the symptoms become severe according to the stage of illness like:
Symptoms of an allergic reaction:
The tick bite is harmless at the start, but if you are allergic to it. Then you can face pain, rash, burning sensation, swelling, blister, and shortness of breath.
Symptoms of the tick-borne disease:
The tick-borne disease leads to an alarming situation with severe symptoms like fever, chills, full body rash, headache, nausea, weakness, muscles, joint pain, etc.
Symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever:
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a dreadful situation. People suspect this may have the symptoms of a high fever ranging from 102 to 103F, headache, abdominal pain, muscle pain, and rashes. So it’s a medical emergency that must treat in ASAP.
Cristina Anderson
Method to treat tick bite:
If you take care of tick bites, then you can reduce the risk of tick-borne disease. Always use the antibacterial cleanser or ointment to clean the infected area. Treatment entirely depends upon the allergic reaction or tick-borne illness. You can treat the tick bite in this way from getting dangerous:
- First, remove the tick from the bite place. For this, use the tick removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers.
- For this, hold it firmly from the head until it will release the contact from your body.
- Make sure that no tick part is in your body.
- Avoid touching the bite from a bear finger due to the risk of infection.
- Then wash the bite with the help of soap and water.
- You can also use the alcohol-based sanitizer or iodine for cleansing.
- Avoid using kerosene or petroleum jelly.
You can also watch in this video the method to treat the tick:
Body parts most affected by tick bite:
As there is no specific part for tick bite, the regions with rich blood supply and soft skin are more vulnerable to the tick bite like:
- Under your arms
- Under your knees
- Between your legs
- Belly bottom
- Around Waist
- In Ears and around it
- Neck and scalp
So taking proper care and checking all these parts can save you from getting a tick bite. Always cover these parts, especially in hiking or in the woods.
Cristina Anderson
Ways to reduce the risk of getting a tick bite:
If you plan an outdoor activity, especially in the woods or the thicker area, you should take protective precautions against getting a tick bite. These will be helpful to you in this regard:
- Wear long sleeves, tightly woven or light colour clothes. Also, put your pant into the socks to protect yourself from getting ticked into your clothes.
- You can also use insect repellent or DEET on your exposed skin or clothes. Use permethrin on your clothes for prevention from ticks.
- Always move in the center of the trail in grassy and thick woods.
- Also, mow your grassy lawn regularly to clean it from ticks.
- Returning from any outdoor activity, take a complete checkup of whole clothes and underarms, between your legs, along your beltline, and inside your body fold. Maybe tick will stick to any place on your clothes and can get into your body.
- Also, check your pets before entering the home may. Expect the tick will attach to the pet hairs. Also, take the suggestion about tick prevention products from your veterinarian doctor.
- Be habitual in taking a shower or bath after every outdoor activity.
- Put your clothes and gears in a warm dryer to kill all pests and ticks for about 15 minutes.
You can also watch the method of prevention from the ticks in this video:
FAQ’s
Are there different kinds of ticks?
Ticks are parasites that look like spiders and mites, which are arthropods. They vary in size, shape and colour. Some are dark brown, while some are reddish brown. On this basis, there are different types of ticks:
Blacklegged tick or deer tick
Lone star tick
Dog tick (American dog or brown dog tick)
When do we need a healthcare provider in tick bite?
You require a healthcare provider if you see the symptoms of the tick-borne disease like rashes that are getting larger, fever, extreme tiredness and aches in muscles or joints.
Is there any vaccine to prevent tick bite diseases in humans?
Recently in the US, a vaccine named encephalitis was approved to treat the tick-borne disease in adults and children. It is also called Tico vac in Europe. But there is still no vaccine to treat Lyme disease.
What should you not eat after the tick bite?
Alpha-gal syndrome is a specific tick bite that causes a difficult situation after eating gelatin products. It is also called tick bite allergy, red meat allergy and alpha-gal allergy. It commonly happens after taking meat, dairy products and medicine made of gelatin.
Conclusion:
Most often, the tick bites are harmless and symptom-free. However, sometimes the situation can become worse and can cause Lyme. Contact your doctor promptly if you face any red rash, fever, chills, or body aches.
Also, follow the prevention tips to reduce the risk of tick biting. Use the tick bite treatment method as first aid.
