Deer ticks, anyone

[marybet]

My DH just woke up and found a tick on his thigh. I pulled it out with tweezers and I think I got it all. There was some bleeding at the bite site.

Anyone have any info on ticks? We washed the area and he put some antibiotic cream on it. Anything else we should do?

 

[GoodFairies]

You would know within 48 hours (probably sooner) if he gets Lyme Disease. The bullseye rash will be quite obvious. Keeping an eye out for that is about all you can do, and you will know soon enough. I found one a couple months ago on my leg; it was similar to a mosquito bite. I had no other effects from it. The bite mark/itchiness went away in about a week.

 

[Missy Mouse]

My DH just woke up and found a tick on his thigh. I pulled it out with tweezers and I think I got it all. There was some bleeding at the bite site.

Anyone have any info on ticks? We washed the area and he put some antibiotic cream on it. Anything else we should do?

Yes, if you still have the tick bring it to your doctor for biopsy. If you see a bullseye your husband needs to get on antibiotics immediately. He should get on them prophylactically anyway.

 

[marybet]

Thanks for the replies. DH said we didn't need the tick, so I washed it down the sink. We will look for the rash.

 

[jonestavern]

We were told by several DRs, it is quite common for the classic bullseye rash to appear in only between 50 to 90 percent of cases (depends on which research data one uses), even if it is, indeed, a deer tick that has bitten yr DH. Not all deer ticks carry Lyme disease. If it is a deer tick & if that deer tick is carrying Lyme, the good news is you've caught it very early! Don't wait for the rash to appear to see the Dr.
Here is an informative site:
http://www.aldf.com/lyme.shtml
Google deer tick, to see what one looks like, they are really tiny.
When DS,now17, was bitten several years ago he was fortunate to have displayed the bullseye rash. He had been bitten 4 times. The ER docs did skin scrapings & put him on 30 days of antibiotics. It is very important to take the full amount of antibiotics your Dr prescribes.
Later, DS did have a blood test done to see if he had antibodies. He is fine & has no ill effects.
I know this is worrying you--I worked myself into a real state! --just give your Dr a call.

Jean

 

[munchkin bunchkin]

Just make sure you ran the water long enough as they have been known to crawl back up! What I do is put them in a small amount of rubbing alcohol to really kill them, then flush them down the toilet!

 

[Disney44]

My DH just woke up and found a tick on his thigh. I pulled it out with tweezers and I think I got it all. There was some bleeding at the bite site.

Anyone have any info on ticks? We washed the area and he put some antibiotic cream on it. Anything else we should do?

Unfortunately a rash doesn't always appear. I know several people who have gotten Lyme without any rash. I live in NJ which is one of the tick capitals of the US . First, the tick had to be embedded for 24 hours to transfer the disease. However, since there is no way to know that, the procedure around here is for a dr to prescribe a round of antibiotics immediately, anyway without waiting for symptoms. Odds are your husband will be fine...we've pulled off numerous ticks without anyone in my family getting Lyme - but give your dr a call anyway. Any flu like symptoms call again immediately.