The thing that I sort of already knew but learned again just now is that the "bad" ticks, the deer ticks that can carry Lyme disease, are really quite tiny, which means that the slightly larger one I just discovered on my ankle is a wood tick, and even if I didn't get all of it out (I'm pretty sure I did but it's hard to tell), it's probably just icky and not medically dangerous.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Ticked off
The thing that I sort of already knew but learned again just now is that the "bad" ticks, the deer ticks that can carry Lyme disease, are really quite tiny, which means that the slightly larger one I just discovered on my ankle is a wood tick, and even if I didn't get all of it out (I'm pretty sure I did but it's hard to tell), it's probably just icky and not medically dangerous.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
They do carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but that's less common. According to my source, the safest thing to do after you remove a tick is put it in the freezer for a few weeks. If you haven't developed any symptoms by then, get rid of the tick and don't worry about it. If you have, send the tick to a medical lab so they can try to find out what you've got.
ReplyDelete"They" = "Wood ticks", if that's not obvious. And "spotted fever" doesn't really need to be capitalized, unless it's the sequel to "Saturday Night Fever".
Delete