Lyme Disease is a serious disease transmitted by ticks. It can be treated by your doctor if caught soon after exposure. Ticks are related to mites, spiders and scorpions. Ticks are small, very small. The adult tick is about the size of a sesame seed while the nymphs are the size of a poppy seed. They don’t have any wings and don’t jump. They climb up tall grass and small bushes and then wait for an animal or human to pass and attach their selves. Ticks love to crawl under clothing, hide in your hairline and attach to your skin. They can detect people 18 feet away.
Different ticks are carriers in different regions. The deer tick is in the Northeast and Midwest.. The black legged tick is in the south and the western black-legged tick is in the west. The lone star tick is found in several regions. It is now thought that the American dog tick may also be capable of transmitting the disease. The states of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey have the majority of cases in the United States
What happens when a tick bites you? When a tick bites there is a bacterium that is transmitted by the tick to you. The tick has to remain attached to your skin for 36 to 48 hours to pass along Lyme’s disease. The first set of early symptoms are headache, chills and fever, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes and a red rash that like a bull’s eye. The bull’s eye rash is often described as having alternating light and dark rings. It can also, however, look like a reddish blotch to red throughout. It can be confused with poison ivy, a spider or insect bite. At the same time the rash develops, the other symptoms can easily be confused with the flu, infectious mononucleosis and rheumatic arthritis. If any of these symptoms appear after being outside in the woods, see a doctor immediately.
If these symptoms are left untreated, they can disappear. However, more serious problems can develop months to years later. These symptoms of Lyme Disease can become very severe. Muscle pain in the large joints is common. Meningitis, Bell’s palsy, numbness, tingling and burning sensation in the arms and legs can also show up. You can have severe pain and fatigue with depression.
How to prevent Lyme’s disease is really just common sense. Tuck your pants into your socks and your shirt into your pants. Wear light colored clothes because ticks are drawn to dark colors. Inspect your clothes for ticks. Have someone inspect your back. Apply repellent before going into woods and tall grass. When you come home remove all clothing and wash immediately. Inspect your children at least daily for ticks.
When you find a tick, use a pair of tweezers to grasp the tick behind it’s head. Pull it directly out. Be careful not to squeeze it when removing it from the skin. Do not use petroleum jelly, matches or cigarettes to remove the tick. If you do, it could increase your chances of the tick injecting you with bacterium. Make sure that you see you health care provider if you feel that you’ve been exposed to a tick.
You can still enjoy family outings and camping in the woods. Understanding the tick and it’s lifecycle, where it lives and how not to be vulnerable is half the battle. Using common sense is the other half.
By Linda Lee Ruzicka
Linda Lee Ruzicka lives in the mountains of Western PA , happily married and with her 8 cats and three dogs. She has been published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Writing Village, June Cotner anthology, The Grit, Reminisce , the book, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family. She also does freelances work for Beyond andHealthcarejobsite. You can read more of her blogs on Healthcarejobsite blog.
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