Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Dowser on May 05, 2015
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I was out for a couple of walks over the weekend, in the Mournes and around Moneypenny's Lock (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g209959-d212254-Reviews-Moneypenny_s_Lock-Portadown_County_Armagh_Northern_Ireland.html), and pick up my first ever Tick.
(http://i.imgur.com/csgvHwN.jpg)
Not the nicest thing to find whilst lying in bed at 1am, so I got up and naively tried to remove it with a pair of tweezers. After making a complete hash of it and leaving half of it behind I turned to Google and realised how much of a mess I had made :o
NHS Choices (http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx) did a great job of convincing me that I now had Lyme Disease and that I had only a few months to live, but further Googling provided more useful info and, if your like me, and have limited experience of these critters, I would recommend that you have a read around the subject and familiarise yourself with the joys of Ticks and Tick removal.
HSC provides simple advice on avoiding Ticks: http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/%E2%80%98tick%E2%80%99-simple-steps-avoid-lyme-disease
Lyme Disease Action provides great advice on tick removal: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/
I know I've learnt a lot about them over the last 24hrs and will be buying myself a Tick Removal tool very very soon.
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Cotswold sell a nice little stainless tool for a few pounds, worth keeping in your first aid kit.
fred
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Cotswold sell a nice little stainless tool for a few pounds, worth keeping in your first aid kit.
fred
Thanks Fred, will defo be picking something like that up for my first aid kit.
I also found this one that I like the look of:
(http://i.imgur.com/aacCPGN.jpg)
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/tick-remover-card-p293165
I wasn't camping at the weekend and wouldn't have had my first aid kit with me, so I'm going to pick up one of these to keep in my wallet, which is never too far away. I've only just shredded a few credit cards so there should be plenty of room for it :D
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These have been in my FAK since I found my first tick, I've had several occasions to use them since and they do a good job.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTAwWDUwMA==/z/MZgAAMXQrhdTWjd0/$_35.JPG)
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I managed to acquire Lyme Disease last September. Apart from the discomfort around the infected bite area, symptoms included flu like illness, dry flaky skin and fatigue. Still not out of my system today with bouts of chronic fatigue when exercising.
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Flip, sorry to hear that. It does sound like terrible illness. Do you recall having a tick bite? It seems to be the case that some people face a real difficulty in getting the diagnosis, never mid the treatment.
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I managed to acquire Lyme Disease last September. Apart from the discomfort around the infected bite area, symptoms included flu like illness, dry flaky skin and fatigue. Still not out of my system today with bouts of chronic fatigue when exercising.
Wow, so I wasn't over reacting when I started to worry about the chances of contracting Lymes. Like whoRya has asked, was it from a tick bite and what area were you in when you got the tick.
Flip, sorry to hear that. It does sound like terrible illness. Do you recall having a tick bite? It seems to be the case that some people face a real difficulty in getting the diagnosis, never mid the treatment.
With it being my first experience of ticks, and a bit of reading on Google, I sought further advice from our health service. I called Craigavon A&E and they brushed me off and wouldn't answer any questions I had about symptoms I should watch for or if there was any preventative treatment I should be receiving.
My GP was much better. He seems to have had first hand experience with ticks but did tell me that I should have been using a proper tool to remove it or seek medical assistance, rather than tackling it myself. He said that up to 6 months ago it was common practice to just pull them off and forget about it but with the dramatic increase in Lyme Disease its now very important to extract them properly and keep a very close eye out for symptoms, which includes a rash around the bite area, a target looking rash around the surrounding area, swelling, flu-like symptoms, fatigue etc etc.
The earlier it is caught the better, and can be treated with a course of anti-biotics which can run for up to 4 weeks. If it is neglected it can lead to many more serious conditions.
I'm in the 'Wait and See' phase now but I think I'm going to have been lucky enough. Apart from a bit of redness around the bite area, more likely caused by me digging the tick out instead of extracting it properly, I don't seem to have any other symptoms as yet.
8)
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You can use tweezers as long as they are the right sort. Obviously steer clear of big straight things, but if you go into somewhere like Maplin etc. You can get tweezers that are meant for holding small electronic parts in place when soldering. They have a near right angle head that tapers off to a sharp point. These let you get down to the head part only for removing, in addition they are a better sort of first aid tweezer for removing anything else like splinters, debris from cuts etc.
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Flip, sorry to hear that. It does sound like terrible illness. Do you recall having a tick bite? It seems to be the case that some people face a real difficulty in getting the diagnosis, never mid the treatment.
I was in south Wales and in very thick undergrowth. I was well covered from head to toe but I think it got in at the neck of my shirt. Presented symptoms about for weeks from the bite. Blood tests returned inconclusive, but this is not uncommon. GP was reluctant to diagnose Lyme Disease but bombarded me with antibacs which initially exacerbated the itch and swelling. When these were changed to a different variant, the itch and swelling reduced... took about 8 weeks though. The chronic fatigue and dry skin are still with me, although recovery time from bouts of fatigue are gradually reducing.
I recently read that the pop siren Avril Lavigne (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQtwIwBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FGMA%2Fvideo%2Favril-lavigne-lyme-disease-affected-life-career-30359325&ei=Q1NKVfN_o9XsBvDhgPAG&usg=AFQjCNErcpot6z4aa9QSbFX0r92vQSgC6A&bvm=bv.92291466,d.ZGU) contracted the disease, which has given it worldwide attention as this article in the Huffington Post describes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-galland/lyme-disease_b_7143542.html
Dowser - you are very much in the "wait & see" phase. Symptoms normally present about 3 - 6 weeks after the event. Bear in mind though, that the tick itself has to be infected to pass Lyme to you. The odds are still very good for no infection with most bites.
A couple more horror shots -
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Scary stuff. Think I'll invest in a removal tool that can stay in the wallet just in case. Cheers for the advice.
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Scary stuff. Think I'll invest in a removal tool that can stay in the wallet just in case. Cheers for the advice.
I bought mine from Ebay. Click HERE (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TickCard-Credit-Card-Size-Tick-Remover-Magnifying-Lens-Removal-Dog-Cat-Humans-/121619308611?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c51136043) to get to the item/seller I bought from. It's identical to the Lifesystem one and comes with a load of information, leaflets and instructions. Also cheaper that the Lifesystem one and arrived the next day with free delivery :D
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So what is it about the card that makes tick removal more straightforward than tweezers?
BTW, this is a relisting of the eBay item that Dowser linked to. The seller must have put a new item on.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TickCard-Credit-Card-Size-Tick-Remover-Magnifying-Lens-Removal-Dog-Cat-Humans-/121647948215?
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It's about how fine the device is at the point where it will extract the tick. If you look at the image of the tick removal tweezers that I posted you'll note how close they can get to the surface of the skin. Normal tweezers angle back towards where you hold them and the danger is that when removing the tick it's body can be squeezed.
I've picked up ticks in the Mournes (including a camp site at their foot), the Antrim Hills, Causeway Coast or Rathlin (combined walk), Co. Kerry. They are out there, carrying a tool is a must.
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It's about how fine PhenQ review (https://www.muscleandfitness.com/supplements/phenq-review/) is at the point where it will extract the tick. If you look at the image of the tick removal tweezers that I posted you'll note how close they can get to the surface of the skin. Normal tweezers angle back towards where you hold them and the danger is that when removing the tick it's body can be squeezed.
I've picked up ticks in the Mournes (including a camp site at their foot), the Antrim Hills, Causeway Coast or Rathlin (combined walk), Co. Kerry. They are out there, carrying a tool is a must.
I found a tick on my leg the other day and couldn't find any tweezers. I did have some matches though and after a few seconds of burning it's ass it let go so if you don't have tweezers then give matches a go.
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I found a tick on my leg the other day and couldn't find any tweezers. I did have some matches though and after a few seconds of burning it's ass it let go so if you don't have tweezers then give matches a go.
Please don't do this as it forces the tick to regurgitate and if it has already penetrated your skin you can work out what will happen for yourself. Get a proper removal tool like
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Otom-Tick-Twister-Pack-2/dp/B0089BOK12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458834813&sr=8-1&keywords=tick+remover
and maybe read this
http://www.bada-uk.org/correct-tick-removal