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May 7, 2013

Practical Parenting: Removing a Tick

Happy Summer!  Summertime is a time for running through the grass with bare feet, sipping lemonade and eating watermelon on the front porch, swimming all day long, bubbles and side walk chalk and bicycles and slip and slides...But all this outdoor play provides ample opportunity for ticks to find their way onto our little ones arms and legs. 

Why do we care?  Because ticks carry diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF is common in NC) and Lyme Disease (which is more common in the Northeast) among others.

Tip 1:  Every night at bedtime, be sure to do a "tick check" and look over their body for any ticks (be sure to look in socks, in waistbands, at the collar, and on the scalp).

Please note that a tick must be on the body for 36-48 hours to pass any illness to humans.  Thus, a tick check with prompt tick removal is an essential component of disease prevention.

So what do you do when you find a tick on your child?

There are lots of old wives tales that promote one "easy solution" such as coating the tick with Vaseline (or petroleum jelly) or fingernail polish, swabbing the tick with rubbing alcohol, or touching a match to the tick (lit and then blown out just before) - NONE OF THESE ARE RECOMMENDED.

Instead, here's what you do:

Tip 2: The best method for removing a tick is to grab the base of the tick against the skin with a fine tweezers and steadily pull the tick out.  Once the tick is removed it can be discarded.  Routine testing of a tick that is removed is also not recommended. Regular tweezers work well, but another device, the Tick Key, is available online and is generally regarded as very effective at removing ticks.

What if the entire tick is not removed?

Tip 3: If portions of the tick cannot be easily removed, don't worry!  The main disease-carrying portion of a tick is the abdomen, and this is the most easily removed portion.  There is no increased risk if other body parts (head or part of a limb) are left alone to come out on their own.  After removing the tick you can keep the bite area clean with soap and water and apply a topical antibiotic for a few days.

Tip 4: Record the date and site of where the tick was removed on your calendar. Most tick borne illnesses develop 2-30 days after the tick bite occurs.  It's always helpful if a parent knows exactly when the exposure to a tick occurred.

Tip 5: Observe the bite area and monitor for any new symptoms of possible tick borne illness. 

Monitor for the development of any of the following:

• Rash
• Headaches
• Fevers
• Nausea / Vomiting / Stomach ache
• Joint pains

Pediatric Infectious Disease experts do not recommend treating children with antibiotics just because a tick bit them as the risk of getting RMSF or Lyme Disease is still very low, and if signs of infection appear these illnesses can be easily treated and cured.  It is also not helpful to do diagnostic blood tests right after a tick bite because it takes a number of weeks from the time of a tick bite to when a blood test becomes positive, if an infection is to occur at all.

Tip 6: Prevent tick bites by applying bug spray to your kids before playing outdoors (especially in wooded areas).  Bug sprays with DEET or picaridin are the best ways to prevent tick bites. They are safe and recommended for use on children down to age 2 months as long as they have no more than 30% DEET).