As the weather improves and school vacations begin, there's something else for parents to think about:ticks and Lyme disease. Lyme disease is spread by the bite of the black-billed tick. The early symptoms of Lyme are fever, body aches and discoloration of the skin at the site of the tick bite. It is highly treatable with antibiotics, but if undetected and left untreated, it can lead to serious health problems. Here are four things everyone should know and do:
1. Prevention is key
As with all health problems, it is always best to prevent them. Be mindful of where your kids play, such as tall grass where the ticks hang out. Use repellent on exposed skin, and spray clothing (including socks and shoes) and equipment such as backpacks with an anti-tick spray.
2. Perform a character check at the end of each day Even if your kids are just playing outside in the yard, make it a habit to examine them. Ticks love warm, moist areas such as the armpits, groin and scalp, so you should check there especially. Make sure you look closely. If you find a tick, grab it at the base with tweezers and pull it upwards with constant pressure. You can get rid of a live tick by wrapping it tightly in something or by flushing it down the toilet.
In addition to checking your family, make sure pets that have been outside are checked as they can carry ticks. You should also check clothes. Anything not put in the wash can be tossed in the dryer for about 10 minutes (when washing clothes, note that if they are not washed in hot water, they will take extra time in the dryer to remove any ticks kill them).
3. Be alert for symptoms If you check the box at the end of each day, you should be fine, as it takes at least 24 hours – more often 36 to 48 hours – for an infected tick to transmit Lyme. This is a very important point that many people do not know.
The classic Lyme rash is an expanding rash at the site of the bite. The rash is present in 70% to 80% of cases. Of course, this means that it is not present in 20% to 30% of cases, so if someone in your family has had a tick on them for 24 hours, or if you live in an area where there are many cases of Lyme and there are could have been a tick bite, you should call your doctor if the person has a fever, chills, itching and pain, along with swollen lymph nodes or swelling of one or more joints. While having these symptoms doesn't mean a person has Lyme, it's worth getting checked out as early treatment generally leads to a complete cure.
4. Be careful when it comes to Lyme testing and treatment
As with many conditions, there is a lot of misinformation about Lyme testing and treatment. It is important to have this done through your doctor, because not all home tests are reliable. And it is very important to have reliable information when making a diagnosis. It is also not recommended to test Lyme in someone who has no obvious symptoms of Lyme disease.
Most people make a full recovery after Lyme treatment, but there are some people who have chronic symptoms such as fatigue, pain or swollen joints after Lyme disease.
