Me and mPolo have arrived home after our beautiful bivvy in Wales. Back in the village of Llangheadr, I noticed a tick on my arm. He hadn't got too fat, so I promptly removed him with my fingers. mPolo looked at me and said "I've never had a tick in my life!" That is hardly surprising as he's a city boy and spent his adult life at sea.
As I started writing this, he came out of the shower and announced, "I've got a tick!"
Rest assured, this was a lovely big fat one on the underside of his arm. "Time for operation tweezers," says I.
Tick fully removed, I said, "There you go. You've had a tick now, so tick that off your list."

In another post, I ranted about the effectiveness of DEET, but I neglected to bring the big bottle of DEET with me, opting for a pen sized smaller Deetless repellent which I can now declare is total crap. I was devoured yesterday evening. I am totally polka dot, itching and falling asleep with anti histhamine.

Wales was worth it.

Glad you had a good trip... I heard tweezers weren't the best way to remove them as they are likely to cause more infections if squeezed (stressed). The ones between my toes last week were particulary hard to liberate - not nice

It's all about removing them without the head detaching and staying embedded in your skin. That's what'll cause the infection.

You can get a tick-pull from pet shops for a couple of quid which you insert under/around the tick and then twist which works perfectly.

Having said that I got one off my upper thigh with some tweezers last week without any hassle, you've just got to be careful.

From what I've read you should never remove a tic by hand as you may squeeze them too hard forcing the content of their gut into you increasing the risk of Lyme's disease. Burning them causes them to clamp their jaws tighter making the head harder to remove. Early symptoms of Lyme's disease are a rash that can measure 2-30 cm centered on the bite that expands over a few days and has a dark centre point which is slightly raised. Flu like symptoms can develop within 3 to 30 days. Lyme's disease if left untreated can have very serious consequences. You should seek prompt treatment if you develop any of the early symptoms. If the doctor doesn't take your concerns seriously then go and see someone who does.

We are both alive and well. Ticks completely removed (including the head). Bit of swelling on my wrist but I'll survive.

99percentchimp wrote:The ones between my toes last week were particulary hard to liberate - not nice

How did they manage to get there?

Guys,

Not wanting to scare monger, but these little blighters are certainly a cause for concern....this is worth a read on the Lymes disease front...

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/

As for the rest of the insect world, Snowdon was midge central this weekend, not much fun...made me wish I'd not stopped smoking on Friday, I'd no cigs to hand!

Red

As Ray said, you have to be careful how you remove them, no squeezing, burning, vaseline etc..

I was treated for Lymes a few years ago after i managed to pick one up during an event in the Lakes. I felt ill before i'd found the tick but initially put it down to the exertion from the event. Even though I was aware of Lymes, i'd never picked up a tick before, so after the gfriend freaked when i showed it to her, off i treked to the local A&E, where after the doctor had a quick read up about it, they removed it with tweezers & gave me a months worth of anti-biotics..

I don't know if i'd been infected with lymes, but i was ill for months afterwards, it was a real low point. Being self employed i just had to soldier on until things improved.

Not all ticks carry Lymes, but It's definitely worth reading up on it & being aware of the risks & symptoms.

It's apparently a growing problem & is not just confined to the countryside, people inadvertently bring them home on camping equipment, clothing or pets, were they can settle in gardens.

Some info, & they also sell the tick tweezers-
http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/
also
http://www.bada-uk.org/

Last one i had was in the depths of my belly button so couldnt get the tick remover in place

At A&E the job was left to a 'Junior Trainee' who didnt have a clue know how to remove it properly, and a right hash she made of it too. She pulled it out leaving the head in place then the senior man had to dig the remainder out with a sharp needle.