Quick Tick Facts

So my daughter said, "my neck is itchy" and that's when we saw the disgusting spider like little bug burrowed under her soft skin on her neck.  Ticks.  They're just gross.  On Long Island we have quite a fear of Lyme Disease---not sure if that's the case across the country.  I had never really thought about it until I moved here.  In case you're wondering how the Princess is doing now that we're back from the doctor... let me tell you a couple of quick facts that I've learned from reading, talking with doctors, and even from today's appointment.

1.  Lyme disease is carried by deer ticks.  Deer ticks are very small.  You probably won't even notice them.  They are black and about the size of piece of freshly ground pepper.  The other ticks--just as gross in my opinion--are larger.  They also need to be removed but they are not a health threat.  Just icky.

2.  Deer ticks need to be in the body for about 2 days before they can transmit Lyme.  Knowing when the tick got on you helps, but a lot of times it's not really possible.  Todays tick did not look well-fed according to my doctor but he followed it with, "of course, we don't know when his feeding cycle is.."

3.  Saving the tick for testing is not really necessary.  They have a high false positive rate anyway. 

4.  Taking the tick out isn't painful but you need the right tools and you should get the entire body out.  We decided that instead of playing around, we'd just go straight to the pediatrician.  (It's always about having the right tools)

5.  Children rarely have a bulls eye from the tick.  Doc said not to bother scanning her for it.  The key is to watch for unusual symptoms.

6.  Treating her with high doses of antibiotics for the next 3 weeks was less "desirable" than the treatment we are doing.  Only about 1 in 600 will contract the disease after it has been in the body for 2 days.  Lyme disease is actually very treatable when caught early.  Given that we're just barely starting summer, the chances are good that we'll find another stupid tick.  What then?  More weeks of antibiotics?

Our plan is to wait for 4 weeks and do a blood draw.  It actually takes about 3 weeks to show up in the blood stream.   If any strange things come up before then they will test the blood immediately. 

Thanks to all of you for your concern!!  She is very happy that the bug is out of her skin (and so am I).

Resources

http://www.aldf.com/deerTickEcology.shtml

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/deer-tick.html

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ticks/article_em.htm