Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
Happy New Year

Thursday, July 01, 2010

TICK DOC


"Remove a tick from your skin as soon as you notice it. Use fine-tipped tweezers to firmly grasp the tick very close to your skin. With a steady motion, pull the tick’s body away from your skin. Then clean your skin with soap and warm water. Throw the dead tick away with your household trash.

Avoid crushing the tick’s body. Do not be alarmed if the tick’s mouthparts remain in the skin. Once the mouthparts are removed from the rest of the tick, it can no longer transmit the Lyme disease bacteria. If you accidentally crush the tick, clean your skin with soap and warm water or alcohol."


Most of us are going to be outside more this weekend for INDEPENDENCE DAY Celebrations. We need to be cautious about getting ticks and removing them if they become attached. The above photo directs you to the ideal way to remove a tick.

I have heard a zillion ways to safely remove an attached tick. When I was a child, we would always strike a match, blow it out and press the hot ember on the tick. Supposedly that would cause the tick to let go and begin backing out.

Many people put nail polish remover on the tick to remove it, some use Vaseline to smother the tick and some might actually brush clean nail polish over the tick to remove it.

Does your family have an interesting way to remove ticks?

Be sure and spray insect repellent on your and your family before going outside and have a HEALTHY, HAPPY AND SAFE 4th OF JULY WEEKEND.

19 comments:

  1. Ticks are awful. I have used the tweezer method and the seen the hot match method used. I hope you have a happy 4th, too!

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  2. Thanks for the reminder. Thank God I haven't had to deal with ticks but once or twice my whole life and that was on my dogs. You and your family have a safe, fun-filled 4th of July.

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  3. Our family is all about the lit match method. Sometimes I wondered about the obvious glee that my little brother showed when he fetched the match book.

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  4. As a child we used all those methods but having just read a 300 page tome on Lyme's and other diseases the best way is to just pull it off closest to the head as possible. Adding alcohol or heat or other stress may cause the tick to regurgitate which you do not want. Cleaning the bite after with alcohol is important. There are MANY diseases that ticks carry. Before you put it in the trash...make sure it is dead. I flush mine down the john.

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  5. Ewwwww...I'm itching now!

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  6. We will be visiting my mom in Ohio, and I'm so worried about the ticks! *shudder*

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  7. My mother would probably use Vick's Vapor Rub! lol I remember she used it for EVERYTHING!

    Have a happy and safe 4th, Annie! :)

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  8. Thanks for the great info and reminder. I have two friends who suffer from Lyme Disease and it's not something I would wish on my worst enemy!

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  9. When I was young, my mom used the match trick and then tweezers. I use tweezers,s although it has been a long time since I had a tick in me.

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  10. Wow I've never had any experience of ticks at all. Maybe I will in Arizona though. Thanks for the advice and thanks for adding me to your blog roll, I'm chuffed. :)

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  11. What a great reminder to all :) I remembered when I was about 7 or 8 years there were alot of infections going on. I think I got a head full of ticks and my Mom used kerosene to wash my hair so that the tick will die.

    I was so scare ;(

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  12. I still haven't forgiven the person who allowed me to run barefoot in his garden (in USA)and finally warn me that if I fell ill in the next year or so there was a possibility I could have Lyme's disease. Not funny!

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  13. Good Advice ... I hate ticks... we like to think that the guinea we have running around eat most of the ticks in our area... yet sometimes we still get one on our skin...

    on your last visit ... you asked how to participate in Photo Hunt.

    Go to tnchick.com The themes for each week are on the right side of her blog. All details are there. Come play with us...

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  14. I would hate getting a tick......I don't even like to remove them from a dog. Happy 4th to you....

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  15. I always just get a good hold as close to my skin as possible and yank the nasty little bloodsucker things off. Then I check to make sure I got his head, and I always have. I have had a couple on me this year. I flush them to a horrible death of poop and pee.

    Interesting to read about the foot detoxing. Never heard of that one, but I love soaking my feet. I'll have to read about it and see what it involves before I'd have it done. If it hurts...forget it!

    Have a wonderful 4th!!

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  16. Thanks for the info. I don't have a problem with ticks here but my friend in Maryland does.

    Hope your July 4th celebration is fun.

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  17. TNT works splendidly, but only once.

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  18. A friend found a deer tick on him at work n saved it to have tested, TG it was Negative! Plenty of those around the Cape-
    I sat near bushes once then found three in a bunch on my back in the shower - ewww-
    I don't yse repellent- allergic! or soap- but find lavender oil works well keeping bugs away.

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  19. Anonymous8:20 PM

    The way I remove ticks is to scream bloody murder while running in circles and waving my arms. Eventually they get dizzy and fall off.

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