Avoiding ticks

[Keith_Beef]

Hello, everybody.

I've been thinking about taking my son to sleep out in the woods one night this summer, but I wonder if there's something I can do to discourage ticks.

The place I have in mind is a patch of woodland that belongs to a friend of mine, probably near the edge of the wood, with a view over the fields and heath. The problem is that the area has a fairly high population of deer and sheep, maybe even some boar, and I really don't want the two of us coming down with Lyme's disease.

I don't feel comfortable about sleeping in hammocks. Although I sometimes have an afternoon nap in one, I can't trust myself or my son to sleep in one for a full night...

So, I suppose camp beds to get us off the ground, or a tent with a sewn-in groundsheet?


Keith.

 

[Ed]

If you don't like hammocks then it will have to be a tent with a sewn in ground sheet. Ticks can still find there way into bivi bags as a few friends of mine have found out. It may be a good idea to wear gaiters when walking around aswell if ticks are that much of a problem in the area.

;-)
Ed

 

[george]

Hi Keith

The area I live has got to be one of the worst places for ticks I've ever come across. I was cutting rushes on the croft at the weekend and I pulled 9 ticks off my legs in the bath that evening! The blighters seem to like me.

They seem to crawl from your boots up the inside of your trousers and then feed in the first warm moist bits they can find - on me it's usually behind my knees, though on ocassion they get much further up!
I often wear sweat bands soaked in insect repellent around my ankles above my boots if I know I'm going in to a very ticky area and its too warm for gaiters. That, along with a good check every evening seems to keep them at bay. (I should have taken my own advice at the weekend but I thought it was too early for them!) If you wear light coloured trousers they are easier to see if they grab on and start climbing - then you can get rid of them before they start to feed.

They feed in several stages and apparently they have to be feeding for a substantial length of time before they transmit any nasties. Although some sources say to get any tickbite checked I'd never be out of the doctors if I did that. Have a look here http://vie.dis.strath.ac.uk/vie/LymeEU/prevention_index.html for some more info.

George

 

[Wayne]

i caught lyme disease last year nasty. i didnt check myself properly after sending time in the New Forest.

I agree with the above. Ticks seem to like me aswell especially backs of my knee. They are very good at getting past your best defenses. I now soak my gaitors in Permethrin as used on Mozzie nets. Kills most insects. However it's no substitute for a through visual check after exposure. Your very unlikely to catch lyme if the tick has been attached less than 24 hours.

 

[Kath]

Hi Wayne - just curious as I've never met anyone who contracted Lyme's disease in the UK before... did you know you'd been bitten or did you just get the symptoms?

Not sure my GP would know what Lyme's was...

 

[Ed]

Not sure my GP would know what Lyme's was...

That can be a big problem..... hopefully you would get referd to hospital.


Ed

 

[Degrorobogo]

Hi,

I have a background in Forestry...not that this matters...but during my studies I have been in the woods a lot...and I mean a lot.
And I have seen a lot of ticks...and I mean a lot...I have had them all over...and I mean all over...I have pulled them of my legs, between my toes, of my private parts etc. I have been more fortunate than some of my fellow students, and never caught lymes disease.

My experience is that if you go into the woods and you go of the beaten track you will sooner or later get ticks. This really isn't something you should worry about. Make sure you check yourself everywhere each morning when its light. The chance to get lymes disease is very small provided that you remove them within 24 hours after they have dug themselves in.

When I spent a night outside I prefer beech forest to oak. Oak forest often has a shrublayer of bracken and blueberry and this really is "tick heaven" .
On a bushcraft course last year we had our basecamp in a forest full of oak, blueberry and bracken...the result was 20+ ticks in one week ...not counting the ones that were still on the move.
A month ago I went on another course where we had our basecamp in a beechforest. I only had to remove three ticks that were still moving!

Oh yeah...this is great....since a few months I am the happy owner of a swanndri bushshirt....what I have found out is that although the bushshirt attracts a lot of ticks they are reluctant to leave the shirt and start feeding of me... I have tried it with several ticks...I have placed them on my hand and legs and placed the sleeve of my swanndri next to the ticks...They are just going crazy and don't know how fast they have to trade me for my beloved swanni!

 

[Wayne]

Hi Kath.

I first noticed the tick bite after about 3 days behind my knee once the little blood sucker had its feed. I wiped it with permethrin then used tweezers to remove and thought nothing of it. After another day or two a noticed a red rash like ring spreading out from the bite area. this ring widened then disappeared. i had general flu like symptoms and felt really fatigued. wife badgered me to visit the doctors. After some discussion amongst the docotrs in the practise i was given a number of blood tests one was for the lyme parasite. this was sent to Southampton for testing as local hospital didnt have the kit. I was started immediately on antibiotics for about a month. i had to have ECG and some other tests to ceck for nerve damage.
i'm sure the medical professionals on here could give a better explaination of the treatment .

hope i haven't bored too many people i thought the detail might be of interest. Moral if bitten by tick and have fever like flu get checked out.

 

[Doc]

Lyme Disease is a difficult and complex subject. My advice would be:

1) Avoid tick bites as far as possible (boots and trouser elastics help)
2) Remove any ticks asap.
3) Seek advice if you get a rash at the site, or fever or joint pain.
4) Don't believe all you read on the internet.

Remove ticks with tweezers as soon as you find them. Old methods (vaseline etc) take too long. In animal experiment, infected ticks attached for less than 24 hours transmitted infection in only 5% of cases. After 4 days attachment, it was 100%. So get rid of them, pronto.

Antibiotics are not routinely indicated after a tick bite, but if there is a rash I usually give doxycycline orally. Later stage lyme disease gets referred to the infectious diseases consultants.

One problem is that the you can have Lyme disease but test negative on antibody testing, and many people who test positive do not have Lyme. Also Lyme can cause all kinds of symptoms. The net result of all this in America is that some people with non-specific symptoms and negative tests self diagnose with Lyme and end up on prolonged courses of IV antibiotics.

 

[nowhere]

Here's something i looked up today from the seemingly excellent ' The Green Pharmacy' by Dr James A Duke. The only herbal book that even mentioned Lyme disease - and i own a few.

After suspecting he had Lyme disease symptoms after a bite, the author himself considered a combination of antibiotics and some of the herbal options he mentions to be the best bet.

He suggests Echinacea for boosting the immune system, garlic for fighting the bacteria, and a good deal of carrots and tomatoes, for vitamin A carotenoids that can help fight infection.

Also for prevention the juice of crushed 'mountain mint - Pycnanthemum muticum' rubbed onto the skin. I don't know if this is around in the UK or if other mints would do a similar job.

He also mentions liquorice as containing the most bactericidal compounds, others of which contain good amounts are thyme, hops, oregano, and rosemary.

Hope this is of use. I got a bite a couple of weeks ago, so i'm sitting up and paying attention to this - excuse the garlic breath!

Steve.

 

[leon-1]

Altough not a medical professional I have done courses on health and hygiene in the field at Ashvale with the military. Part of the course was entomology and of course the various diseases that little beasties carry.

This is probably one of the better sites that I have come across for both identifying beasties and illnesses, it also has preventative measures that can be taken.

http://www.who.int/docstore/water_sanitation_health/vectcontrol/ch26.htm

There is quite a lot to read so bear with it, I hope the link comes in handy.

Leon. :-D

 

[shibbyjay]

fantastic thread folks, loads of useful information!

i plan on spending the summer in the hills of New Jersey taking american kids on hikes and other outdoors activities...

i think theres a fair chance of me finding a tick or two during the summer, either on myself or one one of the kids "eeew whats that eggy-looking thing on my leg?"

my question is how do i get the b*gger off once its latched itself on? i'm guessing tearing it off or torching it with my turboflame lighter probably won't work (i can't imagine the kids sitting still long enough :twisted: )

what is the best technique for tick removal in your view? i'd be glad to hear...

jamie

 

[Kath]

I've removed ticks by gripping them with tweezers - SAK tweezers are ideal for this - get them low down near the mandible, close to the skin as possible. That way you get them out jaws and all. I then use an anti-septic wipe.

The first time I ever saw one I took my daughter to the ER (we were in Connecticut at the time) where they removed it by the above method and then charged me a hundred and fifty bucks for the privilege! :shock: Done it myself ever since!

One tip: if you've done it right the tick will still be alive and intact, so take care he doesn't crawl off and latch on to someone else, as happened one time when I wasn't paying good enough attention to where I put the little blighter!

The hospital in CT offered to send the tick for testing, at additional cost of course, which I declined! Doc, should ticks be kept for testing here in the UK or not?

 

[Ed]

I've got a little plastic tool from the vet thats used to remove ticks, a tip that was on here some time ago. Haven't had to use it yet though.

Ed

 

[leon-1]

Kath you'll be happy to know that in the U.K. if you go in to a hospital they will remove a tick free of charge and they keep them. I managed to get a tick in an area difficult to get to and went into the local hospital where they removed it for me.

The tool from the vet is a good peice of kit, Neil1 uses one, it may have been him that posted about it before.

There are quite a few sites on the web that describe the removal of ticks, but most of them have used the U.S. Army guide as the major source of their information. This is the link.
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/ento/facts/removal.html

it is simple and easy to understand, they used to have a printable version of this, but last time I checked the link didn't work. As an option you could always copy and paste the information into a wordpad document size it down. Then print it off and laminate it as a small aide memoire.

 

[Kath]

Most kids get pretty hysterical when they've got a tick on them, so it's usually just quicker and simpler to whip it off myself (preferably before they know they've got it! )

 

[george]

Have a look here http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog/tickgone.htm

We're constantly looking for the most effective way of getting rid of them. If you get them when they're just beginning to feed they're much easier to release - apparently they actually glue themselves in to the wound! Yuck.

Kath - my three year old now refers to them as "tickles" if you grab her and tickle her you can get the tick before she notices she's got it! Not always easy to grab a tick on a wriggly giggly three year old though :-D

George

 

[The General]

I must be lucky, I have camped (not jokes please!) for nigh on 20 years in North Wales and never even seen a tick! We camp often in area's where sheep are common and never once had a problem. Thinking about it makes my skin crawl though...

 

[Buckshot]

This is a subject I, like most stalkers, am concious of - being so close to deer it's enevitable one day I'll find some creepy crawly on me.

I try to minimise the risk by wearing gaters, (the leather ones horse riders wear because they don't rustle) but that's no gaurantee.

Thanks for all the info guys

Cheers

Mark

 

[leon-1]

I must admit that in the last 20+ years that I have been going out I had not picked up a tick untill the beginning of this year (I have had to remove them from others before, but remained tick free).

Neil1 has been keeping an eye on the figures on this and the tick population is on the increase, one of the supposed main reasons for this (in our area at least) is that the controlled burn that we had on areas like Dartmoor has been stopped.