Time spent in nature is priceless. Clean air and warm sun rays restore strength, relieve stress, and give energy. Adults and children love to visit parks, go hiking and have picnics. All this is wonderful, but there is one insect that can ruin your vacation - a small and inconspicuous tick that lies in wait for its prey in the forest, in the grass, in the bushes. In order to take the necessary measures in a timely manner, it is important to know how to remove and how to kill ticks.
General information about ticks
A tick is a blood-sucking insect that is a carrier of various deadly diseases. The parasite's body produces an anesthetic substance that helps hide the moment of the bite. Through a wound caused by an infected insect, bacteria and viruses enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the human body.
Ticks are most active in spring and summer. Habitats: mountains, forests, areas with tall grass. Ticks can also bite pets.
For children
Children's products have a mild effect due to a small percentage of active substances. This is due to the fact that children's skin often does not tolerate concentrated formulations. Treatment with drugs for children should be repeated every 1.5-2 hours.
- Vanilla water. Per liter of water, add 2 g of vanillin and boil. After cooling, lubricate exposed skin with the mixture.
- Almond oil. Mix 2 types of oils well: 2 tbsp. l almond and 15-20 drops of geranium. Store in a dark place. Rub the mixture over exposed skin.
- Clove decoction. For a glass of water, take a teaspoon of culinary spice, not oil. Bring everything to a boil. Insist for 8 hours. The decoction is used to wipe the body before going outside.
- Tea tree spray. Add 10-15 drops of tea tree oil to 50 g of water and pour everything into a spray bottle. Oil does not mix with water, and at rest the mixture separates. The bottle should be shaken well before use.
- Tea tree soap. For this composition you will need: 30 ml of liquid soap, 10 ml of soybean oil, 10-15 drops of tea tree oil. The recipe states that all ingredients must be mixed and used for washing. But you need to take into account that soap is afraid of oil in such quantities and deteriorates, ceasing to produce foam. It is difficult to use such a composition for washing, and it is dangerous to lubricate a child’s skin. Oil clogs pores and causes acne.
Tea tree soap for ticks
Why is a tick bite dangerous?
When attached, the insect pierces the skin of a person or animal with its proboscis and sucks out blood. In order to attach itself, the parasite selects the most delicate areas of the skin - the head, neck, armpits, lower back, abdomen, groin area. The bite itself is painless and may go unnoticed for some time. The effects begin to appear after about two to three hours. Appears:
- Weakness, lethargy.
- Shiver.
- Photophobia.
- Skin reactions (rashes and itching).
- Sore muscles and joints.
- The temperature rises sharply.
- Lymph nodes enlarge.
- Heart rate increases.
- A headache appears.
In addition to the listed symptoms, you may experience:
- Dizziness.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath.
- Hallucinations.
If you experience even one of these symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor.
The area around the bite is pink or red, in the center there is a noticeable depression deep into the skin. The bite itself is not dangerous to humans; only the infected insect poses a threat.
Demodex
There are 65 species of these ticks, but there are only two “human” ones. One lives in the hair follicles, the other in the sebaceous glands. The size of the parasites is microscopic, up to 0.5 mm. Some believe that it is mainly teenagers who suffer from demodex. This is not true; ticks affect 2/3 of older people and half of middle-aged people. They are transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person only through close contact. Many of us do not even suspect that we are carriers of this mite, since there are no symptoms. They begin to appear under stress and diseases that weaken the immune system. An illness begins, characterized by itching, rash, and pustules. Demodectic mange is often confused with ordinary acne. Determining whether there is a tick or not can only be done by laboratory tests.
How to kill a tick? Demodex has rather dense integument, through which drugs do not penetrate well. However, ointments are the main medical treatment. “Permethrin”, “Zincichthylic”, “Amitrosin” (for eyelids), and liquid chlorophyll get good reviews. Traditional healers recommend treating the disease with streptocide, tar soap, self-prepared ointments with gunpowder, garlic (compresses with oil are made from it). With all types of treatment, it is necessary to strengthen the immune system, organize the correct daily routine and nutrition, and eliminate stress.
How to remove a tick after a bite
If you find a tick embedded in the skin, you must remove it as quickly as possible. The longer the insect remains in the wound, the greater the likelihood of infection.
If you find an insect on your skin, it is best to go straight to a medical facility, where it will be removed and then sent for examination to check for the presence of dangerous viruses. If this is not possible, then you can try to do it yourself.
Destruction Rules
The tick removed from the body must be placed in a container. You can send it to a matchbox, after wrapping it with a piece of cotton wool. Next, the insect needs to be delivered to the nearest laboratory to carry out a set of necessary studies. Experts must determine whether the parasite is a carrier of borreliosis or another dangerous disease.
After entering the body, the effect of the virus appears after some time. Doctors recommend that the victim 14 days after the bite visit a medical facility and have a blood test done. Confirmation of the absence of infection will allow you not to worry about your health.
It is dangerous to handle the parasite with bare hands. If it is necessary to remove an insect, you should wear gloves and perform manipulations using tweezers, a cloth or a napkin. The trunk may contain remnants of saliva and dangerous secretions containing viral pathogens.
After removing the arthropod, you should carefully examine it to make sure that all its limbs and body parts are in place. If the fact of their presence in the wound is revealed, then the remains must be carefully squeezed out and the area treated with an alcohol-based solution.
The most common ways to remove ticks from skin
It is impossible to kill an insect that has attached itself to the skin. First of all, it must be removed. There are several ways.
- Use a syringe. This method is quite reliable and effective. You will need a regular medical syringe, which is sold in every pharmacy. The top where the needle is inserted is cut off. The resulting product must be placed at the site of the bite so that the body of the tick is inside. The edges can be lubricated with saliva to maximize contact with the skin. Next, pull the piston towards you. After such manipulations, the parasite usually crawls out of the body.
- Using thread. To do this you will need a strong thread or thin cord. A loop or knot is made and placed as close to the tick's head as possible. At the same time, the ends are straightened and carefully pulled from side to side, so the parasite is gradually pulled out with a thread.
- Use tweezers. Before you learn how to remove a tick using this method, it is important to remember that maximum care is needed. The body of the insect must be grabbed as close to the skin as possible and gently pulled upward, as if twisting a tick. Most often it is possible to pull it out after several turns. You cannot immediately pull the tick out of the body, as it will rupture and its head will remain under the skin.
- Use special tools. In pharmacies you can purchase very convenient devices that allow you to remove the insect with maximum convenience. Most often, such tools are made in the form of a curved fork with two prongs. The parasite is hooked so that it is between the teeth, and its head is carefully twisted out.
After removing the insect, the bite site must be treated with hydrogen peroxide, iodine or any alcoholic liquid.
Providing first aid to humans and animals
If such parasites are found on the body of a person or pet, it is necessary to take correct measures to effectively remove the tick. Many people are interested in the question of whether it is possible to kill a tick that has stuck to the surface of the skin, or how to kill a tick? The answer is obvious: you can get it and kill it, and then go to the hospital to receive quality medical care. If you remove the parasite in a timely manner, you will reduce the amount of poison in the blood.
How to get a parasite yourself
To get the parasite yourself, you need to perform the following sequential manipulations.
Tweezers
To get the parasite, you can use the right thing - sterile tweezers. Do not forget that the wound is treated before and after removal.
Cream or Vaseline
There is an excellent method that involves using oil, cream or Vaseline. Apply to the affected area of skin and wait five minutes. Then squeeze the bite site, pick up the tick body and twist it with a sharp movement. You can use a cotton swab soaked in oil and then rotate it around its body until the tick comes off. Make sure that there are no arachnid particles left in the skin.
Soap solution
A great way is a soap solution. Prepare a fairly strong and concentrated soap solution, and then soak a cotton swab. Apply to the wound and carefully rotate so that the tick attaches. If the lesion was superficial, then the elimination process will be almost instantaneous.
Now you know how to remove a tick at home without resorting to expensive medications. As for pets, it is very important to know how to remove a tick from a cat in order to relieve the animal from painful symptoms. When you arrive after a walk, carefully examine your pet, especially the favorite habitats of parasites: the ears and the area behind the ears, armpits, fur, thighs and tummy.
Help an animal
Considering that ticks are a source of various diseases, it is urgent to remove the parasite from the cat in order to prevent the development of inflammatory and infectious processes.
Algorithm for providing emergency care to a pet:
- Using thread, tweezers or a special device with a hook, you can quickly and effectively eliminate the enemy.
- It is necessary to grab the parasite closer to the head and then carefully scroll.
- After you remove the tick, use rubbing alcohol to disinfect the bite area. For seven days, lubricate the affected area with a special ointment with antibacterial properties.
Be careful, do not self-medicate, take care of yourself and your pets!
Is it possible to crush a tick with your fingers?
When the insect is removed, it must be destroyed, since, once free, it will naturally go in search of new food. Many people are interested in: “Can a tick be crushed with your fingernails?” In principle, it is possible, but this will cause the contents of the gastrointestinal tract to be splashed onto the skin. If there are wounds and microcracks on the hand, infection is inevitable. When choosing this method of killing, you should remember that the parasite has a hard chitinous shell, almost as strong as a human nail.
Then how to crush a tick? You can do this with stones or other hard objects, but the parasite will try to escape.
How to kill
So, how to kill ticks without harming your health?
- Wrap the insect tightly in adhesive tape on all sides. The parasite will not be able to get out through it and will die after a while. This is the best method as the insect will remain unharmed. In the future, if symptoms of the disease appear, it can be taken to the laboratory.
- You can use medical alcohol. How to kill ticks this way? Just put it in a container with alcohol, and the parasite will die after a while. It will take some time for the tick to die.
Ticks do not die in water. If rubbing alcohol is not available, you can use vinegar or bleach.
The insect can also be destroyed in the following ways:
- Flush it down the toilet, pre-packing it in a napkin.
- Burn in fire.
- Warm in the microwave in a closed container.
"Face" of the enemy
The appearance of representatives of different species of ixodids is somewhat different. There are ticks with a plain back and with a patterned one, there are dark, almost black ones, and there are light brown and gray ones. What they have in common is that a well-fed tick is many times larger than a hungry one and looks like a swollen blood bladder. The length of the hungry one is from 0.2 mm to 5 mm. The body is solid, the head is not clearly defined. In some species, the body is covered with a shell or scutes. It has 4 pairs of legs, and on its head there are piercing-sucking mouthparts. How to kill a tick if you suddenly catch one on yourself? Just crush it? His coverings are so hard that after such an execution he continues to live. Therefore, it is recommended to burn it, or better yet, submit it to a laboratory for testing to find out whether it is infected with viruses or not.
How to kill ticks on pets and clothes
Today, a wide variety of herbal and chemical products are available on the market to help remove these insects from pets. But some of them can be dangerous for young animals or children playing with them, so it is recommended to consult a veterinarian first, if possible.
You need to choose a product that is intended for specific animals (for example, dogs or cats).
It is not recommended to use preparations containing organic phosphates. Before purchasing, you need to check whether the composition contains amitraz, permethrin, fenoxycarb, tetrachlorvinphos, propoxur.
How to kill ticks on clothes?
- First you should put it in the dryer. Dry hot air will kill almost all insects. After this, the clothes must be washed and dried again.
- Spray things with Permethrin. This chemical can kill ticks faster than other insecticides. In addition, it is relatively safe for humans.
Reasons for appearance
The reasons for the appearance of house dust mites in increased numbers may be different optimal conditions. Suitable areas, infrequent cleaning and ventilation, a variety of different upholstered furniture and textile interior items and temperature conditions, all this and much more serves as a suitable living environment.
Since these parasites are found absolutely everywhere, including even the most “sterile” apartment conditions, the cases described below can affect the high birth rate of ticks:
- living in a city with high levels of dust;
- very rare wet treatment of premises;
- lack of cleaning in hard-to-reach places;
- a large amount of old, unkempt items, clothes and other things cluttering the home;
- carpets, runners, rugs or rugs with long pile made from natural fabrics, as well as various covers for chairs and upholstered furniture or thick curtains, and even soft toys;
- old blankets, rugs, pillows with down or cotton wool contents.
It is in such “comfortable” conditions that parasites live. The main habitats are recreational areas such as the living room or bedroom. Ticks happily live in carpets, fabric sofas, beds, bed linen, mattresses that are almost impossible to wash, or pillows with natural filling. Such parasites are often called bed mites. In general, individuals live in areas where dust actively collects. Even a place like the dust collector of a vacuum cleaner is a very comfortable home for the creature; it has plenty of dust, is not humid and is quite dark.
Therefore, do not torment yourself with the question: where do dust mites come from, since they have lived with us from time immemorial. But there is one hypothesis about how they appeared here. If you believe her, then the ticks initially lived in bird nests, and then were accidentally brought in by birds, or the parasites themselves moved to more suitable habitats. Perhaps this is why the favorite places of synanthropes are blankets and pillows made using natural bird down or feathers.
How to identify a tick at home?
How to identify dust mites at home? Every housewife would like to know with 100% certainty that her home is not infected with such “monsters.” In principle, if you carry out regular high-quality wet cleaning, washing bed linen, cleaning carpets and other textiles, and ventilating the room, especially at low temperatures, you don’t have to worry about these microscopic creatures. It’s a different matter if you or someone in your family has strange allergic reactions.
Patch tests using a specialized color chemical indicator will help you check the presence of dust mites more easily and quickly. The conditions of the procedure are to collect dust samples from available sources and place these specimens in a vessel with a certain reagent. After this, place the test strip in a container with liquefied dust for exactly 1 minute, and then pull out the stick and compare the colored end with the scale included in the detection system kit
When working with such chemicals, it is extremely important to observe safety precautions, so it is better to wear a gauze bandage on your face and rubber gloves on your hands to protect your skin from accidental contact with the reagent
Such studies are quite convenient, but at the same time quite expensive, so it is advisable to carry out these procedures after general cleaning of residential premises.
Tick bite prevention
- When going for a walk in shelterbelts, forests or bodies of water, you need to know one rule: to attack, parasites choose those places on the body from which it is easiest to reach the human circulatory system. It is important to take care of clothing that covers the neck, groin, and armpits. It would be good if it was made of thick fabric. It is recommended to choose closed shoes.
- To repel ticks, it is advisable to treat clothing and body with special products.
- When walking through the forest, do not tear off branches or deliberately pull them away. With these actions you can shake off a lot of ticks.
- It must be remembered that you should not remove or crush discovered insects with unprotected hands. To do this, you need to use gloves (rubber or leather).
- If a tick has stuck, to remove it, you can try dropping iodine or any oil on it - the insect should fall off on its own in a few minutes.
- When you come back from a walk, you should definitely examine yourself, as you may not feel the tick bite.
If you follow the precautionary rules, your vacation will be completely safe and will only give you a good mood!
Let's sum it up
If a tick is found attached to the body, then you should not rush and immediately tear it off with your bare hands. The best option is to visit an ambulance or a specialized doctor (infectious disease specialist). If professional help is far away, you can try to remove it using a special tool. After extraction, the insect must be sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Attention! It is necessary to take care of the means of protection against ticks before relaxing outdoors! Prevention will allow you to avoid unpleasant thoughts about dangerous insects and devote time to more pleasant and important things.
