Lyme Disease
When the spring and summer months arrive, the number of cases of Lyme disease increase because people are spending more time outside in the nice weather. As the grass grows higher, ticks have an expanded habitat to lurk in.
Whenever you spend time outdoors, use effective tick repellent on your skin and/or on your clothing. Once you are home, check for ticks. They might be engorged with blood, in which case they will look plump and fat. Or they might not have eaten their fill yet, in which case they will look like a speck of dirt, a freckle or a ‘skin tag’. They like to lurk in dark, moist areas, such as the backs of knees, groin, and underarms.
If you do find a tick, the important thing is not to panic. They need to be latched onto you for at least 24 hours to cause disease.
Having said that, it is essential to remove a tick correctly in case it is carrying the bacteria that trigger Lyme disease, or other tickborne illnesses. This is because the tick’s mouth parts can snap off and get lodged in the skin if you are not careful, and inject more bacteria into your bloodstream. Continue reading
