- What is Lyme disease?
- What do deer ticks look like?
- Where are deer ticks found?
- What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
- How can I prevent tick bites?
- I have been bitten by a tick. What should I do?
- I found a tick and it is attached to me. How do I remove it?
- What do I do with a tick that I removed?
- How is Lyme disease treated?
What is Lyme disease?
Lyme disease is an illness that can make you feel like you have the flu. It can also cause a rash or fever, as well as nerve, joint, or heart problems. People can get Lyme disease after being bitten by a tiny insect called a tick. The tick that carries Lyme disease is the Ixodes tick, more commonly called the “deer tick” or “blacklegged tick.” When a deer tick bites you, it can pass the germ that causes Lyme disease from its body to yours. In most cases, you will only become infected if a tick stays attached for at least a day and a half.
What do deer ticks look like?
Deer ticks, the ones that carry Lyme disease, are small. They are only about the size of a poppy seed when they are young, which is when they most often spread Lyme disease. They grow to about the size of a sesame seed as adults. See more photos of deer ticks.
Where are deer ticks found?
Deer ticks are found in tall grass and on shrubs. They feed on deer and mice and attach themselves to animals and people walking by. Ticks cannot fly or jump.
What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
Lyme disease has three stages; however, the stages can overlap, and not all infected individuals go through all three. Symptoms of Lyme disease can start anytime from days to weeks after a tick bite.
Stage 1: Early localized Lyme. In the first month after a tick bite, most people who have been infected get a rash that can look like a “bull’s eye” at the site of the bite. The rash might get bigger over a few days. In people with light skin, the rash is red, but its center can appear lighter. In people with darker skin, the rash can be harder to see.
Stage 2: Early disseminated Lyme. In the weeks and months after the tick bite, as the disease-causing bacteria is beginning to spread through the body, some people may develop symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, vision changes, and/or feeling very tired. If Lyme disease is not treated, other symptoms can also begin to appear. These may include problems such as paralysis of half of the face (Bell’s palsy) or meningitis (infection of the lining covering the brain). Lyme disease can also cause problems with the heart or skin.
Stage 3: Late disseminated Lyme. If Lyme disease isn’t treated promptly or effectively during the first two stages, other symptoms can develop months to years after the tick bite. This is sometimes called “late Lyme disease.” The most common symptom of late Lyme disease is pain and swelling of the joints, usually one or both knees.
How can I prevent tick bites?
We can’t guarantee you won’t ever get a tick bite, but these tips can help:
Try to avoid walking through tall grasses and shrubs.
When you go outside, wear shoes, long-sleeved shirts, and long pants.
Tuck your pants into your socks.
Wear light colors, so you can see any ticks on your clothes.
If you have been outside in a place where there might be ticks, take a shower within two hours.
Check your clothes and body for ticks after being outside. Check your scalp, waist, armpits, groin, and the backs of your knees. Check any children who were with you.
Take steps to keep deer and mice away from your home and yard, because these are the animal that carry deer ticks.
After being outside, remove your clothing and put the dry clothes you wore outside into a dryer on the hot setting for about four minutes.
I have been bitten by a tick. What should I do?
A single dose of antibiotics can prevent Lyme disease. If you have been bitten by a tick and suspect that it has been attached for more than 24 hours, come to MIT Health’s Urgent Care Service. If appropriate, an Urgent Care clinician can give you a dose of antibiotics to prevent illness.
I found a tick and it is attached to me. How do I remove it?
Here are two ways to remove ticks safely:
Grasp the tick clean fine-tipped tweezers as close to the skin’s surface as possible, and pull the tick away from the skin with steady, even pressure. Don’t worry if the tick breaks. Your body will expel the tick parts with time. Watch this video.
Apply firm pressure with a moistened Q-tip directly on top of the tick and firmly move the Q-tip in a counterclockwise direction, spinning the tick around its point of attachment. This rotation may stun the tick so that it releases from your skin. It may take up to a minute or two of continuous rotation for the tick to release. Watch this video.
What do I do with a tick that I removed?
Dispose of the tick in a sealed bag or flush it down the toilet. Then wash the bite area and your hands.
Do not bring the tick with you if you come into Urgent Care at MIT Health. We presume all deer ticks carry Lyme disease, and we do not send any ticks out for testing. However, you can take a picture of the tick to show your provider.
How is Lyme disease treated?
Treatment for Lyme disease depends on the stage of the disease. Patients with early localized Lyme who develop erythema migrans — the typical “bull’s-eye rash” — would be treated with doxycycline for 10 days (or amoxicillin for 14 if allergic to doxycycline). Patients in later stages of the disease, who have symptoms of neurological, cardiac, or joint involvement, usually need a more intensive work-up as an outpatient or in a hospital emergency department, and some patients may need to be admitted to the hospital to be given IV antibiotics.
The exception to this is Bell’s palsy, a condition causing weakness or paralysis of facial muscles, often on only one side of the face. Bell’s palsy is the only late-Lyme symptom that can be evaluated in Urgent Care at MIT Health. Patients who have Bell’s palsy and are suspected of having late Lyme disease would have a blood test to confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies in the blood. After a positive blood test, they would be treated with a longer course of oral antibiotics.