Lyme disease?

[Migrating Bird]

When the temp gets above 50 do daily body inspections ( especially for Deer Ticks they are about the size of a pin head), and when you pull a tick use twizzers make sure you get the head, sometimes the tick will borrow into you skin and burry it's head and when you pull it the head will break off and stay their and contaimenate you later, use a orange high lighter or any color to mark the spot you found the tick and keep an eye on it as soon as you notice a Bulls eye rash ( it's a red rash encircling a couple of inches around the infected area, this could take a couple of days ) go to a Medical Facility ASAP, Daily inspections is the only way i know to help pervent Lyme Disease but still it isn't 100 percent, it also helps to wear light colored clothing and some kind of Bug Juice, Untreated Lyme Disease can leave it's victim Paralyzed or even death can happen, Personally I have never had this disease and hope i never will.

Sorry Red Dog, but Please DO NOT use tweezers. The potential to squeeze the guts out of the tick, break the head off and into the wound is too risky, if possible use OTOM tick twister http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick.

The bulls eye may appear anywhere on the body not just at the bite site and can be small to huge and appear in a few days to weeks after the bite. http://lymedisease.org/lyme101/lyme_..._symptoms.html

[Migrating Bird]

As soon as I found the one embedded in me last week, I called my Dr. right away & he wrote me a prescription over the phone for the antibiotic. I wasn't sure if I removed the head or not so always better safe than sorry, I knew a girl who had Lyme disease & she's had multiple spine surgeries due to it. I really wished there was a sure fire way to pull a tick off with getting the head 100% of the time.

Please watch the video, I use OTOM, they are cheap, work 100% of the time, I have never had one not remove the head so many times in me, my family or my dog. Makes a great gift. The best part is after the tick is removed, it is trapped in the tool with legs wiggling then you can devise any number of evil ways to dispatch the little bugger.

[Oak88]

During my thru hike last year I saw only 2 ticks. One crawling on my hand and one on the back of my neck. Rob Bird formerly of The Birdcage was dropping off hikers fresh from Trail Days (Unicoi Gap area). He saw a tick on my neck and removed it. It helps to inspect every night and have someone else assist with your inspection. Ticks seem to like warm moist areas and hair.

[mudsocks]

I work in a medical office in Canada. There is no vaccination available for Lyme disease here either.

Well that's a downer. Thanks for clarifying.

[sfdoc]

Go to UTUBE, Unitic. Also, Unitic on TrailJournals.com. Great presentation. Lots of info. I saw him present at the 2013 ALDHA conference. Very informative and thorough.

[Pedaling Fool]

Warning (or Disclaimer) Don't read this article if you're easily frightened by creepy little crawlies

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...-tick-science/

[Pedaling Fool]

Bottomline, a healthy ecosystem needs predators, we are missing many predators, so humans filling that role is a good thing, but I'd still like to see the mountain lion return

http://www.entsoc.org/press-releases...s-lyme-disease


Excerpt:



Fewer Deer may Mean Less Lyme Disease



Annapolis, MD; July 1, 2014 – Since white-tailed deer serve as the primary host for the adult blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) — the vector for Lyme disease — scientists have wondered whether reducing the number of deer in a given area would also mean fewer cases of Lyme disease. Now, after a 13-year study was conducted, researchers in Connecticut have found that reduced deer populations can indeed lead to a reduction in Lyme disease cases. The results of their study are published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

The researchers surveyed 90–98% of all permanent residents in a Connecticut community from 1995 to 2008 to document their exposure to tick-related diseases and the frequency and abundance of deer observations. After hunts were initiated, the number and frequency of deer observations in the community were greatly reduced, as were resident-reported cases of Lyme disease.

The number of resident-reported cases of Lyme disease per 100 households was strongly correlated to deer density in the community, they found. Reducing deer density to 5.1 deer per square kilometer resulted in a 76% reduction in tick abundance, a 70% reduction in the entomological risk index, and an 80% reduction in resident-reported cases of Lyme disease.

[Don H]

I did and needed them.
I also took the time to study and become informed about the disease and spoke with my Dr. about if before my thru.

[ericmcdaniel]

Two days ago in NJ, I got what I thought was a bee sting (sharp bee sting kind of pain, and a red bump) and now it's more swollen and looks like this (pic attached-is this the bullseye rash?). I've google etc, but I'm not sure whether to see a doctor....could anyone who's had experience with Lyme comment or PM me? Many thanks!


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[Pedaling Fool]

Ticks don't sting; if anything the vast majority of time you can't even feel them crawl on you. Other than that, no one can diagnose what your mark is.

[Rocket Jones]

Ticks don't sting, you don't feel them when they start to bite. If it felt like a sting, it probably was. Even so, I'd see a doc about it before the "rash" goes away. Trust me, if it's Lyme, you want to catch it early.

[ericmcdaniel]

That's what I thought, but it now looks like a pretty classic bullseye rash which is what made me worry. I've not pulled a single tick off of myself my entire hike so far (1300+ miles) and my clothes are treated with permethrin/I wear deet. The mark is also on my forearm, underneath my long sleeved hiking/sleeping shirt. Grrrrr. Guess I should go get tested and insist on a script to take with me. How much is time of the essence in getting tested/treated?


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[Rocket Jones]

The longer you wait to start treatment, the worse the symptoms and the longer full recovery takes. Catch it really early and a 10-day course of antibiotics is often enough. I'm halfway through a 21-day course (about 3 weeks from bite to symptoms appearing, another few days before treatment started), and one person I know went undiagnosed for over three months (not a hiker) and had to go through a six-month course of antibiotics. He didn't start feeling better until about four months into it.

I'm pretty much back to normal except that even little chores still really tire me out. Better every day though.

[lemon b]

I know of two youth in my church who tested positive. Thank goodness their parents had been keeping an eye out.

[ericmcdaniel]

According to the doc, that rash over 5 centimeters in diameter is definitive for a positive diagnosis. Glad I went!!!


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[Pedaling Fool]

According to the doc, that rash over 5 centimeters in diameter is definitive for a positive diagnosis. Glad I went!!!


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Positive of what? That you have a rash Sure ain't positive for lyme disease.

I ain't no doctor, but I know there's no such thing as just measuring a rash over 5cm and determining it's lyme disease. If that were the case, I've had numerous bouts with lyme disease.

[ericmcdaniel]

The bullseye rash, Pedaling Fool. That's just what the doctor said, I dunno. I'm no doc


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[Pedaling Fool]

So he's saying that a rash over 5cm is proof positive of it being bullseye rash
Wouldn't that be the same as saying you have lyme disease?

Whatever, I'd find a new doctor... I can't really tell from you pic, but it just looks like a typical rash after being stung, which is what happened, correct?


Image number 6 in this link shows a bull's eye rash http://www.medicinenet.com/lyme_dise...ow/article.htm

[sfdoc]

Check out UNITIC's comments on UTube. Very informative.

[ericmcdaniel]

No no. A bullseye rash that large, he said. Thanks for the link, sfdoc!


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