It’s Tick Season!

While we are enjoying the warmer, longer days, increasing our outdoor activities, and adventuring into nature, ticks are waiting for an opportunity to make a meal out of us, our families, and our dogs!

Most of us have encountered ticks or Lyme Disease in some fashion. Either we have seen a tick, know what a tick is, have had a tick bite, have had Lyme disease, our dog has had Lyme disease, or we know someone or someone’s dog who has had Lyme Disease. The truth is that Lyme is an endemic infection, with nearly 476,000 cases of Lyme disease diagnosed in the US each year. So, if you haven’t yet encountered a tick or the diseases they carry….you could in the future. Let’s review some tick bite prevention strategies and how to best prevent tick-borne illnesses.

Map of Lyme disease cases in the US, 2022 

Why do we need to prevent tick bites?

​Ticks carry bacteria that can be passed to humans when they bite and feed on you. While Lyme Disease is the most diagnosed tick-borne illness, many others exist. See list below:

• ​Bartonella
• ​Babesia
• Ehrlichia
• Anaplasmosis
• Powassan Virus
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Tick Borne Relapsing Fever
• Tularemia
• Coxiella (Q-fever)

Since Lyme Disease is the most common affliction that comes from tick bites, let’s review some signs and symptoms that are commonly associated. Early symptoms that a person can have after a tick bite include:

• Fever
• Flu Like Symptoms
• Headache
• Body aches
• Stiff neck
• Bulls eye rash (see picture below) 

If Lyme Disease is not treated in an early stage, the bacteria can progress through the body and become a disseminated disease. This spread of bacteria would take weeks to months to occur. Symptoms of early disseminated Lyme disease may include, but are not limited to:

It's crucial to note that if Lyme Disease is not treated in the acute or even early disseminated stage, it can progress into a late disseminated disease that occurs months to years after the original infection. ​

Symptoms of late-stage Lyme Disease may include, but are not limited to:

• ​Neuropathy with numbness and pain in the peripheral nerves
• Other significant neurologic problems

What about our dogs?

Dogs can get Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses from tick bites too. Symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs can include, but are not limited to:

• ​Lameness in a limb
• Joint swelling
• Lack of appetite and possible weight loss
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Fever

Preventing the Tick Bite

The first and most important thing to know is how to assess your risk of a tick bite and how to reduce that risk.

Avoid tick habitats!!!

Tick Habitats include:

• Wooded areas
• Tall grass
• Leaf litter
• Around stone walls
• Where the lawn meets the woods
• Where the trail meets the woods
• Under ground cover plants

Seen in the picture above is myself and my two dogs playing in a tick habitat. What you don’t see or might not notice are the tick bite prevention measures I have taken before going out with my dogs. Read on for these tick bite prevention measures.

In the above picture, you can see that my dogs are wearing Seresto collars. I highly recommend reviewing all options with your veterinarian to determine the best prevention plan for you and your dog.  

Prevention is the best medicine!!!

To reduce the risk of tick bites, preventative measures must be pre-planned. Let’s go through some preventative steps that you can take to help protect yourself and your pets from tick bites.

Wondercide is not just a recommended product; it's a personal favorite for tick bite prevention. I spray myself and my dogs with Wondercide's peppermint spray before and after encounters in tick habitats. It's a choice I make for our safety and peace of mind. (Amazon Affiliate Links)

Wondercide is a natural product based on cedar oil. Cedar oil can repel and kill ticks. One of my favorite features of this product is its ease and flexibility of use. It can be used on puppies, babies, adults, your lawn, home, dog crates, and more. They make a variety of products; check them out!

General Recommendations for both the Human and Pets

Tick Checks

Please, please, please perform a tick check on yourself, your pets, and your family after being out in tick habitats. You may find ticks crawling or getting ready to bite, and then you can remove them before a bite occurs. 

If you live in a tick endemic area and frequent tick habitats, please check yourself at least twice daily. The best practice would be to check in the morning when you get dressed or showered for the day, at the end of the day when you get ready for bed, and after any time you have been in a tick habitat (for example, after a hike, trip to the park, or walking in the woods)

When doing a tick check on yourself or someone else think about checking the cracks and crevices. The most common places to find ticks on humans are along the hairline, on the scalp, back of the neck, behind the ears, under the arm, under the breast, in the belly button, around the waistline, in the groin, behind the knees, and between the toes.   

It’s great to perform tick check on a regular basis for dogs too but I would highly recommend doing them after leaving tick habitats. Start with a visual scan over the whole dog to look for any ticks that may be crawling on the dog.  When doing a tick check please look at the dogs head, in their ears, under their tail, around the neck, in between wrinkles, under the arms, groin, legs, and under harnesses and collars.

This article highlights some of my favorite tick-bite prevention products and practices. However, these are by no means the only tools on the market. Other tools that people may use include, but are not limited to tick combs, lint rollers, bug spray with at least 20% deet, and other natural sprays or collars. I hope you found this information helpful as you plan your strategies for tick bite prevention this year.

Dr. Caitlin Doody, PhD, MS, APRN, FNP-BC

RiseWellnesses.com

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