My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

[Mark42]

Amber is 8 yrs old. She found a Deer tick on her shoulder Wednesday evening while showering. The tick was burried into her skin, so removing it was not pleasant for her. Me and my wife were very worried about her getting Lyme disease becasue it can be so devistating.

Couldn't get to see our doctor until Friday. Doc just put her on an antibiotic. No blood test, or anything. He said a simple antibiotic will take care of it as long as its administered shortly after being bit.

I am greatly relieved, but I will still keep an eye on the bite site to be sure no "bulls eye" rash developes.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

As long as you had it checked and had removed it properly your daughter should be fine. Prior to the lyme disease/deer tick scare tetracycline used to be the best antibiotic to use. I knew many hunters that would see a Dr prior to the season just to have the script on hand.

 

[Mark42]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

I followed directions from a few different websites that address Deer Tick bites to move the tick. Basically, they say to pull it out with tweezers. Oil, lotion, Vaseline are all listed as ineffective. The problem is that when they are into the skin, it is hard to remove them with out breakage. In Ambers case, the head and one leg were left, so it required a bigger magnifying glass and smaller, sharper tweezers. She was not happy, and I was getting more anxious about infection every second.

Doc said they don't even bother with blood tests when you have a positive ID on the tick being Deer Tick. So many people here have Lyme disease. Many had it for years before being properly identified, and by then the damage is done. Nerves, joints, all kinds of problems.

I did find this piece of info that made me feel better about Ambers bite:

If you remove a tick within two days, your risk of acquiring Lyme disease is very low.

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

my Dad used to put alchohol on the tick, or blow a match out and put it on they're little butts and usually they would pull thier own heads out.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

my Dad used to put alchohol on the tick, or blow a match out and put it on they're little butts and usually they would pull thier own heads out.

These are the methods I have seen used here also. I have no idea how they removed the tic from my cousin years ago but he wound up with Lyme disease. I believe I have also heard of an external Icyhot pain reliever being used also to remove them.

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

As far as I know. tweezers are a no-no. They can "squish" the tick's fluids into the bit persons body. Same thing with any stinging insect.

 

[Laddies]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Back in the days everyone smoked we we told to use the heat from a cigarette end and removed many hundreds that way in the service and later years.

 

[Nandy]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

The best way is to take the person to the doctor and let them remove it. If for some reason you must remove it regualr twezers are not the best options as they squeaze the thick, making it regurgitate and you dont want that. The person contract the lyme disease when an infected tick release fluids. Also, any of those methods, alcohol, heat or anything that causes the tick to escape have the same effect to irritate the tick causing it to release fluids. No all deer ticks are infected, therefore these methods dont always end up with a sick individiual.
The bacteria lives in the tick during it nymph state. The size of the tick is about a popy seed which is around 3 mm. That is very small. A lot of people just see a tick and inmeditelly think deer tick and even if it was a deer tick the chances for contracting the illnes is low.
You did the right thing!

 

[MikDee]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

my Dad used to put alchohol on the tick, or blow a match out and put it on they're little butts and usually they would pull thier own heads out.

This, and the cigarette method was all we ever used for many years since I was a kid on Long Island, my dog back then used to get plenty of ticks we had to remove and a few times we've had to remove them from one of the family kids, but these were common ticks, not deer ticks, which are much smaller, and not as dangerous. No one that I know, ever got sick from these.

 

[treedancer]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Man if I went to a doctor every time I got a tick I would be in the poor house, get the tweezers and yank them out.

 

[beerrun]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Its good that you found it quickly and removed it. The ticks are really bad where I live. I got Lyme disease 2 years ago. I thought it was the flu and before I knew it I had been in bed for 3 days. Knocked me silly. Apparently mine was caught quickly enough that I have not noticed any long term effects but I do have friends that get joint pains like arthritis from it and they've had to go back on medication. It can have severe long term effects. My neighbor and his 5 yr old daughter both had it. My dog has had it too. Even with Advantix on him they bite and then die. Its not fun. These little tick removers work better than anything else I've found.You can get them at Cabellas or Gander Mountain. Walmart might have them too. They dont squish it when you're trying to pull it out. Less scary for an 8 year old than coming at her with a lit cigarette, but I do burn the little buggers once theyre removed. I hope Amber is feeling OK.

 

[Nandy]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Man if I went to a doctor every time I got a tick I would be in the poor house, get the tweezers and yank them out.

I understand treedancer, if it were me, i would do the same. But with the information I know now, if it was any of my kids, they are going straight to the doctor. That is why I pay insurance for.

 

[Turin]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

In Holland they sell those special thinggie's that are specialy designed to remove a tick just put alcohol onit put the thingie on the tick and pul slowly.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Thankfully, they have very few deer ticks in my area. But, we have a lot of wood ticks. I stop every so often and scan for them on my clothes. Long pants are a necessity if you go into tall grass. If you keep looking you can get a lot of them off before they find skin to dig into. I've found that some types of insect repellent help to keep them off you. I spray down my pants legs thickly with this stuff before I go out into the wild.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

We don't really have ticks in WW.....​

 

[penst8grad]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Glad you got the tick early. Where I'm at seems to be the center of the deer tick problem. Docs are quite familiar with them now and yours did the right thing. Antibiotic early takes care of any problem. When left untreated it can look like many other things.

One coworker's brother was misdiagnosed with Lou Gherig's disease which turned out to be lyme disease. Another coworkers relative is now disabled because it ruined his eyesight to the point he is legally blind. Obviously, neither of those cases were caught early.

Deer ticks cannot be removed like regular ones. They are MUCH smaller and as a result often aren't noticed right away.

 

[roscoe]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

you might want to look into the lyme disease vaccine.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

Take it from a guy that has Lyme's. If your not sure if you were bitten by a deer tick or just a wood tick GO TO THE DOCTOR. It aint worth the gamble. Don't be like me and fool around till you get real sick.

 

[Nandy]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

you might want to look into the lyme disease vaccine.

Currently there are no vacinne for the lyme dissease. An early vacine was released in the lates 90's but removed from the market in 2002.

 

[roscoe]

Re: My daughter got bit by a Deer Tick.

didn't know it was pulled from the market. My bad.