Ticks carry over 250 diseases, so each bite you risk being transferred any one of these life changing diseases. So it is important to know what to do when you find a tick attached to your body, or someone else. 

The first thing to note is, well, finding the tick. Some ticks are missed because they can be as small as a freckle. The longer a tick is attached, the easier it is to contract one of the diseases. So what do you do?

If you are in any of the states known for ticks, it is important to do a "tick check" every time you walk back inside from outside. These states include (but are not limited to):  Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pensylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. This information was taken from the CDC, so it is important to take it with a grain of salt. Ticks can be found anywhere where the following areas occur: wooded/fielded areas, tall bushes or grasses, under and on leaves (so watch out for falling ticks from trees), and anywhere where mice may live.  

If you are not in one of the "deemed tick states" according to the CDC you should still do tick checks, but you do not need to do them as frequently. 

• Begin at your feet and ankles. Make sure to check on the bottom of your feet and in between your toes.
• I run my hands over every body part because I think touch is sometimes better than sight. If you feel a bump then take a closer look and decide if its a freckle or a tick. 
• Work your way up your body checking every "bump" you may find. 
• Have someone check your back and hard to reach areas.
• Make sure you get every crevasse of your body and yes I mean every crevasse of your body...
• The last step is to take your finger nails and run your fingers through your hair as if you were shampooing your hair. If you feel any bump have someone look at it to ensure it is not a tick. 

• Ticks prefer moist areas, so you are more likely to find them in places like under the armpit, behind the knee, etc. 
• If you catch the tick earlier than later, the head will only slightly be inserted into the skin. In this case, it is much easier to identify that it is a tick.
• There are a ton of different types of ticks, but the post common are the deer or wood tick. The wood tick has a dark brown body with a grayish spot on their backs. The wood tick is not known to pass on Lyme disease, but they still carry 250 other diseases that are just as dangerous. Deer ticks have a brownish red body with a darker shield on the bottom of their backs. Deer ticks are highly known for passing on Lyme disease. 
• An important thing to note is that, unlike a mosquito, tick bites do not hurt or itch and you will not feel the tick bite you. This is the reason that ticks will remain attached to people for a couple of days without the person knowing. 
• If the tick has been attached for a while before found, the body will relax and the head will be further inserted into the skin. This is what makes the tick look like a freckle, a mole, or a skin tag. If this is the case it is important to either examine the body and identify discoloration. If the tick is super small, a magnifying glass will help view the body. In most cases at this point in the bite there will be red, irritated skin around the bite. 
• You can also lightly touch the bump and if it lifts then it is a tick. *Make sure that you don't touch/pull too hard because you will rip the body off the head*

• Get a pair of sharp pointed tweezers or a tick specific tool
• Grab on to the body (as close to the head as you can get) but make sure not to squeeze too hard, twist it, or squash it
• Pull the tick out straight, parallel to the skin not angled, with an even pressure, until the head is removed.
• Disinfect the area that was bit
• Either burn the tick to kill it. Or save the tick in a plastic bag to go have it tested for Lyme disease. 
• If the tick's body is pulled off and the body remains in the skin, do not worry. The diseases a tick carries are in the body of the tick. So if the head is still in the skin, the chance of getting a disease is lessened. The head should fall out on its own within a couple of days. 
• If the head does not remove on itself, becomes painful, becomes itchy, or begins to look red and contains pus... go into the doctors to have the head removed. 
• If you are unable to get ahold of the body with tweezers, go into the doctors immediately. Do not attempt to remove the tick on your own. 

After a couple of days a tick will fall off naturally. Just because you didn't physically see a tick bite you does not mean you didn't get bit. If you begin to feel sick, drowsy, or have joint pain and have been in an area where there are ticks. Make sure to ask your doctor about Lyme disease. If for some reason your test comes back negative but your symptoms get worse (like mine did) make sure to remember that ticks carry more diseases than solely Lyme. Normal doctors are not fully educated in the diseases that a tick can pass on, so it is important to see a Lyme literate doctor. I go into more detail about the possible diseases in another blog post.