I just removed a tick from my neck. HELP

[matese]

Living in a wooded area I haven’t had many ticks on ME. I am sitting here asking about pee strings, all of a sudden my neck feels a little sore, I touch the area, feel a little bump, go to the bathroom, see a dark spot, get out my magnifying mirror and the dark bump has legs on it. OMG a little frigging tick. So I grab the twizzer and pull the little sucker out, it was right in the vain the little @$^%#^. That @$#$^ was really latched in my neck. I cleaned the area with alcohol then dab it with a prescription antibiotic cream. That was just 20 minutes ago, now it hurts like hell. Is this normal after removing a tick for that area and several inches below it to really hurt. The little @#%$# was about 1/8 of an inch over my collar bone. It was small, I don’t think it was a deer tick, I have read they are the size of a poppy seed, this @$$#@% was a small one, but big enough to be gotten with the tweezers and yes, I got his nasty $%$@% head out.

[MauiGirl]

Oh no, that is creepy. I don't know what kinds of ticks live in your area, but wonder if you should call your doctor's office and inquire. My worry would be about Lymes disease.

Time to check bedding and your dogs thoroughly for ticks. They can hide easily on dogs between toes, around tail and ears, and multiply rapidly. About 8 years ago I had 2 Schnauzers that got ticks, and boy they were hard to get rid of.

Sorry, I am not helping, I'm probably stressing you more. So here is a hug..... I hope you never find another one.

[MarkFromSea]

Ouch! Reminds me of my youth. Give it a couple hours, see if the inflammation dissipates. You might just be very sensitive. Benadryl... it won't hurt to take some. I'd advise that since you're having a reaction. I never did.

[matese]

Originally Posted by MarkFromSea

Ouch! Reminds me of my youth. Give it a couple hours, see if the inflammation dissipates. You might just be very sensitive. Benadryl... it won't hurt to take some. I'd advise that since you're having a reaction. I never did.

I was thinking the neck is a sensitive area, maybe that's why it hurts. I don't have Benadryl in the house, but have to go out soon, I'll stop at CVS and get some. Thanks Mark.

[matese]

Originally Posted by MauiGirl

Oh no, that is creepy. I don't know what kinds of ticks live in your area, but wonder if you should call your doctor's office and inquire. My worry would be about Lymes disease.

Time to check bedding and your dogs thoroughly for ticks. They can hide easily on dogs between toes, around tail and ears, and multiply rapidly. About 8 years ago I had 2 Schnauzers that got ticks, and boy they were hard to get rid of.

Sorry, I am not helping, I'm probably stressing you more. So here is a hug..... I hope you never find another one.

Thanks for the hug, it helped my heart but not the neck, now I know the true meaning of "pain in the neck" as soon as I got that lil @$$#%^ out I checked Cody, he is tick free, he has front line on so that helps him IF they try to latch on to him. His bedding is my bed, sofa iyiyi. I am just paranoid when it comes to ticks on ME. My neck felt sore all of a sudden, I've been up for hours and didn't notice my neck feeling sore, so I don't know how long he was on me, but he was latched on really tight, so I have to think he must have been in a while. Thanks for your input.

[EarthAngel]

I would call your doctor and inquire what if anything you may have to do. It appears to me that the tick had already been there a while and got enlarged due to absorbing blood. They get larger like a pea size when they eat. It wouldn't hurt to just ask your doctor or even the pharmacist.

[matese]

Originally Posted by EarthAngel

I would call your doctor and inquire what if anything you may have to do. It appears to me that the tick had already been there a while and got enlarged due to absorbing blood. They get larger like a pea size when they eat. It wouldn't hurt to just ask your doctor or even the pharmacist.

the body was still brown, and was small, years back I took one of my pup and it was very big and grey, it had to have been on the dog a while and feeding a while for it to be so big. This one may have been on me for a few hours IDK, I'm thinking that only because it's color was still brown. My Dr. will only tell me to come in, that's a 40 min. drive. I am going out, I was planning on asking the pharmacist at my CVS Pharmacy. 5 years ago I had a big one on my back shoulder, could not reach it, had no one to remove it, so off to the Dr. for tick removal, I had medical insurance, they charged $200.00 lol to remove the tick and gave me no antibiotic. I don't remember if it hurt later after it was removed. Thanks for the info.

[EarthAngel]

Joan, wow 200.00 for a tick removal and nothing else? Unreal. Good that you will have the pharmacist take a look.

As far as the color grey...that is all I have ever found on my Bentley and he isn't out more than to potty. I switched from Frontline Plus to Advantix II and he hasn't had a flea or tick since.

[Nancy1999]

I've read that if you don't do it right the sucker gets embedded while the body breaks off. This can cause pain and a bad infection, are you sure you got the whole thing out?

[chickensmith]

Oh man I agree that is creepy!!! Did you save the tick? I don't have any advice other than keep the tick...and if it doesn't stop hurting go to the dr :-( I hope that little bugger was a clean one for your sake!

[Tetleyteabag]

Please check out for Lyme disease. If it`s a positive test you need antibiotics very quickly. There is an awful outbreak of Lyme in Australia because of tick bites, and because it is not recognised as an illness there people are not getting treated. Better safe than sorry. Hugs, xx

[matese]

Originally Posted by EarthAngel

Joan, wow 200.00 for a tick removal and nothing else? Unreal. Good that you will have the pharmacist take a look.

As far as the color grey...that is all I have ever found on my Bentley and he isn't out more than to potty. I switched from Frontline Plus to Advantix II and he hasn't had a flea or tick since.

Yep, $200.00 and no antibiotic, a month later when I received my monthly medical statement I saw what they charged, I near fainted lol.....When they are grey I read is when they are engorged with blood, it had to be feeding quite a while. All my dogs were always on Frontline plus, they never had ticks or fleas, This is Cody's first summer with me, he's had 2 doses of Frontline and no fleas or ticks. Some members stopped using Frontline and started on Advantix because they wrote the Frontline stopped working in their area.

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

I've read that if you don't do it right the sucker gets embedded while the body breaks off. This can cause pain and a bad infection, are you sure you got the whole thing out?

You use a tweezers and grasp the tick close to the skin and pull it out, yes, I saw the little %$@$^ head.

[Lilah Charm]

I suppose I'm a little late but yes! Save the tick in a freezer bag- nobody has film canisters anymore but when we were kids and got ticks in eastern Washington my grandpa would save them in labeled film canisters in case we showed symptoms of Lyme disease. Also, it is important that you twist when removing to ensure complete removal- some folks will blow out a match and place it on the tick to cause it to back out on its own to make sure no body parts are left behind. Ticks are awful, sorry you got one. They make you real sore too so I wouldn't worry about that unless the pain persists I is accompanied with redness, Swelling or fluid. Well wishes!

[matese]

Originally Posted by chickensmith

Oh man I agree that is creepy!!! Did you save the tick? I don't have any advice other than keep the tick...and if it doesn't stop hurting go to the dr :-( I hope that little bugger was a clean one for your sake!

Save the tick? I didn't even want to look at it, I wrapped that little $#%^# is toilet tissue and flushed him down the loo, then flushed 3 more times, you know the say, "ya don't want it to bite ya in the butt"

Originally Posted by Tetleyteabag

Please check out for Lyme disease. If it`s a positive test you need antibiotics very quickly. There is an awful outbreak of Lyme in Australia because of tick bites, and because it is not recognised as an illness there people are not getting treated. Better safe than sorry. Hugs, xx

I read a deer tick, that is the lyme disease carrier, needs to feed for 36 hours to infect you with the virus. It was not on me yesterday Monday) when I showered. So it wasn't on me for 24 hours, I think I am safe.
Thank you both for your concern.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Lilah Charm

I suppose I'm a little late but yes! Save the tick in a freezer bag- nobody has film canisters anymore but when we were kids and got ticks in eastern Washington my grandpa would save them in labeled film canisters in case we showed symptoms of Lyme disease. Also, it is important that you twist when removing to ensure complete removal- some folks will blow out a match and place it on the tick to cause it to back out on its own to make sure no body parts are left behind. Ticks are awful, sorry you got one. They make you real sore too so I wouldn't worry about that unless the pain persists I is accompanied with redness, Swelling or fluid. Well wishes!

Sorry but I have to correct you on the twist, never twist when removing, I just copied this from google'

The proper technique for tick removal includes the following:

Use fine tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible.
Pull backwards gently but firmly, using an even, steady pressure. Do not jerk or twist.
Do not squeeze, crush, or puncture the body of the tick, since its bodily fluids may contain infection-causing organisms.
After removing the tick, wash the skin and hands thoroughly with soap and water.
If any mouth parts of the tick remain in the skin, these should be left alone; they will be expelled on their own. Attempts to remove these parts may result in significant skin trauma.
Thanks about the soreness, and you're never to late to answer a thread.