I just removed a tick from my neck. HELP

[matese]

So I spoke to the CVS pharmacist, showed him where I removed the tick, told him it was sore, was this normal. He saw the HOLE from the tick, saw the redness, said it was sore because the body was fighting off any infection that may be there. He said the soreness was normal, nothing to be concerned about, said if it really bothers me, I can take Advile or moltrin 6 tabs I forget how many hours apart, moltrin is to stong for me it upsets my stomach, reason why I don't remember how many hours apart, when he said six tabs my brain shut down lol. He said the soreness should go away in a couple of hours. So off to Pet Supplies I went. When in pet supplies I wanted to see in person those little Robo hamsters, instead I saw skinny pigs, yes, skinny pigs and I fell in love with them, thing is they have no fur on their bodies, just a little fluff on their face. The black ones are soooo cute. I had to run out of there before I bought 2 of every rodent they had. The soreness was gone after several hours. Thank you all, for your concern and advise.

[Magnus]

Glad you're ok. Hate those nasty things but I tend to drown them in alcohol and save them for couple days to see if Magnus/Zoey okay. After that, I burn them suckers till nothing but ashes...

You should've bought them! Put them in those balls and they could be Cody's play buddies! LOL

[matese]

Originally Posted by Magnus

Glad you're ok. Hate those nasty things but I tend to drown them in alcohol and save them for couple days to see if Magnus/Zoey okay. After that, I burn them suckers till nothing but ashes...

You should've bought them! Put them in those balls and they could be Cody's play buddies! LOL

Thanks for the alcohol tip, if ever again that is what I'll do then set them a blaze.... OMG, bring them home to a yorkie, and this one, he'd eat them before the ball ever got started. I shudder at the thought. A cousin of mine had a couple of yorkies, when it caught a mouse she would skin it,
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G. This guy sees that pesty lil squirrel and goes berserk, one day he's gonna break the window.

[SirTeddykins]

I'm glad you're okay.


About 15 years ago, I visited a farm and came home to find two ticks on me. One was on my neck and the other at the base of my spine.


Like you, I removed them with tweezers by the head.


I remember the spots where they were itching like crazy for a month. However, the reason the whole incident is so memorable to me is because I still have a hole in the skin where the tick was found at the base of my spine.


Don't be alarmed if you scar, slightly, like an acne scar.


I'm glad you went to the pharmacist. Beyond ID'ing the tick, I'm not sure what else can be done. Just keep an eye on the bite to make sure it heals ok.

[matese]

I can see where the tick was, I had to take off my necklace because it was right where the tick entered, so I'll leave it off for now. That area is tender if I touch it. Don't need an infection cause by my necklace. Gezzz, tick on the spine, that's what makes me nervous, having a tick that you can't see. When I had that tick several years ago I checked my entire body in summer months and continued for a few years, like anything else I dropped my guard. So far no itching, just tender to the touch. I googled deer ticks, yuck, they had close up pics, The one I removed looked like a dog tick, I'll have to go back and print that pic, it's good to have.Thanks for the info and your concern.

[Lilah Charm]

Originally Posted by matese

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.

So not offended by the correction! (Plus you were so nice about it how could I be? ) I would rather know the proper way to do it than to have tick chunks left in me! -shudder- glad you are feeling better

[thelittleyorkie]

I've never had a tick on me before so I'm not sure. One time I had this black, hard-shelled little bug on my hand that I could not get off. It was like it was latched onto it. I eventually just had to scrape him off with my fingernails. It was very gross. Was that a tick?

Not related to ticks before but related to pesky mosquitoes...there was this one mosquito in the house that kept on biting everybody and we couldn't find the mosquito. Eventually we did--the mosquito was HUGE. It was so fat, it couldn't even fly--that's how much blood it got from us...yuck

[gracielove]

Spring and fall are official tick seasons. I found my first tick of the fall event today. So now it's time to get out the flea comb.

I have never had a problem with ticks getting on Gracie but I keep her away from the woods and tall grass where the ticks hang out but I do run a flea comb through her hair after we come in from outside just in case.

The cats do, however, tend to pick up ticks because they are out in the woods hunting and they go off into the fields looking for mice. I have to flea comb them before they are allowed inside this time of year. We tired using Frontline flea and tick but the ticks loved the stuff and we just got huge engorged ticks when using the stuff. I really don't know what it is supposed to accomplish. It did kill fleas though.

I have found the flea comb to be the best defense against getting ticks inside the home. A good tick puller is good if you have animals that are outside a lot like my cats are.

[matese]

Originally Posted by thelittleyorkie

I've never had a tick on me before so I'm not sure. One time I had this black, hard-shelled little bug on my hand that I could not get off. It was like it was latched onto it. I eventually just had to scrape him off with my fingernails. It was very gross. Was that a tick?

Not related to ticks before but related to pesky mosquitoes...there was this one mosquito in the house that kept on biting everybody and we couldn't find the mosquito. Eventually we did--the mosquito was HUGE. It was so fat, it couldn't even fly--that's how much blood it got from us...yuck

A tick will have just it's head embedded in your skin, the body and legs will be protruded, that is what you will see. If it was a tic and you "just"scrapped the hard shell of, you would have left the head of it still embedded in your skin which would have caused an infection. If you didn't have an infection in that area then I would have to say it was not a tick, however, I don't know of any other bug / insect that would latch on to you...I would rather have a fat mosquito buzzing around my head then have a tick embedded my in body sucking my blood, mosquito's are also very dangerous, you can get West Nile Disease from them. And while I have you on my thread, you and your Robo hamsters lol, I just had to see in person these wee lil hamsters, instead I saw the "skinny pigs" and fell in love with them, and I can't get any rodent pets, this beast that has become the love of my life would eat them before I could get them in a cage. Now every time I have to go to Pet Supplies I will be watching these fascinating Skinny Pigs errrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Lilah Charm

So not offended by the correction! (Plus you were so nice about it how could I be? ) I would rather know the proper way to do it than to have tick chunks left in me! -shudder- glad you are feeling better

Thanks, just wanted you to know never to twist a tick when removing one, also very concerned for anyone that would read this thread to know not to twist, just pull it straight out. Thank you for your concern.

[matese]

Originally Posted by gracielove

Spring and fall are official tick seasons. I found my first tick of the fall event today. So now it's time to get out the flea comb.

I have never had a problem with ticks getting on Gracie but I keep her away from the woods and tall grass where the ticks hang out but I do run a flea comb through her hair after we come in from outside just in case.

The cats do, however, tend to pick up ticks because they are out in the woods hunting and they go off into the fields looking for mice. I have to flea comb them before they are allowed inside this time of year. We tired using Frontline flea and tick but the ticks loved the stuff and we just got huge engorged ticks when using the stuff. I really don't know what it is supposed to accomplish. It did kill fleas though.

I have found the flea comb to be the best defense against getting ticks inside the home. A good tick puller is good if you have animals that are outside a lot like my cats are.

Ticks are also found in the leaves that have fallen, my back yard has much leaves and the oak tree leaves have not started to fall yet. Due to appointments everyday this week I have not be able to vac up the leaves, I won't let Cody in the yard until I have cleared those leaves.

[gracielove]

Originally Posted by thelittleyorkie

I've never had a tick on me before so I'm not sure. One time I had this black, hard-shelled little bug on my hand that I could not get off. It was like it was latched onto it. I eventually just had to scrape him off with my fingernails. It was very gross. Was that a tick?

Not related to ticks before but related to pesky mosquitoes...there was this one mosquito in the house that kept on biting everybody and we couldn't find the mosquito. Eventually we did--the mosquito was HUGE. It was so fat, it couldn't even fly--that's how much blood it got from us...yuck

Ticks are tiny hard shelled spider like creatures. They do seem to have some sort of ability to stick to you with their feet. If they are loose and not embedded they are hard to catch and much harder to crush than a flea. Sounds like what you had on your hand was a tick. They are really gross.

[gracielove]

Originally Posted by matese

Ticks are also found in the leaves that have fallen, my back yard has much leaves and the oak tree leaves have not started to fall yet. Due to appointments everyday this week I have not be able to vac up the leaves, I won't let Cody in the yard until I have cleared those leaves.

I have yet to find a tick on Gracie even after walking in the leaves. It may just be the area where we live. I do always check her before we go inside just to be sure. When we lived down south there were ticks every where, grass, sand, you could find them anywhere.

We have a large wooded area around us with fields that are further away. Those are our prime tick areas in the spring and fall. When we do walk in the woods it is always on a trail where nothing is growing and I make sure she stays on the trail. It's the cats we have tick problems with. There is no way to keep them on a trail!

[matese]

Originally Posted by gracielove

I have yet to find a tick on Gracie even after walking in the leaves. It may just be the area where we live. I do always check her before we go inside just to be sure. When we lived down south there were ticks every where, grass, sand, you could find them anywhere.

We have a large wooded area around us with fields that are further away. Those are our prime tick areas in the spring and fall. When we do walk in the woods it is always on a trail where nothing is growing and I make sure she stays on the trail. It's the cats we have tick problems with. There is no way to keep them on a trail!

Can you use frontline or another brand for keeping ticks off your cars? You can't control where cass go, That has to be a trip getting ticks off the cats. So far Cody has been flea and tick free, he gets his frontline dose today. Monday if it doesn't rain I will work on the back yard to remove the leaves, that's Cody's hunting grounds and he misses roaming around, I have kept him on the deck all week.

[JuliannaB]

YIKES! Sorry to hear about your episode with a tick. Glad to hear that your are ok though Hope that you continue to heal.