UKC

I have read many topics on here regarding the subject, but now that I actually found one on my body I can't remember what is the best way to remove.

Using tweezers is it pull straight out or twist and pull???

Cheers

In reply to Euge:

Twist and pull, thank god I've never knowingly been bitten.

M

In reply to Euge:

Twist and pull. I had a massive one in my stomach in Tanzania I twist and pulled it out alive

In reply to Euge:

With the tiny tiny ones, don't worry too much about twisting. With a pair of leatherman tweezers it makes for a ridiculous technique anyway and probably won't work. Tick twisters are great for the larger ones but there was a scientific study done recently and it suggested pulling alone was adequate, IIRC. In fact, there has been some interesting Lyme research done in the USA, possibly published in the LA Times when I read about it, so always worth searching.

Bull's eye rash etc etc. Ticks seem to be less this year in the Lake District but it might be down to my controlling my CO2 flow by cutting out soda pop. Just kidding. But they seem less.

In reply to Euge:

You can get a Tick remover from a vets for a couple of quid. (Twist and pull)

In reply to Euge:

http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick I have a couple one set lives in the cars glove box another set stays at home

>twist and pull<

Just pull but don't twist.

Between either ring fingernail and thumb pad or thumbnail and forefinger pad works for me. I try not to squeeze them too hard and always avoid twisting because breaking their bodies is exactly what I don't want to do.

In reply to Euge:

Over the year I've had dozens and dozens fix on me. I've only ever found it necessary to scrape them off with a finger nail.

In reply to Euge:
If you haven't already removed it, try covering the tick with a blob of vaseline. It should remove itself from your body in order to breathe.

In reply to wme:


No don't do this!! This is not recommended as the tick will squirt all what it's been eating, you and the things before , back into your body.

nip it as close to the head as you can, finger nails will do at a pinch (pun intended) and just pull it out.

In reply to krikoman:

Really? I suppose it makes sense.

Won't leaving the head attached cause as much infection?

In reply to wme:



The head will come out with the tick, but you do need to grab it as close to it's jaws as possible, log finger nails help.

rather than leave it until you have the right tool, just grab it and pull it out.

In reply to krikoman:


I've just had a quick look on Patient.co.uk under Lyme disease and Krikoman is quite right about using vaseline - don't follow my advice!

It also says don't burn off, squeeze or use fingers. Tweezers or forceps are better as you can grip the tick close to your skin without squeezing the body. (or as Dave Perry says above, scrape it off with a fingernail).

In reply to Euge:

Thanks all...

I'm still confused to the right method!
Some sites are adamant don't twist and some have tools that twist!!!!

Euge

In reply to Euge:

Get the set of small twisters that look like little claw hammers. Try twisting, if you get nowhere, follow the tweezers advice and pull as close the the jaws as possible. Your covered. And maybe not worry so much, as it can affect some people's choice of activity if we let it get hyped up too much. I have had hundreds of ticks on me, bite me, and apart from the odd uncontrollable sl HOhn g skshKh lkjgh there's noths hsibjjkkkkkkkkkk werongb wiht ne.

In reply to wme:
That's some questionable advice. I've removed 100's of ticks too and innately know that a fingernail and finger pad are gentler on a tick's body than tweezers/forceps and that 'scraping' a tick off risks breaking its body in situ as much as twisting it does.

In reply to Euge:

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/

In summary, do NOT twist, do NOT burn, do NOT use alcohol or vaseline.
I use a very thin tipped pair of tweezers, from a Swiss Army Knife.

In reply to Euge:
I had one removed with the help of cotton thread. Loop the thread around the base of the little shit, tie a knot and tighten it around its legs - this pulls its legs in together.
Then grab the little shits body with tweezers and it comes out easy.

Sorry I meant it's fangs/gob bits not the legs.
See that its mentioned in the link above

In reply to Simon Caldwell:




They are recommending using the same tool as I suggested above, this tool twists the tick off and they show this in the video. What they do say is not to twist when using tweezers.

In reply to stumpy:

That would make sense, twisting with tweezers can accidentally snap its little head off I imagine and is near impossible with the leatherman sets.

The cotton thread is imaginative and if effective, great.

I've had a few successes with the fingernail technique but 90 percent with the twisters, all be it knowing that the twisters won't do the tiniest ones.

In reply to Euge:
I'm one of the lucky folk who don't seem to attract them so I've never needed to extract one but I carry a set of "tick twisters" just n case . Everything I've read suggests teasing the wee buggers out without stressing them or applying pressure, so you don't induce them to regurgitate all their gut contents back into your bloodstream. A " claw hammer" lever under the tick would seem the best way to do this.

In reply to Euge:

Once when I was in Swaziland I woke up during the night and felt a lump on the inside of my knee. It was a tick well bloated with my blood. I tried to pull it off and the body came away leaving the head embedded in me. I had to dig the khead out using a penknife. I had no antiseptic so I splahed liberal amounts of whisky on the area. I spent the next week or so waiting for something nasty to happen, but the wound healed OK and I didn't get lymes disease.

In reply to Euge:

I got one on Skye last month. It came out by itself after an hour or so and I never saw it afterwards.

I felt strangely offended! Must be something wrong with my blood..

In reply to Euge:

Whether you twist to get one out or not depends on the tool you use.

If you are using narrow tweezers just pull, however if you have one of the excellent O'Tom tick twisters, pull and twist. The jaws will still come out.

Avoid putting anything on the tick.

Once you have removed it, seal it in a small container or sandwich bag and freeze it. If you get any symptoms at a later date, tests can be carried out on you and the tick, to see what it was carrying.

More info about symptoms here http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/

NB: Not everyone gets a rash.

In reply to Euge:

It is now some hours since you posted. Please, please tell us you have got it out by now!!! (I am feeling a bit queasy)

In reply to Euge:

Another +1 for Otom Tick Twisters: Always in my first aid kit.

While they use a twisting action, the important bit is that you're not applying torque between the tick's head and body, and you are not squeezing the tick in any way.

Using strong hair tie and overhand knot, loop against the skin and tighten. Once tight, pull. Did this on dog and a toddler.

In reply to Euge:

Some Vets will give you the Tick Twister tool, some charge. The same Tick Twister tools are available in normal Chemists, but in a fancy packet with a fancy price.

Out as soon as possible using a tool or pointy tweezers (long finger nails- now stop biting them)

Save them. Somewhere on the net, somebody wants to collect as many of the wee beasties as possible to determine type and if carrying disease.

Off to search for the info.
Robin

In reply to Euge:

Och ,what a lot of Jessie's

In the Highlands we wait til there the size of raisins and then yank the whores off.

If the head doesn't come with them we get it out with the the point of a good knife.

Aye.

In reply to annieman:

That would be the Health Protection Agency. More info here.

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Ticks/TickReco...

In reply to all:

Where is he? Has he got it out yet????

In reply to Euge:

Best I've found:
http://www.petsperfect.co.uk/products/otom-tick-twister?utm_source=googlepl...

In reply to BusyLizzie:

My other half took it out with tweezers last night.
I told her to take it out slowly but she just yanked it, killed the bugger in the process.

Now that I have had one, not to scared about it in the future.

Cheers all
Euge

In reply to Euge:

Ok..this is going to take a bit of faith folks but comes from Bulgarian friend's gran, where ticks can give you a lot worse than Lyme's...

Wee bit (nail size) hand soap...bit of water on tick then very gently rub tip of the soap on tick going round and round clockwise...don't press down on it , you should be hardly in contact

Keep it lubricated and be oh so patient and believe it will work cos it does !
Every time....eventually the wee bugger just lets go and comes out leaving nought behind

Removed inumerable ticks like this both on self and kids

If no soap just spit on it and use finger tip so so gently

In reply to doz:


This method can be used on things other than ticks ;-}

In reply to andymac:



Yank them off, huh?... Jessies.

In the Dark Peak, we wait until they're the size of space hoppers and then bite them back.