Ticks are tiny blood-sucking bugs, which belong to the family of ‘arachnids’ and hence are related to spiders. These eight legged blood- suckers can be found in varied sizes and colors. They can be as little as a pin’s head and as large as a pencil sharpener. These bugs feed onto human blood by burrowing their heads into human flesh, which is particularly dangerous as this method infuses the tick’s body fluids into the human blood, making it more probable to transmit disease laden microbes into the skin. And as they take in more blood they become larger in size.  Coming across a tick on your body can be unquestionably spine-chilling. As, most of us already know that these beasts transmits infections and diseases including Lyme’s disease, if they manage to remain embedded inside the skin  for a considerable period of time.

First things first, take care that you do not do the following to remove a tick from your body:

  • Never try to remove a tick by a burning matchstick or any other hot pointed object.
  • Never use Vaseline or any other petroleum jelly to remove the tick.
  • Never remove a tick using alcohol or a nail paint remover, this could be downright catastrophic.

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To get rid of the tick safely you can do the following:

  • Grab the tick close to its head with a pair of tweezers and very gently pull it out in the vertical position. Remember to use only tweezers and not your bare fingers or a tissue paper; this could lead to an infection.
  • Do not hurry while pulling out the tick as this could mean leaving behind certain body parts of it.
  • Clean the site using alcohol or soap and water.
  • Jettison the tick by flushing it in the toilet.

Tick bites can be painful and cause the affected area to get inflamed and red. Once, you are sure that you have pulled out the tick from your body you can do the following to ease the discomfort:

  • First and foremost, wash the tick bite site with warm water and an anti-bacterial soap.
  • Apply some soothing calamine lotion on the tick bite. It reduces the pain and inflammation
  • Dilute some apple cider vinegar with water and apply on the tick bites to reduce skin irritation and redness.
  • You can also rub a sliced onion on the tick bite. Onion is a powerful antioxidant that helps the tick bite to heal faster.

Tick bites can be dangerous and can cause Lyme’s disease and certain other infections. So in order to make sure that no tick gets to bite you, you can take certain precautionary measures like:

  • Always check your pets for the presence of ticks on their skin and get it removed asap.
  • Wear long and light colored pants when outside.
  • Check your clothes and skin for ticks after returning from walking or hiking. Be sure to check your hair too.

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