The Secret to Painlessly Removing Ticks

It can start with pain, itching, redness and swelling in the area of the skin, and in more pronounced cases, it can include fever, headache, fatigue, and/or a skin rash. The culprit is a tick bite, and if left untreated, it can lead to Lyme disease, which can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system.

According to Lauren Allen, who just completed her undergraduate degree with a double major in communication media studies and journalism from DePaulUniversity, and writing for RadioMD.com (www.radiomd.com) , “you can have a tick (or three) burrowed in your skin without even feeling a thing.” She notes that ticks are usually most active from April until September.

But she also reveals that removing ticks, once an onerous task using tweezers (which often did not remove the tick and was impossible to use for some parts of the body) is now a swab of cotton balls away.

Her advice:

• Apply a dime sized dollop of dish or hand soap onto a damp paper towel, tissue, or cotton ball.

• Cover the tick with the soap-saturated tissue or cotton ball, and hold in place for a few seconds (15-20).

• The tick will come out all on its own and will be stuck on the towel or cotton ball when you lift it away.

Look for tick bites under arms, behind ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between legs, around the waist and through hair. Also make sure to check any gear that was taken along, including clothing. A helpful tip is to put clothes in the dryer on high heat for at least an hour. It’s also a good idea to shower as soon as possible.

Ticks are small but they can cause big problems, so be vigilant when walking in outdoors and take the proper precautions. To read the complete story, visit http://radiomd.com/blogs-experts/radiomd-blogs/lauren-allen/item/12758-a-surprisingly-safe-effective-way-to-remove-ticks