I’m afraid of ticks

Wise.

Don’t hike naked.

I've been warned to expect a lot more of them because warm winters = more survive to live for summer. Avoid sandals or going barefoot in tall grass, maybe.

Wear tick repellent.

They're terrible here in Pennsylvania. Hike in long pants, try to avoid brushy routes and tall grass, and check yourself whenever you come in after a hike. I treat my pants with Sawyer's insect repellent and it really helps. Invest in a pair of fine tweezers. To remove a bit-in tick, pinch them with tweezers as close to their head as you can and gently but firmly pull them out. They hold on hard, but you won't feel pain. Do not yank this might leave the head bit in which can still then transmit Lyme.

Don't use fire or chemicals as supposedly it causes the tick to regurgitate which can transmit Lyme.

Theoretically you have 24 hours after being bitten to remove the tick before there's a significant chance of Lyme transmittal. I've heard they've found strains that transmit sooner but they're rare.

They're a pain in the ass and you need to be aware of them, but they don't keep me hiding indoors.

Correction: Pinch them as close to your skin as you can.

Can't you hike in places with short grass that aren't woodsy?

I cannot think of a most disgusting insect (they are classified insects aren't they) and I cannot think of something more upsetting than finding out you've got one hanging off you neck, teeth locked down under your skin and comfortably sucking your blood. That never happened to me but once my brother came back from a hike with three ticks stuck on him, I almost fainted. I know, MARY!!! I'd rather have a dozen leeches sucking my blood because to the best of my knowledge you don't get severe diseases from leeches and there was even a time, where leeches were considered a treatment for a host of maladies. Just ask Madame de Tourvel.

Me too.

Then stay out of the woods, ho.

just take the proper precautions when you go outside

Treat your pants (and socks and shoes) with a permethrin product, tuck your pants into your shoes, spray an aerosol tick repellent on your arms and torso, and check as best you can when you get back home.

All that said, I don't hike in the nature center near my house from May-October because of ticks -- too much undergrowth next to narrow trails. I stick to sidewalks and beaches in summer.

I once heard you should check around your joints, including the top of your legs.

Don’t worry too much. It says the bacteria are called Burgdorfs!

[quote] I hear they’ve gotten a lot worse over the last decade.

Where did you hear that, on a mommy blog?

Poison your land! Make your town poison the parks, the sides of the highways, the storefront! Our children are IN MORE DANGER THAN EVER from this 100% fatal and/or crippling disease!

Calm down, R14

It doesn’t matter if the head stays under your skin. It’s dead and it’ll work its way out. It’s not like shrapnel where you can carry it for the rest of your life. And it’s not going to grow a new body.

[quote] It doesn’t matter if the head stays under your skin. It’s dead and it’ll work its way out. It’s not like shrapnel where you can carry it for the rest of your life. And it’s not going to grow a new body.

While that's true that it won't regenerate, I think the thought is that if the head is still attached to you, it can contain Lyme (or whatever other disease) bacteria and is now in contact with your bloodstream for an indefinite period of time, greatly increasing the risk of Lyme transmission. If you rip the body off the tick and the head's still attached, you should continue to get it out or get a medical professional to help do so.

For perspective, I thru-hiked the 2200-mile Appalachian trail on the US east coast over 5.5 months, so I was basically hiking/camping all day, every day. The trail goes thru some of the Lyme disease "hot zones". I never got Lyme and most of the thru-hikers don't. I was even wearing shorts the whole time. If you stay attentive, check on any "itches" promptly, and do a thorough tick check at the end of the day, the risk is very manageable. For a day-hiker with significantly less exposure, it shouldn't keep you indoors.

Does your mother or grandmother have an old bottle of 'Helenesque' around?

My grandmother swore by it as an insect repellent.

I live in a tick-infested place (in Europe though) and those ticks fucking suck. (Quite literally as they suck your blood.) Check yourself for ticks as often as you can, particulary on any body parts well supplied with bloods. And no, that's not just your dick, perv, but areas like the back of your knee, your armpits, etc. These suckers love it warm and moist so they crawl wherever they can find a particulary good place for sucking.

AND NO, I'm still not talking about your dick, perv!

upgrade ur personal hygiene

It's insane that there was a safe and effective Lyme vaccine 20 years ago that, because of an anti-vax freak out, was voluntarily removed from the market. There's a vaccine for dogs today, but not for people.

Let me at 'em!

how does one check for ticks on oneself after walking a trail alone?

I had lymes, dont wear dark colored shoes or pants, Always Always check yourself for ticks after being out in the woods. The lyme tick is a redish brown color, if you get a weird tick bite reaction GO TO THE DR. Thereare antibiotics that will take care of it so you dont get sick.

You should be. Tickborne infections ruined almost all of my 30s, and after a lot of antibiotics over a long period of time finally ended MS-like neurological problems, I still ended up with a fucked up immune system. I have mast cell activation syndrome, an immunological disorder that a lot of people with Lyme end up with, that makes me prone to anaphylaxis.

I don't know how Lyme disease became a joke to people. It's a fucking nightmare.

Ugh. Stay out of the woods.

A lot of people search their bodies for ticks that look like dog ticks—large spiderlike arachnids. Those aren't the ticks that spread infectious diseases.

Deer ticks are small and their young, called nymphs, are the size of the period at the end of this sentence and they can transmit Lyme disease.

They can be smaller than poppy seeds. If you have a lot of moles or freckles, or if they crawl up into a hairy area, they can be virtually impossible to make out.

There are five on this poppy seed muffin.

They have to be attached for like 24 hours to transmit the virus. Strip outside if you’re able, or in a mud room or whatever, or just quickly move your clothes outside.

Do a good job of checking yourself. The only time I got Lyme disease was when it attached to my back where I couldn’t see it. (My face was paralyzed for six weeks and my joints ached for many months.)

Still, I no longer fear the ticks. Just pick them right off and flush ‘em.

The dog Lyme vaccine doesn’t work that well. Every dog I know who has it has contracted Lyme eventually.

White people love to humblebrag about going hiking as some enlightened, noble form of exercising that distinguishes them from the poor whilst communing with nature only to then bellyache about how they can't walk around barefoot and are now suffering from Lyme disease.

R28 My sister had a dog who died after getting neurological Lyme disease. They didn't figure out what was wrong with her for years because she had been vaccinated for Lyme and they assumed she was immune.

She was always *crazy* and became increasingly so as she aged. She spent almost all her time under beds or other low furniture cowering. She was always terrified but occasionally would bear her teeth and growl like she was going to attack. They finally realized she had Lyme when she started having "bobblehead" seizures, which eventually became grand mal seizures, and she died during one of those. She had a terrible life.

There's tick repellant and if Covid-19 taught you anything, it's to have a routine of proper cleaning yourself when you enter your home. Once back at home you change into something else like sweatpants and shirt, you shake each piece of clothing in a secure area (like the bathtub) to notice any tick, or anything else, falling off. You shower and use a sponge on a stick to give every inch of your body a good scrub and check yourself from every angle in a mirror which can show you your whole body. These are just some of the few things one can do to be proactive and feel just a little bit safer.

More people need to be aware of the danger of ticks. i moved to countryside during Covid and never worried about. Had read about Lyme but thought of it as a minor disease that few people got. Got Lyme which destroyed my life and no doctor could figure out what it was. For 6 months. The neurological damage it caused left me crippled for months and now 2+ years later, has left me with neurological issues and in pain permanently. Lyme is a f***d up infection that is NO joke. Take it seriously. Too late for me but I wish I was made aware of how dangerous - and prevalent in Northeast - it is.

I’m just now starting to go back into nature - using the above advice. I won’t let it take away one of the greatest joys of my life - being alone in the woods and soaking in nature.

R32 I *think* Bravo's awful depiction of Lyme as an attention-seeking false illness is what caused it, but people on DL have roundly denied Lyme disease is even real, much less that it can be devastating, for at least a decade.

The reality is that untreated Lyme progresses just like untreated syphilis does, and it can cause extreme neurological, joint and heart damage, as well as profound mental illness with psychosis because of how it affects the nervous system. And it is stealthy and goes unrecognized for years often as it is misdiagnosed for MS, Alzheimer's, or even just as a mental illness. People are given immunosuppressants, which makes the infection worse, or they are given psych meds and it is assumed that that will fix their psychiatric and health issues because the assumption of doctors almost always is that the psychiatric basis of the illness causes imagined physical problems, whereas the opposite is often true: a physical infectious disease causes both physical and mental health problems.

After we've all seen long COVID play out, people should have a better understanding of the reality of chronic Lyme. Regardless of having been treated for the infection, some people's bodies go absolutely haywire for the long term in ways that are not yet understood and in ways that can be disabling. It's not an "autoimmune" disease process because it's an immunological disease process that was catalyzed by an infection, but which may not require the infection to persist for the immunological disorder to persist.

It's real and it can be devastating but it's not understood by medical science, there are no diagnostic tests to show what is going wrong because no one really understands the disease process, and patients usually get "blamed" in some way by being called crazy or lazy or attention seeking. It's pretty sick that this response is the most common response.

When a patient goes to a doctor and says, "Help, I am having disabling headaches and I can't work or think and I'm even contemplating suicide to end it," doctors have no lab test to run for a headache to prove the patient has a headache. But they understand the pain of a headache and they sympathize, they don't assume the patient is lying or crazy, and they try to figure out what is causing the headache. If someone says "Help! I have a killer headache" and they have Lyme disease in their past medical history, many medical doctors will roll their eyes and assume the patient is a drama queen.

The bias in medical practice against people who have or who have had Lyme and remain sick is really wild. I don't know if it happens with any other illness.

Conservative pundit Ross Douthat wrote a book about his nightmarish journey through Lyme disease.

[quote]White people love to humblebrag about going hiking as some enlightened, noble form of exercising that distinguishes them from the poor

Get a therapist.

[quote] think the thought is that if the head is still attached to you, it can contain Lyme (or whatever other disease) bacteria and is now in contact with your bloodstream for an indefinite period of time, greatly increasing the risk of Lyme transmission

Which is wrong. “Leaving a tick’s head embedded in your (or your furry friend’s) skin doesn’t increase your risk of tick-borne disease.”.

Oh, if your cat or dog has a tick head embedded, leave it alone. You’ll do more harm than good trying to get it out. Just chill and remember ticks have been around sharing the planet with humans & dogs and cats for millions of years. If they were as deadly as media tried to scare you into believing, we wouldn’t have survived this long.

There are so many other, safer ways to remain active without the fear, hassle, and headache of dealing with ticks. If you get Lyme disease, it's your fault for walking in deep nature and having an animal that roams around outside. Go to the gym, go swimming, or play tennis. If you must, walk on the clear and provided paths of an urban park. Leave forests and heavily wooded areas to the wildlife. Only the insufferable take a hobby and make it into a lifestyle-based, aspirational, status symbol so linked to their exhausting personality. The runners, cyclists, hikers, vegans, etc. The list goes on and on. It's always been this way.

Tarantino's editor died from the sweltering heat while out on a hike. They found her body at the bottom of a canyon or something. Dumb, middle aged bitch. Now we're forced to sit through his overly long films because she just HAD to go hiking in insane heat. Her friend had the good sense to call it quits, leave, and cool off at home.

[quote] Go to the gym, go swimming, or play tennis.

Those thingas don't really bring you into contact with the beauty of nature, though, do they?

*things

I agree with you, R35. Let’s just remember that it’s probably the Lyme talking.

A trick I learned last summer in rural Nova Scotia, where ticks are *everywhere*: when hiking during the tick season, wear hiking shoes that you can tuck your pants in. After that, take that wide sticky tape for sealing packages and put it in several layers over the part of the leg where the shoes end and the pants start BUT so that the sticky part of the tape faces outside. Ticks will generally try to climb up your legs and they'll get stuck on the sticky part of the tape and die. Worked like a charm.

Did you get a lot of ticks in the tape, R41?

Quite a few, depending on the amount of vegetation in the area. My partner didn't use the trick and we would have to inspect his clothing, neck, everything before getting back to the car.

R43 You should have still checked yourself. If you caught multiple ticks in the tape, how do you know none got past the tape?

Thank god I have no interest in hiking. This thread makes it sound as appealing as soaking in a syphilitic leach pond

R37, you sound miserable.

I’m afraid of ticks too. I wonder why the medical establishment doesn’t come up with a better cure.

Fuck this shit, I ain't risking my health!

they can be found in yards in the suburbs right?

Weird that this thread appeared. I went walking on one of my favorite trails yesterday, I came home exhausted! I saw a bug on my arm and was going to just flick it off. At the very last minute I realized it was a tick crawling on me. So I was going to destroy it instead. Well it landed in my blanket and I couldn't find it, so I just threw the blanket on the ground and got a new one. Today the blanket is still on the floor, any advice for me?

Hey its 49 here, I just got this news notification after I posted the above. Now I'm really scared, help!

Here it is.....

Let the crows pick them off like deer do.

R46 Pretty sure this thread is miserable. All of these tedious, in depth directions on how not to end up with Lyme disease from voracious blood thirsty ticks. Easier to avoid hiking altogether than deal with all of that.

[quote] they can be found in yards in the suburbs right?

That’s where I get all my ticks. In my yard. I garden. I get about 10 bites a year.

My opinion - lone star ticks hurt more than deer ticks. They bite harder, they drink more blood, their bites are more irritating. If you get any kind of tick bite, it’s going to leave a mark for a while. But I think lone star tick bites stay raised, red and irritated longer than deer tick bites.

Recent study

Ivermectin in large doses, like a cow dose, then inject bleach.

You first.

Painful and permanently damaged by Lyme disease - but the idea of NEVER going into the woods as per R37 is like saying “Don’t have sex” to people in the 1980s. Nature bathing is possibly more important o me than sex at this age. I’ll take my risks - just like I did with sex in the 1980s. But I’ll play safe.

Gas station, glory holes are much safer.

R29 = Racist cunt

And a white person.

You cannot stop living because you are afraid of something. If you want to go on hikes, do it. Cover your body, don't hike in shorts and a t-shirt. Be careful. I live in one of the worst places when it comes to ticks. I live in southern Norway. I still go on hikes. I am planning on getting the tick vaccine though, it protects against TBE.

I asked Bard, an AI chatbot about tickborne diseases Lyme and Bartonella.

Here's some of what it said:

According to a study published in the journal New Scientist, more than 14% of people worldwide have had Lyme disease. This means that approximately 1 in 7 people have been infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. The study looked at data from 89 different studies that included over 158,000 participants from all over the world. The researchers found that the highest rates of Lyme disease were in central Europe (20.7%), eastern Asia (15.9%), and western Europe (13.5%). The lowest rates were in the Caribbean, southern Asia, and Oceania (all under 5%).

In the United States, Lyme disease is most common in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 35,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported each year in the United States. However, the CDC believes that the actual number of cases is much higher, as many people do not seek medical attention for Lyme disease or are misdiagnosed.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. The most common symptom of Lyme disease is a circular rash that appears at the site of the tick bite. Other symptoms can include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. If left untreated, Lyme disease can spread to the joints, heart, and nervous system.

Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. Most people who are treated for Lyme disease make a full recovery. However, some people may experience long-term symptoms, such as fatigue, pain, and cognitive problems.

There are a number of things that people can do to prevent Lyme disease, including:

Avoiding tick-infested areas

Wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when hiking or camping

Using insect repellent

Inspecting your body for ticks after being outdoors

Removing ticks promptly if found

Bartonella is a bacteria that can be spread by ticks. It is most commonly spread by the bite of the deer tick, but it can also be spread by the bite of other types of ticks, such as the dog tick and the lone star tick. Bartonella can cause a variety of symptoms, including fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. In some cases, Bartonella can also cause more serious health problems, such as endocarditis (inflammation of the heart lining), neurological problems, and blood infections.

There is some evidence that Bartonella infection may be linked to schizophrenia. A study published in the journal Schizophrenia Research found that people with schizophrenia were more likely to have been infected with Bartonella than people without schizophrenia. However, more research is needed to confirm this link.

If you think you may have been infected with Bartonella, it is important to see a doctor. Bartonella can be treated with antibiotics. If you are diagnosed with schizophrenia, it is important to get treatment. There are effective treatments available that can help you manage your symptoms and live a full life.

Lyme disease can be mistaken for a number of other diseases, including:

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Babesiosis

Ehrlichiosis

Anaplasmosis

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis

Rickettsialpox

Meningitis

Encephalitis

Mononucleosis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Lupus

Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Lyme disease can also be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. This is because the symptoms of Lyme disease and Alzheimer's disease can be similar, such as:

Memory loss

Confusion

Difficulty thinking

Difficulty concentrating

Fatigue

Headaches

Mood changes

Sleep problems

However, there are some key differences between the two diseases. Lyme disease is an infection that is caused by bacteria, while Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that is caused by the death of brain cells. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics, while Alzheimer's disease does not have a cure.

Alzheimer's disease is a terminal illness. This means that it is a progressive disease that will eventually lead to death. The average life expectancy for people with Alzheimer's disease is 8 years after diagnosis.

If you are concerned that you may have Lyme disease, it is important to see a doctor. Lyme disease can be a serious illness, but it is treatable if it is caught early.

There are a few reasons why people with Lyme disease say doctors didn't take their symptoms seriously.

The symptoms of Lyme disease can be vague and non-specific. This means that they can be similar to the symptoms of other diseases, such as the flu, the common cold, or even depression. This can make it difficult for doctors to diagnose Lyme disease, especially if the patient has not been bitten by a tick.

There is a lack of awareness about Lyme disease among doctors. Many doctors are not familiar with the symptoms of Lyme disease, or they may not know how to test for it. This can lead to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

There is a stigma associated with Lyme disease. Some people believe that Lyme disease is not a real disease, or that it is caused by stress or anxiety. This can make it difficult for patients to get the treatment they need.

If you are concerned that you may have Lyme disease, it is important to see a doctor. Lyme disease is a serious illness, but it is treatable if it is caught early.

If Lyme disease is not treated early, it can spread to the joints, heart, and nervous system. In some cases, Lyme disease can cause long-term health problems, such as chronic fatigue, pain, and cognitive problems.

If three, five or 10 years go by before Lyme disease is diagnosed and treated, the patient may experience more severe symptoms and may take longer to recover. In some cases, the patient may not fully recover.

The recommended treatment for Lyme disease is a course of antibiotics. The length of treatment depends on the stage of the disease. In most cases, patients recover fully with treatment. However, some patients may experience long-term symptoms, even after treatment.

Here are some of the possible complications of untreated Lyme disease:

Arthritis: Lyme arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation and pain in the joints. It can affect any joint, but it most commonly affects the knees, hips, and shoulders.

Heart problems: Lyme disease can cause inflammation of the heart lining (endocarditis) or the heart muscle (myocarditis). These conditions can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat.

Nervous system problems: Lyme disease can cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis or encephalitis). These conditions can cause fever, headache, stiff neck, and difficulty thinking.

Chronic fatigue syndrome: Some people who have Lyme disease develop chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that causes long-term fatigue and other symptoms, such as pain, cognitive problems, and sleep problems.

If you have any of these symptoms, it is important to see a doctor right away. Lyme disease is a treatable condition, but it is important to get treatment as soon as possible to prevent serious complications.

Oh, please. It takes about 72 hour for ticks to infect you with their vector-borne diseases. If you are not too morbidly obese, or your fat layers don't block all the sensation to your nerves, you must feel something prickling on your skin when a tick bite you. Drop betadine on it and then remove it.

We had such a mild winter, it's going to be a Hot Tick Summer up north.

More from the Bard AI:

It is possible that a one-time infection with Lyme disease can cause a lifelong immune system disorder. Lyme disease can damage the body's immune system, making it more difficult for the body to fight off infections and other diseases. This can lead to the development of chronic immune system disorders, such as MCAS.

However, it is important to note that not everyone who is infected with Lyme disease develops a lifelong immune system disorder. The risk of developing a chronic immune system disorder after Lyme disease is not fully understood.

MCAS is a real condition. It is a chronic disorder that affects the body's immune system. In people with MCAS, mast cells, which are cells that play a role in the immune system, release histamine and other inflammatory chemicals in response to triggers, such as infections, allergens, stress, and exercise. This can lead to a variety of symptoms, including hives, itching, swelling, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue.

MCAS is a relatively new condition, and it is still not fully understood. However, it is becoming increasingly recognized by the medical community. There is no cure for MCAS, but there are treatments that can help to manage the symptoms. These treatments include antihistamines, antileukotrienes, and mast cell stabilizers.

Don't worry, OP. The ticks have already entered your home, and they're waiting in your bed for you to fall asleep...

Posting the information about MCAS because almost no one has ever heard of it and it is becoming better understood to be a possible outcome of Lyme disease.

I have MCAS and it has really fucked with my life, but it sounds crazy. I had "panic attacks" spontaneously for years that turned out to actually have been regular anaphylaxis episodes in response to unknown allergic triggers. I broke out in hives every single day for years and never knew the cause and I had no idea that hives can actually be life threatening.

So even though Lyme disease can usually be cured with antibiotics, avoid ticks at all cost. Lyme could cause a major immune system malfunction that will last the rest of your life.

I take three or four antihistamines every day, along with a leukotriene inhibitor (Singulair) and I now have to get two monthly shots (Xolair) to suppress/stabilize my mast cells. I have a supplemental plan from the drug manufacturer; otherwise, this treatment would cost about $60,000 per year. This is all almost certainly a result of a Lyme disease infection that was cured by 2017, and my MCAS symptoms seem to be getting progressively severe by the year.

From Bard AI:

The symptoms of MCAS can be very severe and disabling. They can also be fatal in rare cases.

The most severe symptoms of MCAS are anaphylaxis and angioedema. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction that can cause swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing, and a drop in blood pressure. Angioedema is a swelling of the deep tissues of the skin, such as the lips, tongue, and throat. It can also cause swelling of the airways and digestive tract.

Other severe symptoms of MCAS include:

Difficulty breathing

Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat

Wheezing

Low blood pressure

Rapid heartbeat

Chest pain

Nausea and vomiting

Diarrhea

Fatigue

Headache

Dizziness

Confusion

Seizures

Coma

If you experience any of the severe symptoms of MCAS, it is important to seek medical attention immediately.

MCAS can be a very challenging condition to live with. The symptoms can be unpredictable and severe, and they can interfere with daily life. However, there are treatments that can help to manage the symptoms and improve quality of life.

Hey its 49 here again. The tick was crawling around my purse when I got to work this morning. Hopefully it is the same one. Looks like all is clear!

Not sure how well they work, but there are bug-repellent clothing lines. ExOfficio has a "bugs away" line of clothing infused with Permethrin that's supposed to repel ticks and mosquitoes. LLBean, I think, has some too. Unfortunately, the permethrin only lasts through a limited amount of washings, but I think you can stretch that out by not using the dryer. Bit pricy, but look for sales. They sell on Amazon too. I have a few pieces and they're nice breathable hiking clothes, and I haven't been bitten by a tick yet, but I usually try to stick to trails and avoid off-trail hiking.

Ticks often crawl on their host for awhile before biting so a good scrub in the shower immediately after coming indoors is a good way to minimize your chances of tick bites.

Full-body condom.

[quote] I am planning on getting the tick vaccine though

What vaccine?

Hold me David, in your tick encrusted arms

R71, have you tried other non-prescription Mast cell stabilizers such as quercetin (liposomal), luteolin, NAC or black seed oil?

A movie for you, OP.

If you find a tick on you, take 200 mg of doxycycline. Just one dose is great prevention

Just stay home and watch Netflix.

I can empathize, OP. I'm afraid of Tik-Toks.

This podcast episode came out this week.

It's worth listening to. The host is very funny, and she interviews a tick scientist.

A couple of random takeaways:

—Deer ticks, aka black legged ticks, primarily spread Lyme and several other dangerous infectious diseases. They perch on vegetation with their little pincers out and wait for a mammal to walk by. They grab hold and then crawl upward to a hidden area and start to suck blood. They cannot fly or jump, just crawl. They can be as small as a poppy seed. Most people who pick them up are doing moving activities such as exercising or gardening, not sitting or lying still in the grass.

—The habitat of Lone Star ticks is spreading rapidly, and they are much more dangerous to human beings because they not only spread dangerous infections, but they zero in on human beings and march toward us like zombies. They can detect our breath and will march relentlessly until they reach us and climb up and suck our blood. These ticks also carry an enzyme in their saliva called Alpha Gal that can make people fatally allergic to red meat.

—A Lyme vaccine is likely to be released relatively soon. That will be good for preventing Lyme if it works; however, the ticks that spread Lyme also spread a half dozen other diseases, some of which can be fatal, and so if a Lyme vaccine makes people more cavalier toward ticks, then probably more people will die from tickborne infections.

—Most tick bites are painless and not itchy, which is how they get away with spreading disease to us so easily. But some people, like the tick scientist interviewed here, are allergic to tick saliva and always get an itchy rash like a mosquito bite when bitten by a tick, and that is good for detecting ticks. She said there's some chance a vaccine will be developed from the blood of people like her that will give people mild allergic reactions to tick saliva. That wouldn't convey immunity but it would be a good early warning system for prevention.

Fortunately it’s not a common problem in the U.K., though with summer temperatures rising every year and more tourism than ever, it may start to become more of one.

Experts estimate that at most 10% of ticks in the U.K. carry Lyme, and that not all areas of the island host them.

Just get a baboon!

Get the vaccine, OP. I will.

Another documentary for OP to watch and feel terrified, bone-chillingly terrified!

A Maine resident has died from the Powassan virus, a rare tick-borne illness, Maine’s Centers for Disease Control confirmed on Wednesday.

This is the state’s first case of Powassan virus this year. In 2022, two individuals died from the illness, making this the third recorded Powassan death in Maine since 2015.

Though only a handful of cases are reported every year in the U.S., the rare virus can be deadly. About 15% percent of cases are fatal. About half of the people who survive severe infection have long-term health problems.

People really never care about the dangers of ticks until they get very sick or someone in their family does. It's pretty strange.

A girl in my high school died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and it freaked everyone out but no one really worried about getting it.

I got Lyme disease a couple of years later and I was so sick I don't really remember much about it. My mom kept detailed records because I was so sick I was delirious. I had a big bullseye rash on my back that I obviously didn't see. My doctor called my mom into the office to look at it.

I was treated and forgot about it.

I was 'healthy' throughout my 20s with weird occasional issues that I actually began to think was hypochondria. I lost my hearing in my left ear every spring, had recurring pinkeye for years and then that stopped, my vision would go blurry on and off and then occasionally I got double vision that would come and go, I had peripheral neuralgia. I was a health writer at the time working on a project about type 2 diabetes and began to wonder if I could have diabetes and everyone I mentioned the nerve issues to told me I was a hypochondriac—I was way too skinny and healthy to be diabetic.

Around age 32, I had MS-like symptoms and had occasional transient paralysis of my left leg, major cognitive and memory and coordination problems and on and on.

I regret that I didn't take the warning about ticks from the girl who died from RMSF when I was in high school. But I didn't. No one I knew did.

My sister knows how severe Lyme is but she still spends all her free time in the garden or hiking outside with her three dogs.

It's just one of those things. People worry about cancer, HIV, all kinds of diseases but not tickborne diseases.

ive had had horrible Lyme disease but still go into woods where deer travel. I could lock myself in my house and be safe but life is a yard off of calculated risks.

Just get the TBE vaccine. I did. It's worth it. You can't stop living just because you're scared of ticks. Get vaccinated. If you get the other disease, borrelia, get antibiotics.

Here you go, OP.

Wear long, wicking hiking pants.

I was scared of lots of shit but if you don’t get over it you’ll live and die inside your apartment

Wrap dog flea and tick collars around your legs arms and neck.

I was on a walking holiday with my then partner. When we got back to the house we felt quite amorous ( ah, young love). I was about to give him a blowjob when I saw a tick embedded in his groin. Instant boner killer. We had brought a tick remover and were able to get it out intact. We didn’t have any sex for the rest of the trip.

The stupid Shih Tzu gets the occasional tick on his head or face, his monthly repellent doesn't prevent ticks, have you tried to pull a tick out of the little space between a SZ eyes, while he he spitting and biting like a tasmanian devil? It's not pretty.

You’re afraid to turn tricks?