Tick removal

[fordguy]

Tick Removal


A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough
to share -- And it really works!!


I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the
best way to remove a tick. This is great , because it
works in those places where it's some times difficult
to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of
a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the
tick with the soap soaked cotton ball and swab it for a
few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on it's own
and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

This technique has worked every time I've used it (and
that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for
the patient and easier for me.

Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that
this would be damaging in any way. I even had my
doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one
stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with
tweezers. She used this method and immediately called
me back to say, "It worked!"

[trust me]

Pulling a tick has never been traumatic, at least not for me. Grab and pull. Done.

[3toes]

If it works it's a great idea. Pulling them out sometimes leaves them partially embedded. I hate ticks!!

[Hammer]

I don't have any trouble pulling them out either (usually), but I must be somewhat allergic to whatever is in their mouths, because it always leaves a red welt that hardens and lasts about 2 weeks. Anybody else have this?

[nitrox28]

I dispise ticks and spiders!! God I hate ticks!

[john4]

Hammer, yes I get the same result. I always assumed it was a result of not removing the tick properly. I have about four welts on me right now. Seems the ticks have increased this summer, which is unusual for around here. Usually they peak in the Spring and early summer and taper off by now, but I'm still seeing lots of them. Could be because we have had a mild summer thus far, heat has not be terribly intense yet. Just a guess

[Art]

I pull crawling ticks off of me all the time but I bet it's been 20+ years since I've had one latch onto me?? I don't know how I've been so lucky but it seems the method we always used was to light a match and then blow it out and stick it on the tick.

I like the sounds of the soap method better. If anyone gets a shot to try it, please report if it works. Not to be an ass, but I've read my share of emails just like what has been posted and they hardly ever work.

[kentucky_redneck]

because she had one
stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with
tweezers. She used this method and immediately called
me back to say, "It worked!"


If the women couldnt reach it on her back with tweezers, then how and the heck did she reach it with a cotton ball and soap? The tweezers are a little bit longer then the cotton is , or atleast at my house anyways. lol

Also if she had someone there to use the cotton then why could'nt they use the tweezers also. :eek:

[quackrstackr]

I don't have any trouble pulling them out either (usually), but I must be somewhat allergic to whatever is in their mouths, because it always leaves a red welt that hardens and lasts about 2 weeks. Anybody else have this?

Yes, only mine last up to a month or more.

It's like a chigger bite that won't go away.

[JP]

I pull crawling ticks off of me all the time but I bet it's been 20+ years since I've had one latch onto me?? I don't know how I've been so lucky but it seems the method we always used was to light a match and then blow it out and stick it on the tick.

I like the sounds of the soap method better. If anyone gets a shot to try it, please report if it works. Not to be an ass, but I've read my share of emails just like what has been posted and they hardly ever work.

I had the same "luck" with ticks up until this year. They RARELY got to bite me. This year I've had to dig 3 out already and I have the same itchy little hard spot that Hammer mentioned for about 2 weeks. I'll try this soap method if it will stop that!! otherwise, just takes more time :)

[Poppa Cap]

We got the chance to try this yesterday afternoon after picking blackberries. My #3 son had a tick on his shoulder. We put a squirt of handsoap onto a cottonball and rubbed it, as described. Did NOT have luck with it. However, next we went in a clockwise direction for about 20-30 seconds and out he came! It looked as thought the cotton fibres started to wrap around his head and he didn't like it. He came out intact, front pinchers and all. Definetely worth trying again, and a lot less tramatic on the little man than the match and needle method that I have always used.