May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and tick-borne illnesses are on the rise.
Lyme Prevention Starts at Home. Be prepared!
· Create a tick kit for your family for use at home and make another for travel. Necessary items include a fine-tipped tweezer, alcohol pads, magnifier, and antibiotic ointment. Or, purchase a readymade kit, the TickEase Tick-Kit, that also includes tick ID, health risk assessment and tick testing info.
· Remember to wear light-colored long sleeves and pants when in long grass areas
· Tuck your pant legs into socks, especially if walking or hiking in wooded areas
· Wear a bug repellent with DEET on your skin and Permethrin on your clothing to keep ticks away
Tick Safety in Your Yard
· Clear tall grass and brush at the edge of the lawn and create a 3-foot barrier between lawns and wooded areas with wood chips, mulch, or gravel
· Cut lawn frequently and keep leaves raked because ticks prefer moist leafy areas rather than sunny open spaces
· Locate patios and playground equipment in a sunny location, away from wooded areas
Tick Safety for Your Dog
· After walking in wooded areas brush your dog vigorously and do a thorough tick check
· Have your dog wear a permethrin-treated bandana, i.e. the TickEase Bandana to help repel ticks and other insects.
· Quickly remove embedded ticks from pets to reduce the chance of infection. The TickEase tweezer makes tick removal quick and easy as holding down a squirmy pet can be tricky
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
What are some of the best ways to prevent the spread of tick-borne illness?
To quote one of my prevention videos: “I suggest locking yourself in an empty white room deep in the interior of a building and never coming out.” Since this is not the most practical thing, we must look at the bigger picture and understand that the widespread eradication of ticks is impossible. However, steps can be taken on a smaller scale to reduce our exposure to ticks. We must also collectively become more educated about ticks and implement simple lifestyle changes that can certainly make an impact. Despite our best efforts, the tick problem in general and globally has continued to worsen rapidly. It seems like a perfect storm of ingredients has exacerbated a bad situation. For example, in many areas of the US, there have been a high number of “mast years” recently, which are characterized by trees in many areas dropping high amounts of nuts and fruits. These nuts and fruits are a primary food source for mice and small rodents, who also are the main hosts of ticks and the most common reservoir for infectious microbes which cause disease in humans and their pets. These “reservoir hosts” are now reproducing at extremely high levels. More food equals more disease-carrying rodents.
Climate change also plays a significant role in the increasing tick problem. We all know winters have been warmer lately. Even though our infamous deer ticks can survive sub-freezing temperatures, some die off when it’s really cold for extended periods of time. Warmer winters allow mice to survive and thrive. Lastly, other wildlife does really well under these conditions. Deer populations have been increasing as well, and while they are not competent carriers of disease-causing germs, they can carry and spread large numbers of ticks over large areas. So, to recap, more food equals more mice for more ticks to feed on and more animals to spread them, as well as more people and pets outside who are becoming tick bite victims. It’s not a pretty picture. However, with better, consistent, and well-dispersed education and available products for removal, health risk assessment, testing, and treatments, we as a whole can reduce our exposure levels.
The single most important thing we can do in this battle is our daily tick checks on ourselves, our children, and our animals. Other critical steps to take are the following:
∙ When you get home from a trip outside, take off your clothes and place them in a hot dryer for at least 10 minutes.
∙ While undressed, do a thorough tick check, paying particular attention to your head, neck, behind your ears, underarms, beltline, crotch, behind your knees, and between your toes. Just remember what Tick Man Dan always says: “Don’t neglect your crevices!”
∙ Place a note where you can see it while sitting on the toilet and write, “Here I sit and wonder why I have to check for ticks where the sun doesn’t shine.” This will remind you to check your private areas from a good vantage point. Ticks like your private areas.
∙ If you find a tick attached, it is super important to remove it quickly and safely (visit www.tickease.com for proper removal instructions).
∙ NEVER throw away a tick that was attached! Instead, save it in a zip loc and on a label write your name, date, where you think you got it, and how long you estimate it was attached to you.. This way, if you choose to have it tested, you can.
While ticks have been around for millions of years, there are many things people do not know about them. They have evolved into the perfect vector and (in my opinion) are fascinating. Here are some things they do not do: They do not jump on you, drop from trees or fly. They do not regenerate body parts. They do not die in winter. They (deer ticks especially) do not survive well in low humidity or dry environments. Their bites do not hurt because of a numbing agent in their saliva. Mice certainly play a big role in tick-borne disease. As a host reservoir, uninfected ticks may bite an infected mouse, and from this point on, that tick is now a carrier of one or more infectious agents. Not only can this tick now transfer pathogens to a new host like you or me, but if it bites another mouse who is not a carrier, it now becomes one, and the cycle starts over for other ticks to bite and extract those germs. Mice are certainly not the only host that can cause problems, but they appear to be the biggest offenders.
As a matter of fact, some MIT researchers are currently conducting experiments on the Island of Nantucket by modifying the DNA of mice so that they no longer carry viable bacteria that cause Lyme disease. This concept was discussed when I participated in a Lyme Innovation Hack-A-Thon at MIT several years ago. The theory is that if thousands of modified mice are released into the local population and breed the ability to harbor this Lyme bacteria is bred out of them, this could eliminate the possibility of spreading it. The local residents are still weighing the pros and cons of participating in the experiment.
In addition to some of the things mentioned above to protect yourself, it is also extremely important to arm yourselves with the proper tools to deal with ticks once they are attached and fed. When it comes to proper removal, simple is better. All you need is fine-tipped tweezers for safe extraction. Regular household tweezers have flat tips designed to pull hair, not ticks. They may cause one to rupture, tear or squeeze the tick in a bad place. This could cause an increase in exposure to what I like to call “yucky tick juice.” This is what can make you sick. The TickEase Tick Tweezers were designed specifically to remove ticks. It also has a slotted scoop on the backside which works really well on larger ticks on areas of animals that are easily accessible. For even more protection, TickEase has also recently come out with a tick-specific Tick Kit that guides you through the process of proper removal, ID, health risk assessment, and tick testing options.
Five Tick Tips For Every Mom:
1. Make Tick Checks a Game for Your Kids
Teach kids to check themselves for ticks every time they come inside. Give them a little prize if they find one as an incentive.
2. Place Outdoor Playsets and Patio Furniture in the Sunny Part of the Yard
Ticks tend to prefer the edges of the yard in the leaf litter and on bushes or shrubs and do not like the sunny, dry areas.
3. Keep a Tick-Kit with You for Reassurance
The TickEase Tick-Kit has everything you need to be prepared and reduce your risk of infections.
4. Your Pets Are Known for Bringing Ticks Into Your Home
Check your pets regularly and also look at your furniture, beds and anywhere else they sleep. Use a repellent-treated TickEase Dog Bandana to keep these pests at bay.
5. Prompt and Proper Removal of Ticks Matter
If a tick is embedded, prompt, proper and safe removal is critical. Always use a fine-tipped tweezer such as the TickEase to remove ticks to reduce your risk of exposure.
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