Ticks And Lyme Disease
One of our readers here at Nature For Kids , mentioned to me a fear that some parents have over letting their kids play outside. A fear that unfortunatley will keep some parents from letting their kids out of the house this summer. This fear being ticks and lyme disease. I’m itching and squirming in my chair just thinking about it.
As a child I remember coming home with my brother from an excursion down by the river where we attempted to build a secret hideout in the trees and brush. As soon as we walked in the door my mom had our sister pick through our hair and clothing removing every tick she came across. I was shocked to find 5 ticks trying to push their way through the seam of my shirt. She then had us strip down, inspect our bodies and take a bath. The only other ticks that I had seen before were big blood bloated ones on my dog. It was a big eye opener to see them picked with treazers from my body.
Now that it’s starting to warm up out there it’s time to remind ourselves and our kids to keep an eye out for these little guys. Lyme Disease is a very real and dangerous infection but it can be prevented if you educate yourself about it. I have simplified all the information out there on the disease and put it all here for you to digest. Take a few minutes to go through it and hopefully it will ease your paranoia enough to let the kids outside.
What is Lyme Disease? It is a bacteria that enters your system when bit by an infected tick. Most often it’s a tick in it’s nymphal (baby) stage because they are smaller (about the size of a poppy seed)than adult ticks and less likely to be noticed on the body and removed. Not all ticks carry the disease. According to Wikipedia, “Transmission is relatively rare, with only about 1% of recognized tick bites resulting in Lyme disease: this may be due to the fact that an infected tick has to be attached for at least a day for transmission to occur.“
Symptoms: Early symptoms include headache, fever, fatigue, depression, and a circular skin rash. These symptoms usually won’t show up until 1 to 2 weeks after the bite. If not diagnosed, later and more serious forms of Lyme Disease include joint, heart and nervous system complications.
Treatment: Simple antibiotics can eliminate Lyme Disease in most cases. However, late diagnosis is difficult to treat and comes with more severe symptoms.
Prevention:
- After each outdoor adventure always check your body thouroghly for ticks. Every inch! (hint: they like warm spots)
- Remove a tick as soon as it is found and watch for symptoms of Lyme Disease for several months afterwards
- Wear a hat and long sleeves/pants when recreating in tick known areas
- Check your pet regularly for ticks attached to their bodies
- Talk to your kids about ticks, show them what they look like and tell them what they do, preferrably without scaring them to death.
Tick Removal:
There are hundreds of ways out there to remove a tick. The most agreed upon way is to pull it straight out with tweezers. But if you want to suffocate it or burn it go right ahead. Just make sure you get the little head out if it detaches from the body.
Again, this post was not meant to scare you but to inform and impower you. With this prevention knowledge you can feel secure in going outside for a family outing. Just always keep those symptoms fresh in your mind and be alert to any ticks crawling around. Enjoy the warm months ahead and contact us at Nature For Kids if you have any other questions!
nature for kids, family outing, lyme disease, ticks, outdoor adventure
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Filed under Education |9 Responses to “Ticks And Lyme Disease”
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This is an important post! My backyard (which backs up to woods and field) seems to be a haven for ticks. I had really only seen dog ticks for most of my life. A couple of years ago my 3-yo had a little black dot on his neck. I thought it was a speck of dirt until it didn’t wipe off. It turns out it was a deer tick. Those things are tiny and tricky! I don’t know when we would have found that if it was on his scalp!
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Thanks for this great post — it’s so important to be educated about Lyme Disease. We’ve both had it, as well as both of our dogs (despite vaccines) — but if we had read your article we would have been better prepared. Thanks for encouraging people not to allow this to be a reason to fear going outside — with the awareness you’ve suggested above, it’s easy to prevent an infection, and even in the event that you get Lyme Disease, it can be successfully treated if you get a prompt diagnosis. We’ve all been successfully ‘cured’, and haven’t had any follow-up problems.
Carmen, Kenton and Rebecca thankyou for your great comments. Your experiences show us all that ticks and lyme disease are not something to be ignored!
Great post. I don’t think about Lyme Disease much in Southern California but it is present in many places we travel. A great reminder. Thank you!
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If you have any greenspace on your property where your kids play, (especially if you live in the Northeast) you should make it as inhospitable to ticks as possible. Keep the grass short, and try to get rid of any scruffy, leafy areas. We have been using Damminix tick tubes (www.ticktubes.com) for the last couple of years, and they seem to work well. They get rid of the ticks - and don’t harm the wildlife.
Zoe, thanks for sharing your tips on minimizing the tick population around homes. It’s very helpful!
Thank you for the information on Lyme Disease. Such a small tick that too in the nymph stage can cause such a dreaded disease; really surprising. Due to the nymphal stage it is difficult to find and remove them.
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Hello,
Wrote an informational brochure with the help of 2 Lyme disease specialists. Will email to anyone interested. You can view my video/free Lyme brochure offer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPzCC3jfTMc
God bless,
Elaine